Seven Ways Busyness Can Harm Your Church (or Business)
I was listening to a podcast on leadership today and the topic got my attention in a powerful way. Many churches struggle with a decided lack of busyness, to the point that they do very little of anything. Still, there are those ministries who are busy every day and every week, but never seem to produce much kingdom fruit. Is there a balance, a sweet spot, wherein we are properly employed, producing real discipleship in our body, and out in the world around us, not just mindless activity, kicking up proverbial dust clouds?
And, before we get too engaged, let me suggest that most of these, if not all, have application in the business world as well. Some of you are businessmen and women, and want to make your organization better and stronger, turning out more (and better) product or services, not just more profit. Take note, and see if you can relate some of these concepts beyond the church.
Churches (and businesses) like to be busy. Unfortunately busyness can hurt an organization’s effectiveness. Today we discuss this problem and how to deal with it.
Some highlights from the podcast include:
A busy church is not always an effective church.
Churches should be culturally contextual in their area, not cultural transplanted from another area. IE, taking a Saddleback model and making it ours in Monroe, NC.
Your church/class/ministry should have a clearly defined process of discipleship.
Your church’s vision statement should also be its process of discipleship.
Vision statements should be short, memorable, and communicated frequently.
It takes courage to eliminate ineffective and unneeded church programs.
A church’s ministry should not be confined to its address.
The seven problems discussed on the podcast are:
Our churches equate activity with value.
Programs and ministries become ends instead of means.
Failure of churches to have a clear purpose.
Church leaders have failed to say “no.”
Fear of eliminating, cutting dead wood.
Church is often defined as an address.
Churches often try to compete with culture rather than reach culture.
Some of you have mission statements, and even vision statements, but have never translated them to workable, strategic, goal and fruit producers. See attached for a chart we have used to help guide these statements to actually results that can be seen and measured.
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