"If It Is Not Broken, Do Not Fix It!"

Have you ever heard the expression, “If it is not broken, do not fix it?” I know you have and we all understand what that means, right? Simply put, if something is working well there is no need to tinker with it and risk the possibility of messing it up! Years ago, Linda and I purchased our first colored television from an individual. It was an older model, but it had a good picture and great sound, so we enjoyed it. At some point, I decided that I could improve the picture quality by “fine tuning” the horizontal, vertical, color contrast and some other items. When I finished “fixing it,” the picture was hardly recognizable. We would have been much better off, if I had never tried to fix something that was not broken.

A lot of things are like that. Sometimes a person hears Dr. Phil make some claim that a little adjusting of a relationship will make it much richer. A tweak here and a nip there is supposed to make a good marriage great! Remember the theme of this article? Messing with a good marriage to make it better sometimes has catastrophic affects. There is nothing wrong with trying to improve a relationship, but it is often best left alone if it is working for those involved.

I have found the same thing is true with a church! If a church is at peace, happy and loving on each other, why mess with it? If that same church is reaching out to the lost in the community with reasonably good success, why risk ruining that ministry? The list could go on, but you get the idea, right? “If it is not broken, do not fix it!” When we start tinkering with the church, we can find ourselves much worse in the end than we were in the beginning! Then, the question can be asked, “how’s that working for you?”

Many peaceful, growing, and loving churches have become frustrated, cold, and lifeless because someone thought they knew something about “church growth” when the truth is that the church belongs to Jesus and He said, “I will build my church!”

"Range Wars & Church Leadership!"

I know you have read about the “wars” that were fought between the cattlemen and sheep herders in the wild, wild West. These “wars” were very prevalent in west Texas and other places where pasture was at a premium. Do you know why the two groups could not get along?

The problem was that sheep graze differently that cattle. Cattle will usually only eat the tops of the grass and not get down close to the ground. It has something to do with the physical structure of their mouths, etc. Sheep, however, can (and will) graze to the point of eating the grass right down to ground level, therefore, making it impossible for cattle to graze on the same land. Obviously, this produced a huge problem for the cattle ranchers as they drove their cattle to the market. Many of them, if they did not die from hunger, had lost so much weight their value decreased dramatically.

Also, remember that one would “drive” cattle, but “lead” sheep! The sheep would just keep on eating until there was nothing left unless those in charge led them to a different area. Occasionally, a sheep would wander off by itself in search of food and fall prey to a hungry beast or become trapped in a vine, but others would die in the field from a lack of food. The problem was not with the sheep nor cattle, but with those whose job it was to lead them to greener pastures.

It is not unlike the responsibilities of tending to the flock of God today! God’s people have to be led, not driven! They will stay in the same spot forever unless someone leads them to greener spiritual pastures. Now, that is risky! God’s sheep may resist being led away from a barren, life-threatening area, but that resistance does not lessen the responsibility of those gifted with leadership.

However, if they are not led to greener pastures where life is, they will die in a barren wasteland. Some will wander off in search of food for their souls, but others will remain stagnant and die spiritually. The result is the same regardless!

--- Bill Butterfield
January 27,2012