There’s something in each one of us to want to compete. We like a challenge. We like to pick a fight. We like to come out on top. It’s just part of the survival instinct that’s inside each one of us. It’s part of what makes us human. While that can make for some healthy competition all throughout life it can also create an unhealthy pattern of striving to be the best or seeking to outdo the rest.
When it comes to church life and ministry we can sometimes bring that competitive edge to the table. Let me be quick to remind you of something simple: you’re competition isn’t the church down the street. It’s not the church across town that has a bigger auditorium or the church downtown that has all of the young people. It’s not the church that you read about in the news or the one that made the fastest-growing-most-innovative-largest list either.
Our competition is against the forces of darkness that enslave people in our communities. Whoa. I know. I think sometimes we forget we are in a spiritual battle. Our competition is with the things that are unseen. It’s the battle against destructive cycles and mindsets that trap people, it’s the battle against the golf club or country club, the big game or anything else that takes away people’s time and attention away from Christ. There are real forces at work around us [not to freak you out] and our job is to call it out and bring light to the darkness.
It’s really to easy want to compare or become envious of other churches’ success. Sure it would be cool to have the church with 20 campuses or the church with the rock star pastor, but the reality is God has a unique calling and plan for your church. Consistently comparing yourself to others will only dilute your own vision. It will cause you to be far more reactionary than visionary. You have a specific role you are called to fill in your community and in living out the mission and vision God has uniquely given you, there’s no room for competition with anyone else.
In Chicago there’s hundreds of churches and whenever we hear of a new church being planted in the city we don’t get scared or feel threatened — we get excited. The reality is there are nearly 3 million people in the city and that requires many different kinds of churches for many different kinds of people. It’s exciting to see what God is doing and to partner with other churches in the city to truly be the Church and be united in mission to see it transformed by the Gospel. The Church is most powerful when it’s working together across boundaries of congregations and denominations and is visibly the united body of Christ, working together to serve our communities and cities.
When you hear about another church’s success, celebrate. And take out a notebook and pen… see what you can learn. But don’t try to copy what’s working somewhere else or try to outdo another church. Remember our competition is with the things unseen. Our competition is against everything that keeps people from coming to our churches, connecting with our community, and ultimately with Christ.
I’m sorry to say it so harshly but it’s true… no one cares about your church.
Look at recent polls, church attendance, or even watch the news and it’s fairly obvious… people don’t care about the church or what we have to say anymore. We’ve lost credibility for some legitimate reasons. And don’t chalk me up to being a church basher, I passionately care about the church, I’m just saying what’s true and what some of us might not want to admit.
The Church has moved from the center of our Western culture and while some fight to keep it in the public square others of us are realizing the greatest way we can impact culture is by being on the periphery.
Christianity at its core has always been about counter-cultural, so why in the world do we try to be perceived as being relevant by looking just like the culture around us?
We’ve cheapened the Gospel by trying to be accepted at a great cost. The emerging generation can see right through the charade. We’ve created a machine out of what was always meant to be a movement. We’ve organized something that was meant to be organic. We’ve franchised something that was meant to be localized. We’ve put CEOs in the seats of what was meant to be a spiritual office and treated salvation like a commodity. We made an idol out of our methods.
And to try and fix everything we’ve thought marketing it to look like a cheap version of everything else in culture was a good idea.
Here’s two truths: people don’t like the church and people don’t trust advertising. Why use a mechanism people don’t trust to promote something they don’t care about?
I’m not trying to paint a picture of gloom and doom, I am just saying it how it is. I have great hope for the Church and believe that it does matter and believe the church has a great future ahead of it… we’ve just got to make some adjustments.
I think we have a great new opportunity to reintroduce Jesus, the Gospel and the Church to a world and culture that has been weary of what they’ve seen and heard.
The next generation is tired of gimmicks they want something real and authentic. They want to be known. They want community. They want a sense of belonging. They want to be a part of something that is bigger than themselves. They want to be significant. They want to be a part of the Church they read about in Acts but have only seen poor reflections of in today’s world.
More than anything they want to give themselves to cause that is greater than they are. Why do you think movements like TOMS Shoes, To Write Love on Her Arms, LIVESTRONG, charity: water, the one campaign or any of the big social movements that are out there today exist and have so much popularity?
They are all doing great work and doing tremendous good, yes. But they are telling a compelling story. They are giving people the opportunity to make a difference. They give people the chance to do something that matters. They are sadly, doing the work the church has been neglecting.
When you really care about what people care about things happen.
When churches rally around the needs of their communities and are actually outward focused, truly living for something outside of themselves, that’s when change happens and that is when the church matters in culture.
To truly care about the things that matter to people is to truly live out the Gospel. God is all about people. And what matters to people matters to God.
We’ve been too focused on ourselves, our numbers, our growth, our success, and at the expense of a generation that’s looking for a cause to believe in and give themselves to.
I can’t think of a better cause to give my life to than the cause of the local church and I think while we live in a culture that doesn’t care about church we have an amazing opportunity to redefine what church means and what it means to be a follower of Christ.
When we sing or pray the words break my heart for what breaks Yours, we are really asking God to allow us the opportunity to see the world through His eyes.
We’ll never earn the right to be heard in culture by screaming on street corners or by having a slick ad campaign. We earn the right to be heard by caring about the things that people care about and ultimately the things the move the heart of God.
Stop trying to promote and market your church. It hasn’t been working and it won’t. Stop trying to make people care about something they’ve already decided isn’t worth their time or attention.
Start listening. Start looking around you. Listen to the cries of people in your community and start responding with the love of Christ. See through His eyes. Earn the right to be heard. Be Jesus hands and feet. Do good. Care about what people care about. Be Jesus and the Church to your community.
The Church isn’t an organization or a building, it’s people.
When you truly care about what people care about and prove it, people will care about you and what you have to say.
You’re talking, people are listening, but do they understand what you are saying?
Example: the teacher [or any adult figure] in the Peanuts cartoons:
The teacher is saying something. Linus, Lucy and others can understand her and are able to communicate with her, but to the average person [you and me] watching it all sounds like nonsense.
When people come to our churches and hear what we’re saying, or if they are reading something on our website or in print, do they have the same experience?
I don’t know how or when it happened but we developed our own inside language. Our own secret code. Some people call it Christianese, but I like to think it’s just like speaking in tongues.
We are saying some really important stuff, but all too often the message is lost in translation. We’re saying things in a language people don’t understand.
Intellectual vs Intelligible
For some reason we’ve taken something very simple and made it incredibly complicated and hard to understand. In our quest to be intellectual we’ve really turned out to become exclusive, hindering people from hearing the message of the Gospel in way that’s easily understood.
I’m not bashing theology or saying we need to dumb-down what we are trying to say, but at the same time I want to point out the fact that Jesus didn’t use words or phrases justification by faith alone, double imputation, Ebenezer, transubstantiation, limited atonement, eschatology, or predestination. He used everyday objects and experiences to communicate some of the most profound spiritual truths to His audience.
In our quest to study, understand, and explain what it all means, we’ve complicated the message. And while it’s great to sound smart and use big words, we’re oftentimes leaving people in the dark.
Use words people understand. Use experiences and circumstances people relate to. Tell stories… Jesus was a master storyteller.
Words Matter.
Language is oftentimes our first impression.
What do people really hear when they hear you speaking? What impression do they get when they read your publications, website content, or other printed communications? Are you building bridges or creating barriers with your words?
There can be a difference between life and death in the words we use. We have an immense responsibility to communicate the Gospel with reverence for the message and respect for the audience that will be hearing it.
Choose your words carefully. Craft your messages with conviction. Are you bringing people closer to Christ or pushing them further away with the messages you convey?
Give People the Basics, Not a Dictionary.
People have limited time and a short attention span. Remember to embrace brevity. Give people what they need to know in an uncomplicated, easy-to-understand way.
Acronyms, individual ministry identities/brands, and insider lingo can create tremendous hindrances for people trying to get connected. When I started at Park I felt like we needed to give people a dictionary to understand some of the names and phrases we used in everyday publications. If something has to be explained or defined it needs to be renamed. Create easy on-ramps for people by clearly defining the path they need to take. Don’t litter the pathway there with words and terminology that need to be defined.
Be an Interpreter
In Acts 2 when the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost people started speaking in tongues. To the passersby, it sounded like a bunch of nonsense and people even thought they were drunk. Finally, Peter stood up and made sense out of the chaos and interpreted what was being said. In the end, thousands were added to the church.
As communications directors, we’re not the people preaching but we play a vital role in ensuring the messages our churches communicate are effectively and clearly communicating the message of the Gospel in way people understand.
The throngs of people around the upper room in Acts 2 heard nonsense, but when Peter stood and communicated what was really being said, they came to faith in Christ.
We are interpreters. We’re standing in the gap between what is being communicated and the audience that is going to hear what is said. We have an opportunity to help form and shape the message so people can really hear it.
Here’s a few things to keep in mind as you interpret your church’s messages:
Where are you? Context matters. What does the community around you look like? What’s happening in your city? What do people in your community care about? What are they worried about? What are challenges people are facing? Are you focusing inward so much that you are neglecting to see what’s happening in the community around you?
Who are you talking to? Knowing your audience is key. Who are you talking to? A middle-aged crowd? Young adults? Families? Singles? How do they communicate? Are you talking in a language or style that they understand?
What language do they speak? What words and phrases are used in everyday conversations in your community? Do the conversations you create sound like your community?
What are you really trying to say? Be clear. Don’t complicate your message with excess “fluff” or Christianese. Just say what needs to be said. Pare down what you are trying to really say to a single sound-byte. Think 140 characters, not 140 words. Focus clearly on the main message and only tack on what’s essential for people to know immediately.
Why does it matter? People are motivated by their own needs. Focus on how what you are saying can connect with their need. Lead with their need and your solution.
How are you coming across? Tone is everything. Do you sound needy? Too excited? Listen to what you are saying and the tone in which you communicate. Find balance. Don’t be too serious. Don’t be bubblegum happy either. Find balance.
When they hear it, what do you want them to do? Make the next step clear. Everything you communicate should motivate people to do something… sign up, respond, repent, give, etc. Have you clearly told them what to do next?
Get an outside perspective. One of the most valuable exercises you can do is get an outside perspective. As much as possible look at yourself as an outsider as you develop the messages you communicate. Listen with outside ears and read with outside eyes. And, when you need to, have someone who is a real outsider give their perspective and feedback. I had a self-professed pagan proofreader for about a year once. She was great at grammar and editing and I had her help me edit church publications. She quickly helped me identify things that didn’t make sense and in the process I had a significant opportunity to share my faith with her.
It’s been said that Christianity is fundamentally a communication event. Throughout time and history God has wanted to communicate and have relationship with mankind. We have a tremendous opportunity to ensure that message doesn’t get lost in translation. Be an interpreter. Communicate with clarity and conviction. Do all you can to make sure your church isn’t speaking in tongues so that people can hear the message of the Gospel clearly and ultimately connect with Christ.
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For the record, I grew up in an Assemblies of God church and this post was not all intended to bash speaking in tongues or to suggest I’m a cessationist. Just putting a new spin on the whole Christianese discussion, that’s all.
Last month I did a breakout session at the ECHO Church Media Conference called Reworking Church Communications. In the session I highlighted 10 different ideas to challenge and change the way we approach church communications. Over the next month or so, I’m going to unpack the 10 ideas I presented [Jerod Clark at ChurchJuice did a great job summarizing them here] and flesh them out a little bit more.
Regardless of what your particular role in your church may be, I believe it’s safe “the way we’ve always done it” isn’t working anymore. The world around us has changed dramatically due to the advances in technology and our changing economy. We’re living in a new reality that requires us to go against conventional wisdom and rework the way we do what we do.
One idea that is especially relevant to me right now is the idea that Constraints are a Blessing.
We tend to avoid things that hinder us. Freedom is always preferred over constraint. We’d rather have more than less. But as we’ve seen in the changing world we live in….small is the new big, less is more, and yes, even constraints are a blessing.
At Park we are in the midst of a challenge we’ve never encountered before: we’re behind on our budget. Our fiscal year runs (oddly) from September-August of each year and with the end of our fiscal year coming we can see there’s going to be a gap between what we budgeted and what people actually gave. It’s not a huge gap or anything worth getting too stressed over… it is what it is.
We’ve had an amazing year of ministry… we’ve grown over 26% in the last year; added another campus, now reaching 3 neighborhoods across the city; we’ve seen over 100 people go public with their faith and be baptized; and the list goes on. We have so much to be thankful for and at the same time recognize that we’ve got some challenges ahead of us.
Our leadership team sat and worked over our projected budget for next year and decided that people were more important than programs, so instead of cutting jobs, we’re cutting back on some non-essentials. We’ve all taken pretty big hits to our individual ministry budgets [mine was reduced by nearly 50%], and we’ve all agreed we are going to have to live with a new reality… one that is going to force us to embrace some constraints.
I was a little disappointed, I had some cool ideas in the pipeline for next year and those are going to have to go on hold for now, but to tell you the truth I’m really excited. Here’s why…
Constraints force us to realize what’s essential.
One of the biggest hindrances we face in Western culture is our abundance. Churches have a hard time saying “no” to new ideas, programs, and initiatives. And while continuing to expand our reach and do all we can to reach more people, more “stuff” can really get in the way of us doing what is truly essential. One famous buzz phrase we hear often at church leadership conferences is, “if your church vanished tomorrow what would your community miss most?” That’s a dramatic place to start, but what if you looked at everything your church did in any given year and decided that instead of 40 events you’d do 20. Not only would you be doing less, you’d be doing what you are doing with greater care and excellence. Chances are that as you begin to take away different things you’ll find what’s really core or key to your church’s DNA and the things to make your church what it is and the role it is truly called to play in the life of your community. Doing too much can actually hinder us from doing what we are really supposed to be doing. Constrains can help us pare down to what’s vital and focus our energy, time, and attention.
Constraints actually give us more space to be creative.
Believe it or not, constraints actually make us more creative. In his book Making Ideas Happen, Scott Belsky argues that creativity is formed within confines. G.K. Chesterton says, “Art consists of limitation. The most beautiful part of every picture is the frame.” Having constraints gives us a defined starting and ending point. While most creatives want space for artistic expression, having no boundaries can be worse than having a defined space to play in. When we know we don’t have much to work with it forces us to reinvent and rethink how we what we do in the limited space we have provided.
Constrains force us to make the most out of what we’ve already got.
Having less means having to maximize and make the most out of what you already have. I think all too often we can become preoccupied with what we don’t have. We think that if we get the best website, the newest HD camera, a better logo, or ______________ (you can fill in your own blank) that things will instantly get better. That’s not always the case. Content is what matters most. A great camera doesn’t make up for a bad script. [But that's another tangent, back to the point...] Chances are you already have most of what you already need, you just need to do something with it. Effective and expensive are not synonymous. You can do some great things with little or next to nothing.
Someone I’m continually amazed by is Jason Widney, our Media Arts Director at Park. He’s one of the few people I know that can take some styrofoam panels, paint, and few lights and make something absolutely breathtaking. Less really does more. And oftentimes, it only takes a little to do a lot.
Constraints increase our dependence on God.
Not to get all cheesy here, but it’s true. When our proverbial well runs dry it makes us look to the source. I believe that in seasons of lack we find ourselves increasingly dependent on God. And honestly, there’s nothing greater that we should be leaning into but God Himself. We can get pretty reliant on our own talent or ability, or even our own budgets. When we have to look to God to provide it changes the game significantly. It doesn’t require us to do much but trust and have faith.
All throughout the Bible we read stories of instances where there was little but God showed up in a big way and made it much. From the loves and fish feeding 5,000 to a group of 12 guys who, by society’s standards, were hindered by their lack of education, He used situations, circumstances and people who seemed to be restrained to do some of His most mighty work. God can take our little and make it much.
I know these challenges are not new to many churches and ministries, but it’s a new reality for us at Park. While there is some uncertainty ahead, I’m excited about this next season because I really believe God is going to do some significant things in all of our lives and in the life of our church as we grow more dependent on Him!
Constraints are a blessing, they are an exercise in our faith and trust in God to provide.
