The Best Defense
You must live with people to know their problems, and live with God in order to solve them.
P.T. Forsyth
With the right spirit, a clumsy church structure will work. Without the right spirit, an ideal structure won't work.
Malcolm Cronk
After looking at the diverse dragons that can threaten a church, what are the best defenses?
Landscapers know the best way to prevent weeds is not to attack them individually. Uprooting stubborn dandelions or chickweed one by one will improve appearances temporarily, but within days, the troublesome plants will be back. The best way to handle weeds is a thick, healthy lawn, which keeps them from springing up in the first place.
Likewise pastors, who are charged to "see to it … that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many" (Heb. 12:15), find that the best way to prevent dragon blight, or at least minimize its damage, is to concentrate on developing a healthy church.
Taking opportunities to build a close, cohesive church will produce better results than the shrewdest political maneuvers after problems sprout. Defusing potential problems before they arise is far better than troubleshooting later on.
What are the keys to dragon-proofing a church? Obviously no technique is 100-percent sure, but there are several principles pastors have found helpful in building church health.
Encouraging a Positive Atmosphere
Some churches enjoy fighting. So do some pastors. Feisty, do-or-die leaders have a way of developing feisty churches.
Columnist Joseph Bayly observed in Eternity magazine, "Fighters must fight. Generals and admirals are never so happy as when they are involved in a big or little war. Boxers are never so happy as when they are pounding opponents insensate. Battling pastors and battling ...
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