Stupid Things
January 14th, 2009
Update: And speaking of stupid things, it’s always a good idea to double check your facts before posting. My original post had a picture of Geoff Surratt’s brother, Greg, who is the real founding pastor of Seacoast Church. Geoff is actually the Pastor of Ministries. Sorry about the mix up Geoff.
Well, we got us another church growth book, written by a highly successful pastor with megachurch streetcred, sure to turn your congregation around in no time. Geoff Surratt is a pastor of Seacoast Church, a multi-sight church of about 10,000 located in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina. Brother Surratt shares his insights in his latest book Ten Stupid Things That Keep Churches From Growing. Here’s the description from the back cover of the book:
Based on interviews with pastors of growing churches, as well as personal experience, this book identifies the most common mistakes pastors make that keep otherwise healthy churches from reaping the harvest God has prepared. Each chapter spotlights a common mistake, gives real-life examples, uses a generous dose of humor, and provides a practical course of action to recover from the error.
The book draws from the experience of Seacoast Church as well as pastors such as Craig Groeschel, Chris Hodges, Perry Nobel, Mark Batterson, Dave Ferguson, Scott Chapman, Dino Rizzo, Ron Hamilton, and Dave Browning,
Church leaders will be encouraged to realize that they are not the only ones who struggle, and that turning their situation around may not be as daunting a task as they think. This is a field guide for the common pastor based on actual churches of all sizes.
Not having read the book I’ll not attempt to comment on its content. I’m sure it’s everything it’s purported to be and more. But it did get me to thinking. You know, I’ve been in the ministry a few years myself. I can think of more than a couple of stupid things my church and others in my community have done that have negatively impacted our effectiveness for the Kingdom. (By the way, I include myself in the stupidity.) Oh, I may not have the kind of megachurch credibility that would cause anyone to sit up and take notice, but let’s face it; you don’t have to be the brightest and the best to know stupidity when you see it. So here’s my list (in no particular order) of Ten Stupid Things That Churches Do To Quench The Spirit of God:
1. Being program driven rather than Spirit lead.
2. Being overly fad conscious.
3. Thinking ourselves more highly than we ought to.
4. Sacrificing unity for expedience.
5. Serving the Lord through selfish ambition.
6. Looking out for our own personal interests.
7. Legislating spirituality through rigid authoritarianism.
8. Substituting flashy programming for true, heartfelt worship.
9. Failing to fully recognize the necessity of prayer.
10. Playing it safe when God’s will is too costly.
January 14th, 2009 at 4:32 pm
You have listed 10 major mistakes that would indeed keep a church from growing. If I get the opportunity to do a sequel I may see if I can borrow some of your ideas. One point of clarification, I am not the founding pastor of Seacoast, that would be my brother Greg. Great picture though. Today is his birthday, so I’m sure he’ll appreciate the shout out.
Thanks for mentioning my book. Hopefully you’ll get a chance to read it when it comes out and let me know what you think.
January 14th, 2009 at 6:09 pm
I’ve one thing to add. I grew up in a church in North Charleston SC. The church I grew up in–let’s just call it Widget Denominational Church just split about a year ago after more than 50 years of being in exsistance.
The 11th thing I’d add: Letting one or maybe a small handful of “men” run the church like their own personal country club just because they’re the biggest donars.
Oh, and one more thing they did for most of their existance. Do not allow Blacks to join b/c you’re “afraid they’ll use the gym all of the time”.
For the entire time I was there–litteraly cradle to college–that is just what they did. That rule is gone now, but there still exsists a spirit of control from a handful of members that think it’s their own personal business or club and they run off anyone that disagrees with them. Even my aunt who was a member for 50 years plus has left b/c she is sick of that crap.
January 14th, 2009 at 10:32 pm
Geoff,
Thanks for stopping by and clearing things up. Sorry for my confusion. Say happy birthday to your brother for us. Hope the book is a huge success.