The European church is in a state of decline. The pressure on the church and its leaders is immense. But this time is a great time for the astonishing leaders who are willing to disrupt the fulcrum of their “negative” thinking, lengthen the lever of possibility and maximise the input of effort. To these few I have learnt that “all things are possible.”

As I sit quietly contemplating, away from the endless interruptions of consultancy. I’ve distilled what I have learnt in my quest to “enable the local church to thrive” into three simple lessons.

1. Disrupt your thinking

“If you want different results, you must do different things.” – Albert Einstein

Invisible containments paralyse many church leaders and team members. Despite their exhaustion and ever diminishing results they delude themselves with magnified stories of hope that desperately seek to maintain the illusion of growth and blessing. It takes guts to say, “It’s not working.” But the transformational potential that such a statement brings is immense.

Let me encourage you to read magazines that you do not normally read, talk to people you do not normally talk to. Go to churches and places you do not usually visit. Disrupt your thinking so it stays fresh, hungry and excellent. Simply put, “If it’s not working, change what you are thinking!”

2. Lengthen the lever of possibility

Archimedes, the greatest scientist and mathematician of ancient Greece famously stated, “Give me a lever long enough, and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world.”

In your mind’s eye picture two 100 pound boys sat either end of a sea saw. Both are sat at an equal distance from the fulcrum and therefore balance each other. Now change the weight of the boys to 75 pounds and the other 125 pounds, the heaviest boy is now sat on the ground and the lighter boy is at the mercy of his heavy friend as he hangs in the air. For the lighter boy to gain the advantage we would need to move the fulcrum towards the heavier boy in order to lengthen the lever and enable him to lift the heavier boy.