Such a big difference...

This is the time of year that, when pastors ask what season it is during Children's time, some little one is going to say "Football!" As schools resume and summer turns into fall, the wonderful world of high school, college and professional football cranks up. Saturday afternoon, I watched the Duke/Alabama football game (or, at least I watched as much of it as I could bear). If Duke was going to be brave enough to play the #1 team in the nation, I felt like I should watch. I noticed something. At halftime, when the TV commentators are walking the coach off the field, the Alabama coach -- whose team was ahead by a trillion points--said they were going to have to work harder toward the high standard they set for Alabama football.
Hmmm. There was no smug "we are killing them, look how good we are" kind of attitude. The coach went into the locker room saying that they had things they needed to work on, things they needed to improve, things he needed to bring to their attention.

I contrast this attitude with the attitude I find in too many churches -- which is an attitude of being offended at the suggestion there is anything they might want to improve. Somehow, it's an insult to many of our church members that they might need to improve their welcome, improve their stewardship, do a better job of reaching out to their community, etc. Instead of churches adopting the attitude "We have a high standard and we are not going to stop until we're the very best we can be", too many churches have the attitude "We are doing just fine. Don't insult us with the idea that there are ways we need to change or improve."
Amazing. And the stark contrast is even more heart-breaking because the statistics show that with the competition of the culture shifts, many of our churches are NOT doing just fine. They are declining.
Make no mistake about it: Alabama has a great football team this year. But they are great because they don't go around congratulating themselves on how great they are. They are great because they are working at it. They don't take things for granted (even an opponent like Duke) and they keep looking for things they can do better. I'm not a Crimson Tide fan, but I am a big fan of the attitude that makes them great.
United Methodism's founder and first coach, John Wesley, was passionate about a constant need to grow for Christians. His teaching about Christian perfection is one of the unique hallmarks of United Methodism. John Wesley would not recognize a church that said, "We are doing just fine. We don't need to revitalize. We don't need to change." He would absolutely not understand any Christian who said, "Leave us alone. We like things just the way they are." John Wesley had a divine impatience that fueled a constant drive to growth--a more perfect love. United Methodists were ALWAYS geared to grow in holiness.
The United Methodist way -- whether a church is thriving or struggling--is to say, "What can we do better? How can we grow in our faithfulness to Christ? How can we be more effective in sharing God's love with the world?" A church that just wants to congratulate itself is in deep trouble spiritually, no matter what the numbers are. If football teams and coaches understand the constant need for improvement, shouldn't our churches--with the most important mission in the world--be thoroughly committed to being the best we can be for Christ?