Fixing a Ruined Church - Church Planters' Workshop

Fixing a Ruined Church is an article and suggestions on how to fix a ruined, sick church by getting back to the basics of what a church is and should be.

I read an article named, 4 Starter Ideas for the Care and Treatment of an Unhealthy Church (a good article by the way), and in it, it mentions some tips on how to “treat” the patient of an unhealthy church. From that general idea I want to expand on some of my thoughts of that post.

Contents

1 Get back to the Bible
2 Get a right attitude
- 2.1 Sacrifice your will for God’s will
3 Seek spirituality, purity, righteousness, and holiness
4 Dump spiritual apathy and laziness
5 Worst thing to happen to a preach by Leonard Ravenhill
6 Take it slow and steady
7 Follow a godly Pastor
- 7.1 More Posts on Church

Get back to the Bible

The difference between life and death in the spiritual world is to recognize that NOTHING WORKS EXCEPT GOD’S PLAN, METHOD, AND WAY. Nobody can outsmart God, and nobody can run roughshod over God. To get things back on track, you have to go to God, to his word, and start there.

When the people in a church follow God’s Word, things work. Even when there is persecution, the people come together and fight for God’s cause. When things go wrong in a church, most undoubtedly there are people and actions that are not biblical. Instead of love, they express hate. You have to get back to what God has ordered for things to work out.

Get a right attitude

Repent of your bad attitude. The pastor of a church is there like a doctor in a hospital. If there weren’t problems, there would be no need for the pastor. The pastor is the change agent for the problems in the church.

#1 Don’t cause more problems. Dealing with problems sometimes looks like you are causing problems, but soak everything in prayer.

#2 People change when they interact with spiritual people who truly care for their welfare. People do change, and they will change when they hear the Word of God accurately explained, and the sin called out, and the remedy easily given.

#3 Prayer changes things. If you are in a problem church, then there are two things God is going to do through you the preacher. First, he will try your loyalty and faithfulness to God, and second, he will see how real your belief is that prayer can change things. Pray can change the hardest heart, but it takes time and energy, and most of all patience.

#4 Be positive. Being negative and always rebuking gets old quickly. Try to focus the church on what we as Christians are supposed to be. You replace bad character by highlighting and focusing constantly on good character. When people see this in Scripture, the Holy Spirit will work through those passages to change people.

#5 Most people’s main problem is that they are not saved. This is true even among churches, deacons, and pastors a lot of times. Return to the basics of salvation. Preach it often and hard.

Sacrifice your will for God’s will

Many times a preacher wants certain things. He wants economic prosperity, or fame, or honor and praise from his people, and he becomes frustrated when he doesn’t get those things. Once you understand that God has sent you on a mission in that church with those people, and God’s plan is spiritual. Those things we hope for as pastors are not really what God is doing, then we can adjust ourselves to our mission.

Seek spirituality, purity, righteousness, and holiness

There is only one way to fix things that are wrong, and that is to get things to what they are supposed to be according to God’s Word. By focusing on love, purity, righteousness, holiness, and a host of other objectives that God has set for us in His Word, then things start working correctly. If you as pastor do not focus on these things, then they will not start appearing in the church. You must strive to see these things in your people, in yourself, and in your prayer life.

Dump spiritual apathy and laziness

So many churches are just social clubs. They do not do the work of God. Evangelism, prayers, biblical counseling, spiritual growth, etc. just are not in the mix of everything that happens at church. That must change. We are here to do the mission of God. Find it, and do it.

Worst thing to happen to a preach by Leonard Ravenhill

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gc4pclpeau0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCO18O-NJDs

Take it slow and steady

Just like any person who has had a serious bout with disease, an unhealthy needs to take things slow and steady. Resist strongly the temptation to do too much too soon. People don’t need to be busy; they do that quite well without help. What they need is to be active in essential and centrally important things. It is not important to go run around town doing nothing, but to go out and work. That brings in a paycheck which you exchange for rent, clothes, and food. You need to understand your spiritual priorities and focus on them.

Follow a godly Pastor

If you are the pastor, change. If you are not the pastor pray earnestly that the pastor changes, or you change churches. Don’t accept poor spiritual treatment and care.

More Posts on Church

Pastor David Cox is a missionary. See my ministry updates here.

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Easter

My Tracts on Church Attendance The first and foremost reason to go to church is because God commands us to do so (Hebrews 10:23 Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) 24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: 25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.).
Coming in behind that direct command of God, we go to church in order to worship God Himself. How? Simple. We hear the Word of God actually read and carefully explained, and then we assimilate those principles y exhortations into our personal lives, and that is worship. Without those elements, there is no worship, and there is no success at "going to church." It is fruitless spiritually, and without spiritual benefit to your life, you will get discouraged and stop going, stop being committed to it, and it will ruin your life because you are a hypocrite.

Tracts on Church Attendance
ch22 Pastorless Flocks
ch17 Why do I Attend Church?
ch15 Congregating because we Love
ch14 Finding a good church
ch09 Our One another Relationship ch43 Time to leave your church? Also see my article on Getting People to Faithfully Integrate into the Church.

Various Informational Ads

Brown The Devil's Mission of Amusement 7 page article from 1889. Hollywood in the church and her ministries. Brown was a student of C.H Spurgeon.
Excerpts:
Different days demand their own special testimony. The watchman who would be faithful to his Lord and to the city of his God needs to carefully note the signs of the times and to emphasize his witness accordingly. Concerning the testimony needed now, there can be little if any doubt. An evil is in the professed camp of the Lord, that is so gross, so brazen in its impudence, that the most shortsighted of spiritual men can hardly fail to notice it.... Amusement for the people is the leading article advertised by each... until the hideous fact has been proved up to the hilt, that "amusement" is ousting "the preaching of the Gospel" as the great attraction... The Concert is fast becoming as much a recognized part of church life as the Prayer Meeting; and it is already, in most places, far better attended.

"Providing recreation for the people" will soon be looked upon as a necessary part of Christian work, and as binding upon the Church of God, as though it were a Divine command, unless some strong voices are raised which will make themselves heard.
Read the 7-page article: Brown, The Devil's Mission of Amusement.

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