Over the last few years I have sought to become a student of church health and growth. I grew up in churches that were of varying sizes and was always struck by the differences. What exactly makes a church grow? Why do some churches grow strong and healthy while others seem to limp along barely surviving?

The answers to those questions are vital to the health, growth, and longevity of the church.

In my search to understand the difference between a growing, healthy church and a declining church I read a lot. I make it a point to read the research and studies of church health and growth experts. In reading so much I have noticed trends among the experts regarding what it takes to reach younger generations and have a growing, healthy church. Let me share a couple of those trends with you.

I’m just looking at three of the most recent articles I’ve come across relating to church health and growth. But in each of these three articles several consistent trends appear to contribute to the decline and death of the church.

The first consistent characteristic in declining churches is that of opposition to change.

Thom Rainer, president of Lifeway for the Southern Baptist Convention, writing at his own blog, says that one of the most common factors in declining churches is “any change necessary to become a Great Commission church is met with anger and resistance.” But Rainer isn’t along in this conclusion.

Frank Matthew Powell, recently wrote that a strong resistance to change” is one of the main reasons churches are not reaching millennials and are slowly dying. Powell writes:

“This generation does not understand a refusal to change a program, activity, or even an entire culture if it is not working. Traditions are not something most Millennials hold close to their heart…Millennials are removed from the era of doing everything because ‘this is how we have always done it.’ That answer is no longer acceptable. A very strong value of this generation is changing the world. Many times traditions hold them back from doing this. In addition, the next generation understands change is necessary to remain focused on the vision and being externally focused, among many other things.”

Powell connects resistance to change with the fact that many churches are not able to reach younger generations. Because churches often want to get comfortable and keep things as they are, they are not doing what is needed to reach the younger generations. This is problematic in many ways. For one it limits the scope of the churches reach with the Gospel. But it also ensures that soon the church will be faced with its own mortality as it grows smaller for a lack of young people.

The second consistent characteristic in declining churches is viewing culture as the enemy.

In the very same articles both Rainer and Powell explain that viewing culture as the enemy instead of a tool hinders many churches from reaching younger generations and will lead to a declining church. Rainer writes:

“Culture is seen as the enemy instead of an opportunity for believers to become salt and light.”

Powell says:

“Millennials are increasingly optimistic about the surrounding culture because they see Jesus loving all types of people, loving cities, and engaging culture. They also know the church does not stand at the center of culture anymore, and reaching people only comes through engaging culture. In generations past, preachers could stand in the pulpit and talk about the evils of the surrounding culture because the church was the shaper of the culture at large. Today, this is not true. The church needs to stop believing the goal of Christian living is to escape the evils of culture and finish life unharmed and untainted. To reach people in 2014, the church must be immersed in the community for the glory of God.”

This is how ministry has changed in recent years. Though it might have worked at one time to avoid culture, that idea is now obsolete and untenable. Any church hoping to survive must now look for ways to engage the culture with the glorious Gospel of Jesus for the purpose of sharing His message of hope with others. The churches that do this effectively are growing and seeing lives changed. The churches that refuse to engage culture are declining and will continue to do so.

The third consistent characteristic in declining churches is an inward focus.

Rainer and Powell once again echo each other with this thought. But Rainer makes this point in many articles. In his “Autopsy of a Deceased Church,” Rainer says that two things characteristic in a deceased church is that “the church refused to look like the community,” and “the church had no community-focused ministries.”

Rainer says in the previously referenced article several factors in declining churches are: ‘There are very few attempts to minister to those in the community,” and any existing “ministries are only for the members.”

Powell says an “insider-focused” mentality is one of the main reasons churches are not reaching younger generations.

“What is important to Millennials? How a church responds to the lost in the world, both locally and globally. How a church responds to the poor, homeless, needy, and widowed. If you want to ensure your church has very few Millennials, answer the questions nobody is asking, spend most of your resources on your building, and have a lot of programs that do little to impact anybody outside the church walls…Millennials are not going to give their time and resources to a church that turns around and spends massive amounts of money on programs and events that are inefficient and ineffective. The reality is most of the next generation has a very pessimistic attitude towards institutions…the church included. Church leaders can get mad or frustrated about this reality, or they can change some things. The churches who value reaching the next generation emphasize the latter.”

There’s nothing in the life and ministry of Jesus that points inward. Everything Jesus did, said, and taught was focused outwardly with a Gospel-centric emphasis. If the church wants to reach younger generations and avoid declining it must do the same.

The conclusion here is obvious. Any church that is resistant to change, views culture as the enemy, and has an inward focus will slowly but surely decline. The evidence of this fact is clearly seen in the reality that, according to the Southern Baptist Convention, some 1,500 churches close their doors each year.

So every church has the opportunity to be healthy, vibrant, and growing. The difference will depend on whether the church is willing to make the necessary changes to see health and growth, or not. There is a clear end for every church depending on the outcome of that decision.