Many variations of “How to Ride a Dead Horse" have appeared, especially on the internet, so I am not sure who the original author is, but here is a rewritten and adapted version for churches that I recently came across. It is witty but also full of wisdom and once you get past the humor, you can find much reason for contemplation and reflection.

Every organization (whether it’s business, government, educational institutions, etc.) can have a tendency to hold on to old forms of doing things long after their effectiveness has diminished or ceased entirely.

The tribal wisdom of the Dakota Indians—passed on from generation to generation—says that when you discover that you are riding a dead horse, the best strategy is to dismount.

It seems though, that modern churches have found a whole range of far more advanced strategies to use, such as:

1.  Employing a stronger, firmer whip.

2.  Declaring, “God told us to ride this horse.”

3.  Appointing a committee to study the horse.

4.  Passing resolutions declaring, “This is the way we’ve always ridden this horse.”

5.  Develop a training session to improve riding ability.

6.  Reminding ourselves that other churches ride this same kind of horse.

7.  Reclassifying the horse as “living-impaired.”

8.  Hiring an outside consultant to advise on how to better ride the horse.

9.  Declaring by the WORD of FAITH that “This horse shall prosper!”

10. Providing additional funding and/or training to increase the dead horse’s performance.

11. Riding the dead horse “outside the box.”

12. Getting the horse a Web site.

13. Killing all the other horses so the dead one doesn’t stand out.

14. Rewriting the expected performance requirements for all horses.

15. Promoting the dead horse to a leadership position.

16. Boldly confessing that, “This horse is not dead, but alive!”

17. Name the dead horse, “paradigm shift” and keep riding it.

18. Using technology to ride the dead horse “smarter, not harder.”

19. “Taking a stand” against other horses because they reflect compromise, & are not from God.

20. Remembering all the good times you had while riding that horse.

I could elaborate on all of these, but I will allow you to marinate upon them and form your own conclusions.