Many pastors have watched someone begin to change. A man starts reading his Bible every morning. A couple who had been drifting begin to take their faith seriously. A new believer is eager, full of questions, and shows up for everything the church offers. Then, a year or two later, much of it has quietly slipped. Old habits are back, and the eagerness has settled into something more ordinary. Nobody left the church. The change just did not last.
When a pastor sees that happen again and again, it is natural to wonder what the church is doing wrong. Often the teaching is sound and the people are sincere, and still the change fades. Two common reasons stand out. Lasting change takes far longer than most of us expect. And much of a church’s attention naturally goes to the moment change begins, not to the long stretch that follows.
Growth Is Meant to Keep Going
Paul had followed Christ for many years when he wrote to the Philippians. Yet he did not describe himself as finished:
“I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.”
Philippians 3:12–14, NLT
Paul knew Christ deeply, and he still spoke of pressing on. Christ had taken hold of him, and he kept reaching toward everything Christ had called him to. If Paul was still pressing on after all those years, the people in our congregations are still on the way too. Growth in Christ takes a lifetime.
When Change Is Expected Too Quickly
Many believers, and often those of us who lead them, quietly expect real change to be quicker and more complete than it usually is. Someone makes a decision or a long struggle seems to break, and it feels as though the matter is settled. Then the old pattern returns, and they conclude it didn’t work or that they failed. Some stop trying.
Paul spoke of a race he was still running. When people understand that growth is a long road, the return of an old habit does not have to look like proof that nothing was ever real.
When Most of the Attention Goes to Beginnings
The second difficulty is where a church’s attention naturally goes. Beginnings are easy to see and easy to celebrate: someone comes to faith, joins a class, takes a new step or responds to a message. Churches are right to give those moments care. The months that follow are quieter. Yet that is where change is strengthened or slowly lost. Because nothing marks those months, they easily get less attention.
The book of Acts shows Paul and Barnabas giving real attention to that stretch:
“After preaching the Good News in Derbe and making many disciples, Paul and Barnabas returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch of Pisidia, where they strengthened the believers. They encouraged them to continue in the faith, reminding them that we must suffer many hardships to enter the Kingdom of God. Paul and Barnabas also appointed elders in every church. With prayer and fasting, they turned the elders over to the care of the Lord, in whom they had put their trust.”
Acts 14:21–23, NLT
They went back to people who had already believed. They strengthened them, urged them to keep going and were honest that the way ahead would be hard. They made sure each church would have leaders to care for it after they left. Some time later, Paul said to Barnabas, “Let’s go back and visit each city where we previously preached the word of the Lord, to see how the new believers are doing” (Acts 15:36, NLT). For Paul, the day someone believed was not the end of his concern for them.
What a Church Can Do
None of this means a church can make change last, no matter how realistic its expectations or how faithful its care. Growth is God’s work. Even Paul and Barnabas, after strengthening the churches, entrusted their leaders to the Lord.
But a church can still be faithful. It can help people expect a long road, so that setbacks are not mistaken for failure. And it can give the months after a beginning some of the care it gives the beginning itself: going back to people, asking how they are doing and encouraging them to continue.
The Deeper Question
If lasting growth is God’s work, and if it takes a lifetime, a deeper question remains: what does Scripture say actually makes growth last? That question is taken up in What Actually Produces Lasting Spiritual Growth.
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
