During his teenage years, my son Spencer took an interest in playing tennis.  I know I’m a bit prejudiced, but I think he was a pretty good player.  I loved watching Spencer play.  For me, every match was an epic event.  I remember one of his coaches giving him some great advice.  “Spencer, you are a good player.  But you’ve learned some techniques that are holding you back.  In order for you to keep improving, you’re going to have to unlearn some things and re-learn how to do them correctly.”  In essence, what he was saying is, you should keep working harder, but what you really need to do is work smarter.

The last time we were together I posed the question:  What kind of church am I willing to commit to for the rest of my life?   What does a post-pandemic—sustainable model—of the church look like?  These are gut-wrenching questions that call for a candid and sensible answer.   They suggest that we may need to unlearn and relearn some things.  

Today I want to focus in on just one of those shifts.  Moving from marketing to marketplace or from professional to incarnational.  

Here’s just one example. Back in the 1990’s I sat in a staff meeting at Shepherd Church in Columbus, Ohio, and listened to a presentation designed to help the church grow to the next level.  A prominent church consultant made what we will call the “build it, and they will come” pitch.  His advice was to build a building that will care for your future needs.  Raise lots of money and even go into debt if need be.  Because if you build it, they will come.  You know what?  It actually worked.  

An accommodating building coupled with great leadership, a heart for missions and the church grew from three hundred to just over five hundred in a few years.  To this day Shepherd is a strong and vibrant church.  However, Shepherd church is one of the few exceptions.  Scattered across America are large church buildings with a hand full of people struggling to keep the lights on.  Recent studies reveal that across the board thirty to seventy percent of the people have simply left the building.  So, does the “build it, and they will come” model of church work?  Sure it can!  But if you ask me what kind of church I am willing to commit to for the rest of my life, I’d have to say no.  These are good things, but my heart tells me there’s something more.  

So, what do we mean by moving from marketing to marketplace and from professional to incarnational? Alan Hirsch would say, from program development to people development. From convincing people, we have a good product to raising up individuals who can go into the marketplace and live like Christ? You know—life on life--taking Christ with us to the places we live work, and play.  

What does that look like?  Well first let’s look at the role of the pastor.  Cary Nieuwhof nailed it when he said, “The pastor cannot be the center of the church.”  He cannot be the product that the church offers.  Nor can a program, or a great band, or dynamic youth ministry. 

Pastors have been groomed and trained to teach the bible, manage the church, and grow the business.  I’ve had years of practice, learning how to preach a good sermon, but what good is it going to do to preach a good sermon if no one is coming to hear it?  Face it. Our very best sermons are not enough to draw a crowd.  

Reggie McNeal says we need to shift our emphasis from studying Jesus and all things spiritual in an environment protected from the world to following Jesus into the world to join him in his redemptive mission.

Going to church on Sunday mornings has been the traditional Christian experience. Church--as we understand it today--happens once or twice a week…and it is mostly a passive event where the vast majority of the people come to observe.   They may participate by singing along, but generally they are there as consumers. 

I contend that we are experiencing decline in church attendance because people have simply lost their appetite for being fatter and they long to become fitter.   

Shifting from professional to incarnational means we move from proclamation to participation.  It means we rearrange the chairs in the room.  No longer do we sit in rows and hear what the preacher has to say.  We sit in circles in discover together.  In doing so, we move the needle from one or two percent participation to full participation.  Discipleship and maturity in Christ then take place exponentially.


There’s a lot to consider here.  But, let me give you a word of warning.  Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater!  Don’t stand up this Sunday and announce, we are canceling church and we are going to house churches.  To do so would be a bit ill-informed and irresponsible.  In this series we’ve started the process of deconstruction.  And soon we will begin making the shift to reconstruction.  And as we do, we need keep asking the question— What kind of church am I willing to commit to for the rest of my life?   What does a post-pandemic—sustainable model—of the church look like?  And let’s commit ourselves to these non-negotiables.  Is it biblical?  Is it missional? Is it reproducible.