If your church has been plateaued for six months, it might take six months to get it going again. If it’s been plateaued a year, it might take a year. If it’s been plateaued for 20 years, you’ve got to set in for the duration! I’m saying some people are going to have to die or leave. Moses had to wander around the desert for 40 years while God killed off a million people before he let them go into the Promised Land. That may be brutally blunt, but it’s true. There may be people in your church who love God sincerely, but who will never, ever change.I like Rhoades' approach because he clearly knows that many of us will be influenced knowing that this came from Warren so he asks that we not first look up the origin before commenting.
My experience on this topic is that Warren is correct. People tend to build inertia. Those that have invested the most and have been around the longest can be the biggest barrier to moving on. Sadly the majority leave rather than change. More sadly, they don't leave early and they make it miserable for all around until then. I find this to be a lack of real maturity. And that's hard since it often comes from those that appear the most mature.
The wilderness experience is part of our journey - individually and corporately. God’s overall intent is not to kill off a million people. His intent is to kill the thing inside that holds us back from Him.
We have to die to ourselves. Those that leave are those that resist death. I am learning to like having the junk in me killed but it is not easy. The faster we do that, the less time we spend in the wilderness.
Bottom line, God does not want us to leave, He wants us to transform. Unfortunately we often find leaving easier.
I encourage you to head over to MMI and leave a comment on this. More importantly, I encourage you to lay down your life and live all out for what God is doing. We need to let go of our forms and more closely hold on to Him - the giver of life.
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