If the gospel message is true, and Jesus is who he claimed to be, then why do so many churches seem to be struggling and failing? Churches that once started with a tremendous sense of mission, and grew with enthusiasm, have then gone through a period of stagnation followed by a slow but inexorable decline. Perhaps part of the answer is given in chapter 12 of Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians.
According to Paul, the Holy Spirit gives different spiritual gifts to different people in the church, for the benefit of all. When everyone is using his or her spiritual gift in the manner intended for the building up of the church, the church as a whole thrives. When people start withdrawing their gifts from the community of believers, or when people start taking on roles that they are not gifted to do, the church becomes dysfunctional.
It is very common to find in a declining church that the people leading the music are not gifted musicians, the people doing the preaching are not gifted preachers, the people leading the church are not gifted leaders, and most people in the congregation are spectators rather than participants in the work of the church. Having the wrong people in the wrong positions is not the only possible cause of church decline, but it certainly is a significant one.