Causes or Symptoms?

Throughout history, the church has often struggled to discern what mattered most. Innumerable battles have been waged over periphery concerns. Just because someone is passionate or angry about something doesn’t mean it’s an issue of great importance.

When the gospel was spreading across the Gentile world, some Jewish Christians believed it was essential to ensure converts embraced Jewish ways. In the Middle Ages, enormous arguments erupted over which words were used in the Eucharist. When the church became corrupted, its members were less bothered by the corruption itself than by people drawing attention to it. In recent years, churches have split because the piano was relocated, the order of service was rearranged, or a song written after the Reformation was inserted in the song set.

At a conference focused on renewing struggling, declining churches, a woman approached me after a session and asked why young people no longer attended church. I told her that if you ask the wrong questions, you will arrive at the wrong conclusions. She should have asked why young people weren’t coming to her church. Young people were attending plenty of other churches, just not hers. She wanted to focus on the problems with today’s youth rather than addressing issues in her own congregation. The lack of young people wasn’t the problem; it was merely a symptom.

It’s easier to identify symptoms than it is to address root causes. Many pastors loudly lament people’s reluctance to serve in the church, but they fail to consider how they treat the volunteers they already have. Churches may berate young adults for not coming to Sunday services but ignore that demographic’s needs when they do attend. Parents might criticize their teenage children for not opening up to them about their problems but respond in a demeaning manner when they do.

We live in a society that likes to engage in loud debates about symptoms but seems to be incapable of solving root problems. When you focus only on symptoms, the underlying issue continues to fester. Symptoms are easy to address. And in the short term, the problem may seem to ease. But effective leaders dig deep. They get to the core of the issue. They refuse to be sidetracked until they have thoroughly and completely resolved a nagging problem.

Oh that we had more such leaders in society, the church, and the home today!