In many of today’s churches there is a lack of want or willingness to change. People often become stuck in their ways wanting to keep things “traditional” because “that’s simply the way it has always been”. This thought process can often be seen in smaller churches or churches on the brink of “death”. I for instance, see this in my own home church, where there are many older members and we are struggling to bring in more young people.
Throughout an article entitled “WHY WE NEED MORE ENTREPRENEURIAL CHURCH LEADERS, NOT MORE SHEPHERDS” I think the author, Carey Nieuwhof, does a very good job of breaking down why exactly it is that many churches today are failing to grow and spread the gospel in the way they were meant to. He discusses how there seems to be many “shepherds” out in the world today who are ready to lead people for Christ but there are not so many “apostles”. When referring to apostles he brings up the apostle Paul who he says not only left a huge impact on the church but also many people outside of the church because he was a spiritual entrepreneur. Paul helped to launch dozens of new communities toward Christ and aspired to do much, much more.
Carey then talks about smaller churches and says by saying these things that he is not trying to slam them in any way, but rather he wants people to realize that there should be no cap. A church should always be looking to innovate and bring others to Christ and if they can do that better in a smaller group or setting that’s great, but never put a cap on things. In addition, after discussing these things Carey then jumps into 5 things that an entrepreneurial leader is able to provide, which include: the willingness to risk, experimentation, a restless discontent with the status quo, boldness, and a bias for action. If a struggling church either finds a good leader who is already innovative and willing to do these things, or that church comes together and works to make innovation one of their goals then they can definitely do great things for God and the furtherance of his kingdom and turn things around.

Article Link:

https://careynieuwhof.com/why-we-need-more-entrepreneurial-church-leaders-not-more-shepherds/