Through the years as a lead pastor, God has seemed to use me to help churches raise a new standard and to challenge them to go to the next level.  Call it going higher, seeing more, enlarging the vision, or creating new identities, it still boils down to the fact that every church can always be more productive.  I love the hunt of seeing something improve.  I love seeing it before you see it.  Regardless if a church is 5, 10, 50, or 100 years old, there is always the need to write a new chapter.  My friend Ike Reighard says that we should re-invent ourselves every 3-4 years.  No doubt about it!  Ben Arment says this: 

“The enemy of innovation is success.  Even the most creative people are tempted to stop being innovative when their ideas become successful. They subconsciously create a rule that says, ‘This idea worked, so don’t do it differently.’ They “rubber-stamp” instead of “re-create.” I’ll say this as clearly as I can: If you are executing the same creative ideas you did last year because they worked, you are already on the decline.”

For instance, if you are a 5 year-old plant, or a 25 year-old established church, there needs to be adjustment along the way to stay effective.  For some it means to re-brand, re-name, re-locate, re-start, or re-plant.  I’ve done all of these and it works!  Gary Lamb, in Canton, Georgia, started a church with one name and a few years in, re-named the church.  It changes the whole concept for another launching of the same church.  There is such a thing as adopting a brand new DNA.  My friend Chad Clemons, lead pastor of Anthem Church in Gainesville, FL, relocated his church from the north part of the county and merged with the church I pastored, and is experiencing his finest hour as a six year old church!  It’s fresh!  It’s like starting all over again, except this time, the foundation is much stronger.  I’ve noticed that we all get comfortable along the way, and our personal creativity of good ideas have become our own sacred cows, just like the ones we led our church away from in the beginning.  What kind of radical decisions and leadership do you need to give for your church to excel like it did when you arrived?  Do you feel you are too old for this?  Do you need to tear out what you implemented because it is dated?  Are you afraid of what people may think of you if you kill your own creations?  It’s understandable, but lives are disinterested in our churches as they are, for the most part.  You may need to publicly re-engineer your church even if it’s for something you said you would never do. Trust me, you will be engraved with another dimension of admiration and respect from the people you lead and love so much.  It’s in you!  Go do it again!