Personality Driven Churches

churchmarketingsucks.com posted some thoughts on "personality-driven" churches. Doesn't it seem that a lot of churches work at getting a "big name" pastor in order to drive up attendance? Churches could be much more effective at driving up attendance if they actually did something outside of their property (besides giving money to people who actually are doing something). One of the biggest problems within the church is that we are so busy "doing church" that we don't have time to be the church. By depending on the name of a pastor, churches are abdicating their fundamental role, being salt (a preservative of good things) and light (exposing evil) in the world.

Powerful statement of the post? "If the church is not being built to last for generations to come, then what is it being built for?" I'd add to that the idea that it must be effective for generations to come. There are churches that just sustain for decades, but outside of the families that make up those churches, no one is affected at all. These churches aren't salt and light, but a fortress.

Most importantly, what kind of church do you attend? Is it a fortress? Is it driven by personality? Is it designed for long term success in winning people to Christ and changing the world?