"At some point in the life of most local churches a critical point is reached when the core fellowship of those committed to gospel vision are outnumbered by a fringe who are there for quite different reasons, be it spiritual comfort, kids activities, personal support, or whatever.
Regardless of the particular type of church government, all fellowships struggle to maintain focus around core vision when the fringe, be they believers or not, outnumber the gospel-oriented core.
It is very hard to maintain focus, or alter any aspect of church life to reflect the gospel needs of a fresh generation, when the majority are committed to maintaining their comfort.
When this happens "Christians" have been replaced with "churchgoers" who assume they are Christians." Marcus Honeysett
The reason that new church plants succeed in reaching more unchurched people than do churches 5 years old or older is just what Honeysett outlines here. Gradually the organization becomes the focus. The number of people who are involved in the core mission shrinks, while the organizational work gets done. The ministries starve for lack of funding, but the buildings get taken care of.
Churches like that may max out on Lottie Moon offerings and the like, but they are practicing missions by proxy. The greatest change agent we have to bring to bear on the human soul is the love of Jesus Christ flowing through them as they do work for His glory. It's not information they need - it's inspiration - God's Holy Spirit working through them.
When that doesn't happen - when the leadership isn't clued into missional attitudes and practice - the church is dead. It may look thriving from the street, may draw a crowd, but once the cultural "Christians" outnumber the disciples, decline has begun and save radical intervention, someone should call a code.
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