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1. A serious dedication to discipleship. This being Indiana, I'll use a basketball analogy; in basketball, we often hear the term, "matador defense". This is a lackluster, low effort kind of defense that is more interested in appearing to be defense than actually putting forth the effort to be an impact in stopping the opposing offense. The defender simply "waves" at the ball as the offensive player blows by him. That's the kind of effort many churches put into discipleship. There are too many people sitting in the pew, trying to pick up tidbits of instruction and trying to decipher all of the different views that are thrown at them. Who is watching out for them?
2. Effective outreach. Of course, you don't need discipleship if you have no one to disciple. To get disciples, you'd need serious outreach. So, I'd like to see churches do serious outreach. Not just because we need disciples, but because there are desperate people out there searching for help. Much of what we see are sheep moving from church to church. Christians are constantly flowing in and out of churches. We need new sheep. Serious outreach can be ugly and dirty and unorthodox and can bring all kinds of "garbage" into the church. It forces a church to deal with stuff that could damage their reputation and cause them to look less religious to the other churches. It may cause people to leave the church. Some churches aren't willing to lose people or look less "pretty" in order to effectively reach the lost.
3. Ministries. If you start working with people who have "garbage" in their lives, you'd need to be set up in a way that effectively deals with that garbage. So, I'd like to see churches train their people to effectively deal with the garbage of the world, dividing their congregation into groups of similarly called, anointed, and gifted workers. Each group would be responsible for only their particular calling. Lay counselors could also be used to handle the potential workload.
4. Apologetics. We'd like to see churches actually teach their people what to believe, why to believe it, why its correct to believe it, and how to defend what they believe. I'm aware of few churches that teach their people apologetics. Number 1, its assumed by leadership that their people can figure it out on their own, already know it, don't need to know it, or just aren't interested. Number 2, apologetics is seen as something that raises unwanted questions or brings in unwanted people. Number 3, apologetics is seen as arrogant and divisive in that it points out that other religions (not denominations - well, sometimes denominations) are just plain wrong. We mustn't be judgmental is the mindset. Apologetics is a tool that makes weak Christians strong in the faith and convinces non-Christians that Christianity is the only logical, viable, and legitimate answer to their dilemma. Apologetics should never be an "elective" class. It should be a lifelong goal of the entire church to be apologetically sound. This can be achieved in various ways.
5. Less emotionalism and more teaching, training, instruction, and doctrine. How that's achieved is up to each church, whether its more classes, instructional preaching, weekend training, seminars, audio and video tapes, access to literature, guest speakers, or whatever. As a concert promoter, I am aware that emotionalism draws people. People love to be moved, emotionally. After all, when a church service gets so carried away with emotion that there is no time left for teaching or preaching, many consider that a "good service". We have to give them something to fight the enemy with besides emotion. Now, I have been around churches that stress emotions. What a roller coaster! A mentor once told me that overly-emotional churches are some of the most dangerous and least stable types of churches to which one can belong. Emotion is okay and serving the cause of Christ is an emotional thing, but when you combine an overemphasis on emotion and an under-emphasis on teaching, training, instruction, and doctrine, you have a problem. The balance should, in my opinion, be much heavier on the side of instruction than on the side of emotion.
6. The putting forth of a clear direction, a clear vision, and a clear purpose. Many churches have little idea which way they're headed or if they're headed anywhere. Some churches may state a direction that they're headed, then never head in that direction. Its confusing for everyone. The leadership needs to put their heads together and come up with some clarity in this matter.
7. Churches need to be much more mindful of really impacting their community for Christ. They need to be able to see the "big picture". They need to be much more kingdom minded and less church minded. Less emphasis on attending church services and more emphasis on going about doing good and establishing the kingdom of God while tearing down the kingdom of darkness. Even though some churches have had the resources to do it, many seem to not have the will.
8. A sense of urgency. Churches can become big and cumbersome, loaded down with religious ceremony. Churches can get lulled to sleep, thinking they have plenty of time to be about the Father's business. We'll always reach the lost "some day", establish a discipleship program "some day", define a vision "some day". Before you know it, we become settled and satisfied with things just the way they are so "some day" never arrives. We only have a very short time to do what we're going to do. Better get on it.
9. Leaders that are servants. The purpose of authority is not to control others or make all the rules or lord it over everyone. The purpose of authority is to SERVE others. The more authority you have, the more you are expected to serve. Look at Christ, the ultimate servant with the ultimate authority. As arrogant as it may sound on my part, your job as my pastor or leader is to serve me. If I or someone else comes to you with an idea or expresses a calling, your job is not to squelch that calling or idea. Your job is to find a way that I can use what God has given me for the furtherance of His kingdom. There are too many pastors that refuse to act when one of their congregation wants to do something, too afraid of losing some control. Don't squander the wonderful talent that God has given you. Be open to the ideas of your people.
10. A program for young ladies. I'd like to see the older ladies teaching the younger ladies the ways of the Lord, how to be a lady, how to be a wife, how to be faithful and holy, how to be chaste, how to be modest, how to honor their husbands, how to be mothers, etc.. Its alarming how many young unmarried couples are living together with no thought of the wrongness of it.
11. Teams set up to follow up on those that are leaving the church. If they are simply going to another church, may God bless them. If they are falling away from Christ, action must be taken. Don't assume that those that leave are still okay with God and don't take the "good riddance" attitude. Some that have left may be sitting in a Kingdom Hall somewhere.
12. Special speakers, open debates. I'd like to see churches take on the cults and false teachings of our day. Bring in experts to tackle tough questions. Do it in secular venues, if need be. This is what Luke 4:18 Ministries has been doing for a number of years, now. We have stirred the pot, making people think, and challenging the cults that compete for lost souls. We have hosted dinner presentations in our community on a number of issues such as Homosexuality, Islam, Mormonism, Jehovah's Witnesses, Family Issues, Atheism, Pornography, and Freemasonry.
I'm sure there's a lot more to say but that'll suffice, for now. I reserve the right to add to the list.
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