Churches and ministries can learn an important lesson from a lobster.
A lobster has powerful claws designed to grab and hold. Once it grabs hold of something, it can be extremely difficult to make it let go. When threatened, a lobster often retreats rather than moving ahead.
Sometimes churches and ministries act like lobsters. They grab hold of a tradition, a program, a method, or an old way of doing ministry, and they refuse to let go. Eventually, what once helped them move forward becomes the very thing that keeps them from advancing.
Don’t be a lobster!
There is nothing wrong with tradition. Traditions can remind us of what God has done in the past. They can preserve important values and help pass truth from one generation to another. But we must never allow our traditions to become more important than our mission.
Jesus confronted this problem among the religious leaders of His day. He told them, “You have made the commandment of God of no effect by your tradition” (Matthew 15:6 NKJV). Their traditions had become so important that they were keeping people from experiencing what God wanted to do.
Churches can fall into the same trap today.
“We have always done it this way.”
“We have never done that before.”
“That type of ministry will never work here.”
“Our church does not do things like that.”
These words reveal a lobster mentality. They represent claws tightly gripping the past.
Honor the Past, Reach for the Future
We should honor what God has done in previous generations. We stand on the shoulders of those who came before us. Their prayers, sacrifices, faith, and obedience made our ministries possible.
But yesterday’s methods may not always reach today’s generation.
The Gospel never changes. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. The Word of God remains true. The Great Commission still commands us to “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15 NKJV).
Our message remains the same, but our methods can change.
The Apostle Paul understood this principle. He wrote, “I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some” (1 Corinthians 9:22 NKJV). Paul adapted his approach without compromising his message. His goal was reaching people with the Gospel.
That same attitude should characterize every church and ministry.
Ask the Right Question
Sometimes churches ask, “How can we keep doing what we have always done?”
A better question is, “How can we reach people who are not being reached?”
That question changes everything.
It may cause a church to embrace social media. It may inspire an evangelist to preach somewhere new. It may lead a ministry to use technology in ways previous generations never imagined. It may require changing a service schedule, launching a new outreach, training young leaders, or trying an idea that has never been attempted before.
Innovation always involves risk. Some new ideas will succeed. Others will fail. But failure while trying to reach people is better than slowly becoming irrelevant because we refused to try.
Methods Are Tools, Not Treasures
Every method of ministry should serve the mission.
At one time, a particular program may have produced tremendous fruit. Thousands may have been reached through it. Lives may have been changed. Churches may have grown because of it.
Thank God for what happened!
But we should never worship the method God used yesterday.
When a fisherman discovers that the fish have moved, he moves his boat. He does not sit in the same place for twenty years complaining that the fish used to bite there.
Evangelism requires us to continually ask, “Where are the people, and how can we reach them?”
Today, billions of people carry smartphones. Young people spend hours online. Entire communities communicate through social media. Digital platforms can take the Gospel into nations where traditional ministry is difficult. These tools create opportunities previous generations of evangelists could scarcely have imagined.
We should use every righteous means available to proclaim Jesus.
Keep Moving Forward
Paul wrote, “Forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal” (Philippians 3:13 to 14 NKJV).
Paul honored his past, but he did not live there. His eyes were focused forward.
Every church and ministry should have the same attitude.
Celebrate yesterday’s victories. Tell the stories. Honor the pioneers. Remember the miracles. Thank God for every person who was saved.
Then ask, “What does God want us to do next?”
There are still people who need Jesus. There are still cities waiting to hear the Gospel. There are still nations that need evangelists. There is another generation waiting to be reached.
So loosen your grip on methods that have stopped producing fruit. Be willing to change. Be willing to learn. Be willing to innovate. Be willing to follow the Holy Spirit into something new.
Keep the message. Keep the mission. Keep preaching Jesus.
But when God says it is time to move, let go and move forward.
Don’t be a lobster!
