A Sense of Urgency

“If necessity is the mother of invention, urgency is the uncle of change. Without it, progress slows and then stops and then reverses.”  — Nell Scovell

In his wonderful book, Leading Change, John P. Kotter identifies the number one reason why change agents fail.

“People are allowed to remain complacent for too long.”

We have allowed, even encouraged many of those who attend our churches to be consumed with a lot of things. You know what I’m talking about. You can tell where a congregation’s focus is, just by listening to the conversations when they arrive for the weekend event. For example, ask yourself a few questions.

Do you know any Christians who seem to be consumed with politics?

Do you know any Christians who seem to be consumed with biblical prophecy?

Do you know any Christians who seem to be consumed with making sure they’re “well fed” by the preaching?

Do you know any Christians who seem to be consumed with making sure their small group remains intact next year and is not compromised by outsiders?

Do you know any Christians who seem to be consumed with their favorite media?

Do you know any Christians who seem to be consumed with the choices someone else in the congregation is making?

Do you know any Christians who seem to be consumed with themselves?

If those questions led to lists, plenty of people would come to mind. Now ask yourself this question.

Do you know any Christians who seem to be consumed with the Great Commission?

Hmmm.

In fact, according to the Barna Group, only 24% of church attenders even know what the Great Commission is.

That’s a problem. Especially since it’s the only commission Jesus gave us to go after.

Our complacency has created inactivity. We’ve replaced the purpose of the Church with a preoccupation with programs for the church. All the while, local church attendance plummets and the culture we’re called to influence continues to move further and further away from a biblical morality.

· Only 21% of non-believers have a positive perception of the church.

· Only 50% of non-believers would even trust a pastor.

· 53% of pastors have considered leaving vocational ministry.

· Millennials generally think the church is irrelevant to their lives.

And, oh yeah. Did I mention that only 24% of the people who attend church even know what the people who claim to be Jesus-followers are supposed to be doing? By definition, no one can claim to be a Jesus-follower unless they are actually following Jesus.

“He who thinketh he leadeth but has no one following is only taking a walk!” I can’t remember where I originally heard that, but it might apply here.

I apologize if all of this sounds a bit cranky, but we’ll never rectify any of those stats by simply adding a few more social events or Bible studies for the faithful.

Jock Willink and Leif Babin wrote Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy Seals Lead and Win. “The best leaders don’t just take responsibility for their jobs, they take extreme ownership of everything that impacts their mission.” But the specific wording of their conclusion may lead to some soul-searching.

“It’s not what you preach, it’s what you tolerate.”

The entire Bible is written with a sense of urgency. After virtually every teaching Jesus delivered or every statement the Apostles wrote, you could add a short, “C’mon people, we have to get this right!” It would always fit.

THE URGENCY OF THE APOCALYPSE

When people talk about the urgency of sharing the Gospel, they’re most often thinking about end of the world stuff and how we’re running out of time. But their warnings don’t seem to reflect much beyond a desire to accelerate the Apocalypse, hoping Jesus comes back soon, so the evildoers in the world will get “what they got comin’ to ‘em” and we can finally be rescued from the difficulties of our lives.

We’re all mindful of the inherent danger of testing God’s patience and the literal reality of reaping what you sow. But the Apostles seemed to lean into something beyond all that. As we read about the certainty of divine judgment, they keep bringing up God’s huge heart for humanity, and how He’s holding off on breaking out His mega-thermonuclear hammer. It’s incredible but, even after all the abuse He’s taken, God still wants everyone to come to the knowledge of the truth.

Yet, the Cosmos as we know it, like everything inside of it, has a shelf-life. And, as people sift through the rubble of the latest natural disaster, it becomes clearer every day. This old world is hanging on by a thread. Time is not on her side.

But there are other sides to our message of urgency. 

THE URGENCY OF IRRELEVANCE

While we fully believe God’s calendar of doom is set, what will happen in the meantime? Will your local church still be relevant in your community next year? Or the one after that?

Kotter says that establishing a sense of urgency requires bold action. Like “cleaning up the balance sheet and creating a huge loss for the quarter.” He then names several other ways to confront corporations with their own inefficiency.

Maybe in church-world it is as simple as asking questions like, “Why has it been so long since our last baptism?” Or, “When was the last time even someone on our Board shared the Gospel with a non-believer?”

If your church had to close its doors tomorrow, would anyone in your community care? Or would anyone who doesn’t already attend your church even notice?

THE URGENCY OF HOPELESSNESS

My career in pastoral ministry began with students. I would typically provide challenges from Scripture that ended with a call to repentance. They’d often hear from me, “Don’t wait to give your heart to Jesus, because life is short and none of us know if we’ll even make it home tonight.” That approach became a whole lot more effective after a young man in our youth group was killed one night by a drunk driver, driving home from one of our events.

But, at least to some degree, the sense of urgency I was trying to communicate was misleading. People shouldn’t give their hearts to Jesus, just because they might die tonight. They should give their hearts to Jesus because they’re probably going to wake up tomorrow.

The fact that some of the people we love live without the hope of eternity should really bother us.

THE URGENCY OF PURPOSE

Nothing is more satisfying than feeling like you accomplished something important. And nothing can be more important than something eternal. Calling people to step away from their otherwise mediocre Christian lives to change the world is pretty compelling. If the response is as positive as I believe it will be, every ministry in your church will be baptized in a new dynamic.

But, at the end of the day, urgency is what it is. You either have it or you don’t. I’ve often told church audiences, “There are only two explanations for why people don’t obey God, ignorance or obstinance.” People either don’t know how to obey or they simply refuse to. Through the gift of teaching the Bible, pastors can help on the ignorance side. I can help people who want to obey understand how to obey. But softening hardened hearts is above a pastor’s pay grade. It is the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit. The best that pastors can do is to be God’s messengers of truth. So, will you be able to create a sense of urgency? It all depends on who’s listening.

The stats don’t lie. They all say the same thing.

“C’mon people, we have to get this right!”

What people do with that challenge is up to them. Jesus put it this way.

“Whoever has ears, let them hear…”