A few days ago, the blog Bird-Brain? asked why, instead of “normal” progression from infant -> children -> young adults -> parents…

…in many churches the pastor looks out and sees a sanctuary full of baby birds, beaks open, saying, “Feed me! Feed me!” and both the pastor and the people like it like that?

Blog reader Laura McGlothlin’s answer was:

Hmmm, great question!
Because making disciples takes lots of time, hard work, and patience? Maybe it’s easier just to nurse them along!

Good answer. Maybe it’s an example of the Shirky Principle, which I just discovered the other day. What’s the Shirky Principle, you ask? Here’s an explanation by Sahil Bloom:

The Shirky Principle, named after writer Clay Shirky, states, “Institutions will try to preserve the problem to which they are the solution.”

In simple terms, companies (or people) have a tendency to avoid fully eliminating the problem that they sell a solution for, lest they become obsolete.…Potential examples of the Shirky Principle in action:

• Pharmaceutical companies see more money in treating lifelong illness than in curing it.

…

• Personal trainers make more money from clients remaining slightly unfit than from clients who become fit and no longer need their services.

And maybe we can add something like:

• Some pastors would rather their members stay untrained so the pastors can be the permanent authority figure.

This attitude, of course, is in direct violation of 2 Timothy 2.2 in which there are no permanent learners. Learners progress to become teachers:

And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others. (NIV)