Gary Hamel, in a blog for The Wall Street Journal, called “Organized Religion’s ‘Management Problem,’” suggests precisely this: we’re suffering because  we prefer comfort to ______ (insert just about anything).  Yes, the economy sucks and there are issues with society, but for the most part, the problem has been a failure of leadership.

Using comparisons, such as GM’s refusal to adopt innovation, despite the moves of its competitors, Hamel argues that the church seems to be locked into institutional static.

I have made a similar comparison for several years now.  Many have the attitude that they are working for retirement.  I’m sure you’ve encountered this (unless all the people that have said this seem to have voiced this opinion only to me).  The point of the job is as a place holder for retirement.  If only we could quit work today and live on social security and a pension.  In the church, we seem to work with the same mindset.  We work today so that tomorrow we don’t have to do anything.  If we can afford a full-time clergy or pay off the building, we can coast into retirement.  Sometimes, we even count down the days.

But should our lives be wasted until we hit 67?  Should we see work as a placeholder?  For many, retirement is something worth escaping.  Just as many people that have said to me that they are looking forward to retirement tell me that they are busier now in retirement than they were when they were working!  What if we brought that same enthusiasm to the church?

There are many solutions that we could discuss here, but I simply suggest this:

What if we stopped looking at our local congregations as having arrived (in retirement) and instead encouraged ourselves to live the lives we have?