In the game of basketball, when ball handlers don’t have a shot nor a teammate to pass to, they pivot. Keeping the ball of one foot planted on the court, they rotate on the pivot foot seeking a shot or teammate to receive the ball. Since the object of the game is to advance the ball and score, pivoting is a basic skill players learn for those possessions when they cannot do either.
While it certainly looks different in ministry, the pivot is an important skill for the local church, too. If they are not careful, churches can hold on to legacy practices that once filled a vital function but no longer help to advance Christ’s mission. Some may even hinder the mission.
For example, when Karen and I served in Nebraska, I knew a pastor whose church was planted by immigrants from Germany, with services in the German language. This held true even as successive generations spoke English. Finally, twenty years before my friend became pastor, they took the dramatic step of allowing sermons in English. But they continued singing in German. The elders of the church valued their heritage and felt the music was their connection with it. But no longer did anyone in the church actually speak the language. My friend knew they had reached a point that this particular grip on heritage was costing them opportunities for making disciples for Jesus Christ. It took time, but he led them to pivot.
My point here is not that legacy and heritage ministries are bad. When they help the church fulfill it’s purpose, they are rich testimonies to the Lord’s work through them. But when a practice or program, new or old, no longer advances the church’s mission, it’s time to seek a new path forward. I advise leaders, do so as a shepherd, not a bulldozer, and prepare for the grief that loss of favored ministries might bring. But when it’s time to pivot, then pivot.
Because there’s something worse than the loss brought on by a pivot. It’s the lost opportunity to glorify the Lord through faithful obedience to His mission.
Blessings,
.Bro. Jim