At a church-growth workshop the leader, Bill Easum, who himself grew a church from 29 members to over 2,400 members, said that too often the questions churches ask themselves are questions that are motivated by a desire to maintain whatever is comfortable. That's why some have said that the seven last words of the church are "We've never done it that way before."

Bill Easum spoke of the three greatest sins of the church, and one of them was, "We're more in love with our traditions than we are with our missions." If we are intent on preserving the patterns of church life we've grown comfortable with, we'll soon discover that God has moved on and left us behind. God is always out there ahead of us, leading us into the future, and if we want to be working hand in hand with God, we have to be willing to ask the right questions. Not, "What can we do to preserve what we find comfortable?" but "What can we do to be partners with God in mission?" The first question leads to a church that is dead and declining; the second to a church that is alive and dynamic.