Complacency in the Church, Why Do We Have It?

Complacency or the lack of a sense of urgency in a church is one of the main hindrances to change and progress. This is of course not only true with churches but also the case in businesses. We are referred to in Revelation as the Laodicea church, lukewarm, neither hot or cold. Christ says that he is about to spit us out. He wished that we were either hot or cold, but because we are only lukewarm he will spit us out. This is a very strong statement and is very true, so why are we so complacent?

The absence of a major and visible crisis.

911 brought on a spiritual awareness for a period and natural disasters stir the church to give of their time and money for relief efforts. The great earthquake of San Francisco help bring on a great Pentecostal revival in the United States. When a great need arises in the community or in the church, people usually rise to the occasion. However in the calm periods we remain comfortable and not willing to make changes or improvements. The same is true in businesses, if it is not broken, don’t fix it.

To many visible resources.

We watch others doing a good job, there are signs everywhere that tells us what a good job the church is doing. Success is written on everything and if it is not we replace it the make sure that we look successful even if we are not. The subliminal message is clear, we are rich, we are winners, we must be doing something right. So relax. Set back and enjoy the service.

Low or no performance standards.

Reports to the congregation that giving is up 20%, but failing to tell them that 25% more is needed next year to meet expenses provides no performance standard. A Church does not have a product to sell or promote. But giving could be looked on as the replacement and the amount as the performance standard to aim for. It should be clear to the congregation what the needs are and what is expected of them in order to support the Church and its mission. This could also be stated in terms of Church growth.

Organizational structures that focus on narrow functional goals.

Most of our attention is on narrow functional goals instead of broad growth plans. Each department has their own set of goals. Only the Pastor is responsible growth. So when attendance falls off, virtually no one feels responsible.

Internal measurement systems that focus on the wrong performance indexes.

These are not usually spelled out in Churches and if they are they are usually designed to make it easy for everyone to meet their functional goals. Goals are not set with the mission of the Church in mind and are not well defined. Goals should be set to exceed our expected growth rate. In business a typical goal would be “Launch a new ad campaign on June 15.” Increasing a market share in any area has not been considered to be an appropriate target.

A lack of sufficient performance feedback from external sources.

Church department heads may go for months or never hear from unsatisfied visitors, problems with the facilities or classes. Problems are usually addressed in the Pastors’ office and saved for rushed meetings instead of being taken up with the department head at once. Even the most minor problem may cause the first time visitor to fail to return.

A kill-the-messenger of bad news, low-confrontation culture.

When problems are brought to the attention church leaders, they are often treated like trouble makers. Action is usually not taken for fear of hurting someone, instead of accepting constructive criticism. We are sometimes over protective with problem children and their parents. Facility problems are usually not reported to the proper people until they have gone on for lengthy periods.

Human nature, with its capacity for denial.

Complacency is supported by the human tendency to deny what we do not want to hear. We all have enough work to keep us busy. We are not looking for more work. If we can avoid confronting the problem, we often will.

Too much happy talk from senior leaders.

Those who are unaffected by complacency, all of the above, but concerned about the Church’s growth are often lulled back into a false sense of security by senior leader’s “happy talk.” ” Look at all we have accomplished.” Past success provides too many resources, reduces our sense of urgency, and encourages us to turn inward.

Quote from Leading Change by John Kotter: Never underestimate the magnitude of the forces that reinforce complacency and that help maintain the status quo.