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What’s Up: Most pastors aren’t leading their churches toward the mission of making disciples.
So What: If you don’t make time for mission (disciple-making), you’re failing at the primary job of the church. And the statistics don’t lie – most churches in the U.S. are in decline. Coincidence? Hardly.
The Point Is:
Pastors Are Spending Time on the Wrong Things. The average pastor dedicates less than four hours per week to outreach and community engagement. Instead, they’re buried in sermon prep, administration, and counseling – important, but not the mission.
Declining Churches Have This in Common. When I asked the student who shared this research how many of the pastors he interviewed were leading growing churches, the response was crickets. Why? Because churches that aren’t actively reaching the lost are dying. It’s that simple.
Time Allocation Determines Mission Success. Want to know why so many churches are shrinking? Because their pastors are inside the church walls too much. If you’re not networking with the unchurched, you’re just shuffling deck chairs on the Titanic.
A Simple Fix: Reallocate 10 Hours. Carve out ten hours a week from your schedule for mission-critical tasks like outreach, networking with the unchurched, and disciple-making efforts. No excuses – make it happen.
And … ?
Here’s the hard truth: The mission of the church isn’t running board meetings, babysitting committees, or tweaking the worship service to perfection. The mission is making disciples, more and better ones. And let’s be real: better disciples always make more disciples. If your schedule doesn’t reflect that priority, you’re off course.
We know the numbers. Depending on whose research you trust, 66% to 85% of churches in the U.S. are in some state of decline. And that 85%? That was before COVID. You think things have magically gotten better? Hardly. It’s time to wake up to the reality that pastors need to spend more time with those outside the church than inside it.
It’s easy to diagnose the problem. It’s harder to fix it. But the solution isn’t complicated: Reallocate your time. Prioritize mission. Get outside your office. Start engaging with people who don’t already know Jesus.
Action!
Get out of your office starting today! If you don’t know how to start, grab a free copy of the Get More Time Planner and open up ten hours a week for mission-critical outreach.
