Why Churches Die: A Cry for Revival

In my years of church health consulting, I’ve walked into church buildings that once thundered with praise but now echo silently. I’ve seen church flyers full of events and programs, but empty without people attending. I’ve met pastors with years in ministry who still lead churches, but whose hearts are broken from the weight of unspoken frustration in pastoring. Truth be told, many churches are currently dying, and some are dead. Not always physically, but spiritually, and missionally. They die in their vision, passion, pursuit and impact. They die in their love for God and their love for the souls of people. Many died when tradition replaced truth, and religiosity replaced spirituality. When comfort overcame the place of divine calling, when systems suffocate the Spirit. But death doesn’t come suddenly. It creeps in quietly, unaware and unnoticed. When the term “…it doesn’t matter” becomes the order of our church living. When men who lack discipline and brokenness are allowed into leadership. When the church began to manage people rather than lead and build people, when church facility obsession suffocates members’ passionate cry for help. Until the very moment when a church that used to be a thriving church of worship becomes a shadow of itself. My heart cry to church leaders and pastors today is that they must stop managing death and start ministering life again. So, whether you’re a senior pastor, ministry leader, church planter, or denominational overseer, this is for you. It’s time to bring the church back to life. Enough of:

1. Trading the souls of men for fame and popularity
2. Keeping men in a state of spiritual dwarfism.
3. Weaponization of the pulpit to settle scores
4. Squeezing the life out of members’ pockets for selfish advancement
5. Ignoring the hidden tears of the flocks and pretending to care
6. Lying on altars, cooking untrue testimonies
7. Sleeping with vulnerable youth and women, disgracing the church
8. Embezzling and mismanagement of church resources
9. Subjecting members to religious standards to keep members in chains
10. Demanding obedience to standards, you violate carelessly
11. Turning yourself into gods, replacing the Lord in the heart of His people.
12. Abusive leadership and ungodly leadership patterns
13. Suffocating the local church pastors under you
14. Killing the local churches financially
15.  Spiritual laziness and carelessness
16. Promoting conflicts and crises among church leadership for personal favours
17. Mounting the pulpit with little or no preparation
18. “…thus, saith the Lord” Has the Lord spoken to you?
19. Using confidential issues of members’ lives as stories in your messages
20.  Professing Christianity without Character, ministering without credibility

All these and many more have contributed adversely to the death and dying state of many of our churches today….