Momentum

Those of us who are sports fan know exactly what momentum is. It is that undefinable, yet very definite force that gives one team an edge in a game...and has the other team on its heals. Momentum will often swing, or move, from one team to another during a single game. It is Final 4 time in college basketball, and this just happens to be the first year that all number 1 seeds have ever made it to the Final 4. Eventhough all four made it, it wasn't necessarily easy. Momentum is the key. Davidson (a #10 seed) almost made it.

In church terms, momentum is soooo huge!!! All over our country, the big churches get the attention, because momentum is often in their favor. People are joining, lives are being changed, and good things are happening. Yet, for every "large" church, there have to be at least 50 - 100 churches that literally cannot buy momentum. Many will try the exact things that their larger, "exciting" counterparts are doing, yet with very little results. There are also many of these smaller (and some bigger churches) that have sunk into complacency, or worse - tradition. I firmly believe that complacency and tradition are momentum killers.

What is momentum in churches - I haven't defined it, yet it really exists. It, obviously, begins with the movement of the Holy Spirit. God will move and see if a church will respond. Some churches see God move and they react in fear. Others will see the same thing and (while praying for more of that movement) will say, "What do we need to do to keep it happening?" Ironically, if a church tries to do the exact same thing to get the same results, it seldom ever happens. I believe we serve a God of newness. Jesus, himself, said that we must put new wine in new wineskins, because the old wineskins will rupture. Once a church has a little momentum, it must keep things new and fresh...not rest on a single accomplishment. In other words, things have to keep changing.