Top 35 Thom S. Rainer Quotes (2025 Update)

1. “Matthew 28:19–20: “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” The imperative in those verses is “go.” But as we go, there are several sub-commands. We are to make disciples. We are to baptize. We are to teach.”

— Thom S. Rainer

2. “Faith and optimism are contagious.”

— Thom S. Rainer

3. “So if we approach church membership from the perspective of entitlement, we have it upside down. You always ask first what you can do for your church.”

— Thom S. Rainer

4. “Some churches would rather die than to get out of the comfort of the past.”

— Thom S. Rainer

5. “Confident and courageous leaders have no problems pointing out their own weaknesses and ignorance.”

— Thom S. Rainer

6. “The concept of an inactive church member is an oxymoron. Biblically, no such church member really exists.”

— Thom S. Rainer

7. “Being a good steward of those material things that God has given our churches is good. Becoming obsessed with any one item to the neglect of His mission is idolatry.”

— Thom S. Rainer

8. “Weak leaders of churches blame people and circumstances. Breakout church leaders accept responsibility and see God’s possibilities in even difficult situations.”

— Thom S. Rainer

9. “Members of the dying churches really didn’t want growth unless that growth met their preferences and allowed them to remain comfortable.”

— Thom S. Rainer

10. “Healthy church membership means you find your joy in being last, instead of seeking your way and being first.”

— Thom S. Rainer

11. “A church without a gospel-centered purpose is no longer a church at all.”

— Thom S. Rainer

12. “When a church ceases to have a heart and ministry for its community, it is on the path toward death. Whenever local churches are mentioned in the New Testament, they are always exhorted to be other-centered.”

— Thom S. Rainer

13. “The most pervasive and common thread of our autopsies was that the deceased churches lived for a long time with the past as hero. They held on more tightly with each progressive year. They often clung to things of the past with desperation and fear. And when any internal or external force tried to change the past, they responded with anger and resolution: “We will die before we change.”

— Thom S. Rainer

14. “Churches should evaluate everything they do to determine how it can be done better.”

— Thom S. Rainer

15. “A failure to pray was tantamount to a failure to breathe.”

— Thom S. Rainer

16. “Thriving churches have the Great Commission as the centerpiece of their vision, while dying churches have forgotten the clear command of Christ.”

— Thom S. Rainer

17. “Membership in the church is not country club membership. It’s not about paying your dues and getting perks.”

— Thom S. Rainer

18. “Passion means making the choice to do that for which we can make the greatest difference. It means saying no to opportunities that may be good but not the best. It means that the best path is not always the easiest path.”

— Thom S. Rainer

19. “A simple church is a congregation designed around a straightforward and strategic process that moves people through the stages of spiritual growth.”

— Thom S. Rainer

20. “Prayerful Commitment 1 God, open my eyes that I might see my church as You see it. Let me see where change needs to take place, even if it is painful to me. And use me, I pray, to be an instrument of that change whatever the cost.”

— Thom S. Rainer

21. “Even if the church began to grow on its own, the members of the dying church would only accept the growth if the new members were like them and if the church would continue to “do church” the way they wanted it.”

— Thom S. Rainer

22. “Did the church members pray together?”

— Thom S. Rainer

23. “If given a choice between life and death, most people and leaders choose death if life requires substantive changes.”

— Thom S. Rainer

24. “In dying churches the last expenditures to be reduced are those that keep the members most comfortable.”

— Thom S. Rainer

25. “And when any internal or external force tried to change the past, they responded with anger and resolution: “We will die before we change.” And they did.”

— Thom S. Rainer

26. “When the church is engaged in meaningful prayer, it becomes both the cause and the result of greater church health.”

— Thom S. Rainer

27. “Vibrant and living churches look after the interests of others. They are concerned for their communities. They open the door for others.”

— Thom S. Rainer

28. “Make me the father, O Lord, who will show my sons enough of a sense of humor, so that they will always be serious, but never take themselves too seriously. Give them humility, so they will always remember the simplicity of true greatness, the open mind of true wisdom, the meekness of true strength.”

— Thom S. Rainer

29. “Seven out of ten guests will go to a church website as a determinative factor in where they will choose to visit.”

— Thom S. Rainer

30. “The churches were purposeless. They were engaged in an activity called, “This is the way we’ve always done it.”

— Thom S. Rainer

31. “I am suggesting that congregations across America are weak because many of us church members have lost the biblical understanding of what it means to be a part of the body of Christ.”

— Thom S. Rainer

32. “When the early Jerusalem church members devoted themselves to prayer, they were doing a lot more than reading names off a list. They were fervent, intense, and passionate about prayer.”

— Thom S. Rainer

33. “Research shows that when you receive frequent interruptions while working on a task, your performance drops the equivalent of ten IQ points. In other words, when you multi-task you are ten points dumber on the core task than you are if you just focused on the core task. Some of us cannot afford to multi-task.1.”

— Thom S. Rainer

34. “When a church ceases to have a heart and ministry for its community, it is on the path toward death.”

— Thom S. Rainer

35. “The members at Philippi knew what they were supposed to do. They were to live the gospel. They were to proclaim the gospel.”

— Thom S. Rainer

36. “So, unlike the heroes of Hebrews 11 who held onto nothing of this life, these dying churches held onto everything, at least everything that made them comfortable and happy. Such is the reason we speak of them in the past.”

— Thom S. Rainer

37. “The money, though, was symptomatic of a heart problem. The church cared more for its own needs than the community and the world.”

— Thom S. Rainer