Why Churches Are Stuck in the Past

Episode #170
October 30, 2015
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Podcast Episode #170


Discussion about a recent post on churches who are stuck in the 80’s. We also chased a rabbit and ended up discussing a few sitcoms.

Some highlights from today’s episode include:

  • Culture change scares people to death, especially when it moves away from their moral values.
  • Church programs are not the easy answer anymore.
  • You can’t plug and play the Holy Spirit.
  • Programs can often become an excuse for people not to do what they should be doing outside of the program.
  • Many church members want a me-focused church because it is comfortable to them.
  • We shouldn’t be asking what we can do to stop culture change, but how we can meet people with the gospel in a changing culture.
  • Some churches would rather die than to get out of the comfort of the past.

The eight ways churches are stuck in the past are:

  1. They are trying to shelter themselves from culture.
  2. Programs were easy answers.
  3. Churches largely catered to the needs of church members in the 1980s.
  4. Change was more incremental.
  5. Church growth was easier.
  6. Denominations provided solutions.
  7. Others did evangelism for the members in the 1980s.
  8. Some churches would rather die than to get out of the comfort of their 1980’s paradigm.

Episode Sponsors

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