Why Your Church Might Not Be Stuck... It Just Needs Glasses
- Jason Stonehouse
- Jul 7, 2025
- 2 min read
Let’s just say it: churches are notorious for diagnosing themselves poorly. Like the guy who insists he has back problems, when really his pants are just too tight, we misread symptoms and blame the wrong things.
Pastors say, "We're stuck." Elders say, "People just aren't committed anymore." Congregants whisper, "This place isn't what it used to be."
Cue the dramatic music.
But what if you're not stuck? What if you're just misaligned? Or squinting at the dashboard with blurry lenses? I’ve worked with churches for years now, and here’s what I’ve found: most churches aren’t stuck. They’re just seeing through the wrong glasses.
The Glasses of Nostalgia
These are the "remember when?" bifocals. Helpful for honoring the past, unhelpful for leading in the present. Churches wearing these glasses often filter every decision through what used to work. But leadership isn't archaeology. The Spirit of God is moving now.
The Glasses of Assumption
"Everyone knows what we’re about," we say. No, they don't. And if you haven’t clarified it in the last 12 months, they definitely don’t. These glasses make your mission invisible to everyone but the insiders. And even they are just guessing.
The Glasses of Complexity
Every church leader who’s ever said, "Well, it's complicated," is probably wearing these. They fog up the more you talk. Systems get bloated. Meetings multiply. Vision turns into a PDF file no one reads. Simplicity gets traded for sophistication, and before long you’re solving problems you don’t even have.
The Glasses of Lone Ranger Leadership
This is the senior pastor who's holding it all together with duct tape, coffee, and a slowly dying dream. I've been there. When you’re leading from burnout, you start seeing the church as a problem to fix instead of a people to love. And that’s not just blurry, that’s blind.
So What Do You Actually Need?
You need a fresh set of lenses.
You need to step back and ask:
Do we have clarity on what matters most?
Do our structures support movement or block it?
Are we empowering leaders or exhausting them?
Is the Spirit actually guiding us, or are we just winging it with good intentions?
The good news? Churches can regain their vision. I’ve watched it happen. I’ve led it to happen. And it usually starts not with a new strategy, but with new clarity.
So next time your church says it’s stuck, check the glasses.
You might just need a better prescription.
Or looser pants.
Season 3, Episode 15 of The Calm and Confident Leader Podcast goes deeper into many of these concepts including some additional action steps to work through with your team.
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