This is the concluding article on the topic: 21 Ways to know your church will soon collapse. In case you have not read the Part 1 yet, then click Here to read before you continue. When done reading, kindly share your views with us about the ways to know a church may soon collapse.
12. Special treatment and attention to the rich
People feel bad if you give the rich members special treatment and give them more attention just because they always give to support your ministry. You have no idea whether the poorest member you overlook is the next billionaire in waiting so treat everybody equal and give them equal attention.
13. Unresolved issues among leadership and membership
As a leader, never overlook grievances no matter how dicey it may be. The situation is worst when leadership refuses to take action all because the case involves one of the rich and highly respected members in the church. Members will see leadership as hypocrites and acting indiscriminately. When issues are not resolved, bitterness, little quarrels, anger and other related consequences open the doors of division for the enemy to strike and scatter the church. Dissatisfied members may honourably decide to exit the church without picking quarrels or stepping on toes to tarnish their image.
14. Tribalism, Favouritism and Nepotism
Know that you are making a mistake as a church leader if you give special attention to some tribes, groups or cliques of people. The body of Christ is one and must be united. People feel they do not have a sense of belonging and are not welcome when you encourage and pay special attention to some tribal functions, groups and cliques of people. Remember, Jesus’ prayer for the church was: “that they may be one” John 17:21
15. When social activities are missing
The church does not only exist to take care of the spiritual needs of her members. In addition, people love to socialize through activities such as sports, fun trips, health walk, blood donations and others. Surprisingly, these activities when organized well, wins souls for Christ and attracts a lot of people to fellowship with you. Church members who have high interests in these social activities may find the exit way of the church and go to other churches where their talents may be of good use. Pastors, do not always concentrate on the spiritual matters only, the fasting and prayers and the likes are good but other things too are equally important.
16. When other churches take up good projects
These days, membership expectations from church leaders are very huge as far as management of church funds is concerned. When other churches take up good projects such as establishment of hospitals, schools, hotels, event centers, companies and the likes, and they know members give a lot of offering but do not see good projects undertaken out of their offering, they will begin to think otherwise.
17. Trickery, false teachings and miracles, and evil practices
If the foundation of your church is not laid on Christ, then note that that is a weak foundation and subject to a fall and a disgrace. Pastors of such kind resort to use of trickery, false teachings and miracles and evil practices just to get what they wanted. You cannot build a church on falsehood and trickery and expect the presence of God to manifest and impact lives.
18. Improper records to trace lost members
If you boast of a large congregation and yet, you are not able to detect the missing members and trace them, then you are missing the mark. In the parable of the lost sheep, the shepherd was able to detect that one of the sheep was missing and he looked for it to bring it back into the sheepfold. Without proper records and management systems, your members could be lost without notice for a long time.
19. No evangelistic activity and no follow up
The surest way to win souls for Christ is to go out and preach the Gospel as commanded by Jesus Christ but some pastors sit in the comfort of their air-conditioned churches and run expensive adverts to attract unbelievers to come to them. Unfortunately, most of the people go back to their worldly life when they realize a sharp difference between the “enticed materialistic” expectation and the realities faced as a believer. Stop attracting members, go to them and preach the gospel; that is the method prescribed by Jesus.
20. First impression of first time visitors.
You have no idea how first time visitors to your service perceive the church. If structures are not put in place to protect the corporate image of the church, a strong team to receive the first time visitors and with clear strategy to follow up on them, then the church will surely lose the first time visitors that have expressed interest to join the church.
21. Bad structure, musical equipment and poor sound
You may not believe this, but it is one of the serious reasons why a church may lose her members. Some people now go for church shopping in order to get a church with a beautiful auditorium, set of modern musical instruments and quality sound. By experience, some members switch from one church to another due to these problems.
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