Church Business
A few people forwarded me an article titled Jesus, CEO from Economist.com. The article was subtitled: America's most successful churches are modelling themselves on businesses.
Permission to speak frankly?
The article got under my skin because it assumed that a church that has good business practices has somehow sold out. Why is it that everyone thinks that a church that does everything with excellence is somehow soft-selling the gospel?
I have a core conviction: the church ought to be the most creative place on the planet. Let me add something to the equatoin: the church ought to have the best business practices on the planet.
One of my all-time favorite quotes is a Dorothy Sayers quote. She said, "I daresay that no crooked table legs or ill-fitted drawers ever came out of the carpenter's shop in Nazareth." I'm sure Jesus did what he did with excellence. He ran a good business.
The church ought to be setting business standards. Wouldn't it be great to see an article in 25 years subtitled: America's most successful businesses are modelling themselves after churches :)
By the way, I don't think there is anything wrong with learning from successful businesses. I get ideas all the time from the stores I shop at and restaurants I eat at. It's called "plundering the Egyptians."
Permission to speak frankly?
The article got under my skin because it assumed that a church that has good business practices has somehow sold out. Why is it that everyone thinks that a church that does everything with excellence is somehow soft-selling the gospel?
I have a core conviction: the church ought to be the most creative place on the planet. Let me add something to the equatoin: the church ought to have the best business practices on the planet.
One of my all-time favorite quotes is a Dorothy Sayers quote. She said, "I daresay that no crooked table legs or ill-fitted drawers ever came out of the carpenter's shop in Nazareth." I'm sure Jesus did what he did with excellence. He ran a good business.
The church ought to be setting business standards. Wouldn't it be great to see an article in 25 years subtitled: America's most successful businesses are modelling themselves after churches :)
By the way, I don't think there is anything wrong with learning from successful businesses. I get ideas all the time from the stores I shop at and restaurants I eat at. It's called "plundering the Egyptians."
9 Comments:
Fantastic thoughts Mark!
Yes, yes, and more yes. I think one of the problems is that for too long we (the Church body) have accepted inferior work. Somehow the term "volunteer" has become synonymous with "inferior", to the point where this now seems to be the expected norm. So much so that now, it seems, when we attempt excellence, it must surely be at the expense of the Gospel.
In a southern-word, hogwash. Our boss is without a doubt "most excellent", therefore the work we do in His name should likewise be excellent.
Gene Smith
http://laymenstheology.blogspot.com
Mark,
I too would like to see that same article in 25 years, BUT, how in the name of all that is holy do you expect the church to remain righteous and of highest esteem in the business world when you've got the leading influencers of church leadership like Rick Warren (Peter Drucker disciple) and Bill Hybels and Joel Osteen modeling themselves after the secular business world rather than abiding by the doctrines set forth in the New Testament for church leadership?
Maybe you guys who are blindly following after the models of Warren and Hybels should take the time to see what these two actually say when they are out in the public - it is pro-world philosophy 101 and if that is what is leading the Evangelical church today I would dare say it will not exist 25 years from now to allow the writing of that article.
In Christ alone,
Bill
Bill,
Do you know how many people have found Christ and been baptized in those churches? Thousand every year! They are Bible-believing, Christ-centered leaders and churches!
I don't know what they're doing that is unbiblical? I'm sure they're imperfect like the rest of us, but it sure seems like they are impacting a lot more lives than most churches.
It seems to me that we automatically equate "different" with "wrong." The truth is that the New Testament only passes along two ordinances: baptism and communion. God doesn't define order of service for us. Why? Because it'd stifle creativity.
We need lots of different kinds of churches because there are lots of different kinds of people.
Praise God for Willowcreek and Saddleback. They are inpsiring a generation of churches that are doctrinally sound and relevant in praxis.
My two cents.
Mark
Great post Mark! You're blog has been very inspiring.
Grace to you,
Mark
I have just started following your blog. Thanks for your enthusiasm, inspired thoughts. I agree with your post here and have a couple of comments based on my leadership journey.
I coach about 35 pastors - have planted about 40 churches out of our church. With all of those leaders I have passed on the idea that excellence in business practices, in ALL that we do is an ASSUMPTION - it's a "duh" for those who are bent on reaching not-yet believers around us. They demand it and it's just the right thing to do in so many ways. It just makes sense. Pursuing those assumptions, virtually all 40 of those plants have become sizeable churches.
My one concern is when I have seen the business model taken to an extreme by church boards who are immature, biblically weak and think that success in the business world automatically translates to wisdom and success in the spiritual world. I believe that happens fairly often in the Church world unfortunately.
Last thought - let's go after excellence, not perfectionism. I have been way on the inside of some of the churches mentioned in the comments here and they frankly don't know when to stop with their drive and have fallen prey to something that goes way beyond what is good, positive, worth taking on. Jesus was not a perfectionist. He didn't have an obcessive compulsive disorder.
Steve,
I was at a conference a few years ago that you spoke at--totally impacted me! Alot of our outreach ministry dates back to that conference.
...
Couldn't agree with you more.
I honestly think both/and thinking solves so many concerns people have. We need business-savvy, Spirit-led leaders.
I think it's fair to characterize Jesus as a both/and thinker. He said we have to be innocent as doves and shrewd as snakes. Both/and. A business mind. A pure heart with pure motives.
Your perfectionism comment was right on. A little convicting :) But right on :)
Mark
Mark,
While I agree that churches should lead in how to run a business with accountability and integrity, I think there is a real danger when churches "plunder the Egyptians" for ideas without measuring those concepts carefully against scripture.
I have attended more than a few national church conferences on leadership which elevate leadership to something very close to idolatry. I chatted with pastors who were more fluent in quoting John Maxwell than quoting Jesus.
Again, it is about balance. Our church leadership should be paragons of integrity and openess in all church business practices.
But to expect the world to follow is unrealistic. The world and the things of this world are not primarily concerned with doing things God's way. Their stockholders only look at quarterly reports and ask for more each time.
In the first half of the 20th century, virtually all business followed the standards and practices set by the railroad. Decent wages and benefits within fair profit mragins. Beginning in the 1950s through the 1970s is was the automotive industry which set the standard. Unfortunately the unions pushed wages and benefits far too high and that model colsapsed under its own weight.
Today Walmart is them most emulated business in the world. Sadly, they have a vast underpaid workforce, most without health benefits of any kind, and are funding the horror of child and prison labor in China like no other entity on the planet.
Christians are called to look such business in the eye and call it by it's real name - evil.
Only then can we stand true and not find our churches coopted into business/leadership practices which may be expedient but do not honor God.
Our call, as has been rightly said here, is to live beyond the standards the world can understand. Demand excellence, but also provide the rich soil which cultivates our creativity and energy.
Greg
I too have been a fan of the Sayers quote for years ("I daresay that no crooked table legs or ill-fitted drawers ever came out of the carpenter's shop in Nazareth").
But I have a problem--I don't know the source for it. Someone read it to me once and I jotted it down.
Does anyone know where Sayers said this?
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