In the decline of every organization, there comes a time when the organization realizes the methods, products, or systems of the past are not working and a staggering change is necessary, and the change needed to begin yesterday. The leadership in many organizations suddenly switches to survival mode. The ship is going down, and the first thought is to throw everything overboard that is weighting the ship down.

There may be extra, unneeded baggage on the ship, but first priority should go to determining the cause of the vessel’s sinking. The ship is possibly going down because there is a hole in the hull below the waterline. If so, no matter what you cast off the boat, the hole will continue to fill with water. In most scenarios, I see casting overboard the items of weight as three things: 1) A knee-jerk reaction 2) A waste of time and manpower that could be used to diagnose and begin repairing the cause of sinking 3) You may be casting off some of the very items you will need to make repairs to stop the sinking.

As in other businesses and organizations, the church is often guilty of looking for and focusing on symptoms instead of causes. We look for symptoms and think we can “fix” the problem by addressing the symptom. Shrinking attendance is a symptom, not a cause. Another example, a church that realizes it has wandered away from reaching out to the community may react by offering more classes on evangelism and addressing the need through other means, sermons, etc. While these may be helpful, without providing church members opportunities and practical applications to practice their ability and faith, little will change. The emphasis becomes more classes, not more outreach opportunities. The focus is on the existing members, not fulfilling our mission. We are only working to hide the pain of decline.

This phase also becomes the Grasping phase. As a church or similar organization sinks further in decline, they begin to grasp for that one silver bullet, that one great saving program or event, or style change. Sinking deeply enough, some churches will grasp for anything that might still float.

Many churches in phase four of decline believe they cannot afford the time to rebuild the church upon solid biblical principle-based labor for the Lord. For a few, at the end of phase four and entering phase five, this might be true, but most can be reversed. However, grasping for straws is not the answer. Jim Collins refers to this as “Grasping for a savior.” The church already has a savior. We do not need another one. What we need is to follow His commission to the church, The Great Commission.

We do not need to grasp for the latest and greatest technique or program. One principle to follow, “Don’t Copy Models, Capture principles”. Just because it sounds good and it worked for another church somewhere, does not mean it will work for you. Instead, determine what are the biblical principles that made it work for the other church and ask how God has gifted your church to use the principles- not the method. To dig out of phase four of decline, we do not need the newest methods. What is needed is to follow a methodical process that leads the church back to its first love and reaching people for Christ.

How will you begin praying for your church to reverse declining trends and become The Great Commission lighthouse for your community?

George Yates is an Organizational Health Strategist and coach, assisting churches, organizations, and individuals in pursuing God’s purpose for life. Click here to receive this blog in your email inbox each Tuesday.