Facing Facts

One of the most serious dangers we see congregations facing today? The inability and/or unwillingness to deal with unpleasant facts. There are way too many congregations, in fact, that wait until their resources are nearly exhausted to begin asking the question, "What do we need to do differently?!"Here's one possible explanation:"Research has shown that Americans are bad at assessing their performance and skills. Apparently, part of our national character — optimism — keeps us from interpreting feedback accurately. And our overconfidence results in errors that are sometimes critical." [From an NPR "Science Out Of The Box" report. Listen to the story here.If you're a church leader today, in the middle of this changing culture, one of your main jobs is to help people in your congregation face facts. It might help to know what you're up against.