Flawed thinking, organizationally, leads us to believe that the reason we have so many small churches in the Church of God is that the pastors and the people in these churches have not been exposed to the right plan or formula that will create respectable growth for them.  Thisfaulty thinking creates an environment for the “magic bullet syndrome” to infest the ranks of pastoral ministry, which leads to disillusionment, discouragement, and ultimately defeat.

The concept of the “magic bullet syndrome”refers to being obsessed with the belief that there is a simple and easy solution that will quickly solve complex issues.  This syndrome becomes debilitating when this obsession controls the thinking and drives people to pursue these illusions ofvictoryand success with reckless abandon.  The perils of the“magic bullet syndrome” were firstdiscussedby M. P. Dumont and D. C. Lewis in 1972 in the Massachusetts Journal of Mental Healthas it related to the burgeoningbarbituratecrisis(tranquilizers, sleeping pills, and similar drugs)of the 1960’s and 1970’s.  During this time billions of dosages of these drugs were prescribed to the public, which over time caused the public to view these drugs as the “magic bullets” for their mental health maladies.Dumont and Lewisidentified thisproblem and recommended a detailed method of reeducating the public to understand the proper use of these drugs.

In the church, the“magic bullet syndrome”describes the currentpredicament that pastors find themselves in today. Every pastor wants the church they serve to grow, so we passionately seek for answers.In our desperation weattend meeting after meetingto hear the latest formula or plan that will break the barrier that we cannot break or usher in a new season of increase for us. We have been led to believe that all we need is the right formula or plan, a “magic bullet”.We arespellbound by catchy titles for conferences and books that promise us simple, easy, and quick transformations for our struggling churches. We are even taught to surround ourselves with successful pastors (those that serve a larger church than you do) because they have the words of the “magic bullet” and you could not possibly gain anything by associating with fellow pastors that are serving in a church like yours.Ed Stetzer wrote about our dilemma in a recent article,

“As a speaker at a number of conferences each year, I continue to see pastors and leaders going from one workshop to another searching for “THE” answer. They show up and hear amazing stories about implausibly happy people who willingly follow a new vision for their lives and their church.

They have heard all the strategies and promises, but for many small-church leaders, the conferences, led by rock star celebrity pastors, are like “ministry pornography”– an unrealistic depiction of an experience they’ll never have that distracts them from the real and wonderful thing.

In other words, the lust of the megachurch distracts them from the mission of their church.”

“Ministry pornography”? Graphic but true. The search for the “magic bullet” consumes pastors. Our identity is wrapped up in adopting the latest style of ministry, introducing the newest formula for success, and being in the group with the cool pastors. On a large scale, pastors arecaptive to the “magic bullet syndrome” and have been enculturated topassively wait for the successful pastors to hold a conference or write a book so they can emulate the success of those pastors.In 2017, Thom Rainer wrote a blog that listed the “magic bullet syndrome” as a roadblock to revitalizing a churchand further wrote, “the magic bullet syndrome never works. Never.”If we are going tofulfill the mission task God has for us, we must shatter the “magic bullet syndrome” that dominatesour thinking and hinders the work of the Holy Spirt.

Truths that will change your thinking and shatter the “magic bullet syndrome”.