{"id":825,"date":"2010-11-27T10:00:35","date_gmt":"2010-11-27T17:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.timfalk.com\/blog\/?p=825"},"modified":"2010-11-27T10:00:35","modified_gmt":"2010-11-27T17:00:35","slug":"how-churches-are-all-too-often-run","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.timfalk.com\/blog\/archives\/825","title":{"rendered":"How Churches Are All-Too-Often Run"},"content":{"rendered":"

Churches who have been around for awhile (say 30 or more years), tend to be run a certain way. The way I’ve often heard it said is, “Churches tend to be run like a business.” I hate the business model of church. Yet, in my experience, this isn’t really how these older churches are run. In my opinion, they’re run more like the government.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

"Church of the Sacred Cow" --good luck getting any good "legislation" passed in this church<\/p><\/div>\n

Most people complain about how the government is run. The stereotype is out there that whatever the government does, the private sector could do it much better, with greater efficiency, and with better results. I think this is a great example of how these older churches are run. They are full of plenty of bureaucracy. For example, if you want to paint the walls of the church, the color must be approved by the trustees, and then the money has to be approved by the finance committee, and then the date needs to be approved by the calendar committee, etc etc etc. Simple, unimportant things tend to take up way to much of the church’s time and become too important in people’s eyes.<\/p>\n

So we moan about such a business-like mentality. To me, it seems more like a government mentality. You also find quite a bit of politicking going on in such churches. You need to know who to please, whose bad side you don’t want to get on, who the movers and shakers are, etc. You learn what the sacred cows are–and not to mess with them. If you want to get anything done, you have to “work the system.”<\/p>\n

To retaliate against this system that largely mirrors how the government operates, I think many modern churches have embraced what I would call the “business” model. In this model, these churches pride themselves in being more efficient and more effective than the older churches. These churches don’t have church splits over what color the carpet will be in the sanctuary. That’s because they have a mission statement, and everything they do as a church revolves around that mission statement. Usually, that mission statement is something about making disciples of Christ, or something along those lines. As a result, they try to pour as much energy as possible in attracting unchurched people and making them churched. They have marks to determine whether they are being successful or not. Are we bringing in new visitors every week? Is our church growing numerically? Are people giving? Can we build a new building yet? Are our ministries becoming more top-notch? What are other churches in the area doing? Are we doing those things better than they are?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

"Church of the Worship Team"--good luck getting to know any of them though...<\/p><\/div>\n

These modern churches often have a competition mentality built-in. They want to be the best church out there. Whereas the older churches are repulsive, because they seem to mirror a broken, corrupt, or largely inefficient government–and seem largely ambivalent to self-improvement, these modern churches are just as repulsive to me. These modern churches think that making disciples can be quantified, or that it can be achieved by working harder or working smarter. That making disciples is a matter of creating some sort of system that can mass-produce Christians. That making disciples requires a great deal of revenue, because “ministry costs money.” These churches feel the need to constantly advertise (which does cost quite a bit of money) and they also feel the need to do everything they can to attract new business–I mean, new visitors (which also costs quite a bit of money).<\/p>\n

To their credit, these modern churches can compare themselves to the older churches and say, “Wouldn’t you rather be part of our church–a church that is successful, where things are happening–than one of those older, bureaucratic mainline churches? And I would probably say yes.<\/p>\n

But I am equally dissatisfied with both types of churches. I find it frustrating to work within the confines of the older churches. It seems that it takes a lot of energy, political weight, and conniving to try to get the simplest of things done, let alone the important things. There are always “hearings” and “votes” and “checks and balances” that just make things miserable for leaders who want to get things done. And then, when something is finally done, it seems that the final end-product isn’t all that great. It’s mediocre at best. Yet, in the modern church, where results are more appealing, there is the constant pressure to perform, get results, become the best, eliminate the competition, impress the masses. There is a mentality of finding “what works” and basing decisions on what would make the ministry an even greater success story. As a result, leaders of these churches are paid big bucks. And perhaps rightfully so, in regards to the amount of work they are doing, and the amount of pressure put on them. They’re like CEO’s running a Fortune 500 company.<\/p>\n

But ironically, both of these churches still end up with the same result: weak disciples. Our pews (or stadium seats) are largely filled with people who aren’t abandoned to Christ. They are satisfied to show up to church, throw a few bucks in the plate, and continue to living just like the rest of the world–but with a more moral face.<\/p>\n

I don’t think Jesus would appreciate either of these models. What about the Scriptural metaphor of church being a family? Or what about the metaphor of the church being a body? Or any of the other metaphors Scripture uses? What would such a church look like? Is it even possible for such a church to exist in today’s world? Would modern society squeeze it out, or would it be “competition” from the modern church world that chokes it? Or is God even bigger than these two forces?<\/p>\n

Although the new business model of church is a very appealing response to the government model of church too often seen in older churches, I think both models come up short in the end. Both tend to cause unnecessary burnout and frustration in church leadership. Both tend to produce weak disciples. Both tend to be more concerned with expanding their own agendas. And worst of all, I think both are distasteful to unbelievers. They both often seem self-seeking and not very spiritual.<\/p>\n

Show me a church where the vast majority of people who attend are people overflowing with faith, hope, and love. Where the people have laid down their lives for the Gospel. Where the people don’t care about their own lives anymore. Where the people are happy to sacrifice the kind of building they meet in, so that they can better love and minister to others. Where the people treat each other like family. Where the people treat each other like they are their own body. Where the leaders aren’t there to get paid. Where the leaders aren’t there to grow an organization. Where the leaders are there to lay down their lives for Jesus too. Where the church is less concerned about its own welfare, and more concerned about the welfare of others.<\/p>\n

Where instead of trying to run a church, we are more concerned about running the race (Hebrews 11-12).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Churches who have been around for awhile (say 30 or more years), tend to be run a certain way. The way I’ve often heard it said is, “Churches tend to be run like a business.” I hate the business model of church. Yet, in my experience, this isn’t really how these older churches are run. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-825","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-god","category-the-church-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.timfalk.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/825","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.timfalk.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.timfalk.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.timfalk.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.timfalk.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=825"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/www.timfalk.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/825\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":846,"href":"https:\/\/www.timfalk.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/825\/revisions\/846"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.timfalk.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=825"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.timfalk.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=825"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.timfalk.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=825"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}