Tradition
You knew this one would get in here. Tradition has killed many a church. When churches pursue the past more than they pursue people, that church will die. Many times preachers will preach on the last seven words of Jesus, the seven phrases Jesus said while on the cross. I’ll never forget what a Bible college professor told me once. He said, “Do you know what the last seven words of a church are? We’ve never done it that way before.” Instead of operating as an Emergency Room for the spiritually sick and needy, some churches prefer to operate as a museum, faithfully attempting to preserve American culture as it existed in the 1950s. If the 1950s ever come back, those churches are going to be perfectly poised to reach their world. Until then, they’re going to struggle.
