Selling Vacuum Cleaners, Part 2

So how do business people help the church work?

Imagine Joe, the new dairy manager. Right away he notices ice cream production is way down. He reads Ice Cream Monthly and he knows there’s no shortage of ice cream lovers. Joe rolls up his sleeves and gets to work. He increases milk orders by 20% and begins hiring new staff. There’s only one problem. Joe never discussed his ideas with the senior staff.

Three months earlier, the board of directors had voted to discontinue ice cream production. Although the product was popular, the company planned to position itself as the “healthy alternative” by producing soy products instead. The conversion would take place as soon as the last milk contract expired.

While such a scenario is preposterous to the average business person, similar scenes take place in churches. Business people get to work fixing problems which seem obvious without taking the time to understand why the problem exists or what are the ultimate goals of the church. Rather than helping ministerial staff, they undermine and disrupt pastoral leadership.

Why is this result so tragic? Business people who do understand and embrace a church’s goals are golden. They are the ones who put sails on vision. When they remember that God alone provides the wind propulsion for those sails, their skills become catalysts for rather than detractors from a church’s mission. So here’s my version of A Christian Business Leader’s Guide to Making a Sail:

• Seek understanding. Before making an action plan, pray for open mindedness, humility and the courage to release any agenda. Ask questions, tough questions if necessary. But don’t disguise an assault as a question.

• Become a follower even if you don’t understand. Pastors are human like the rest of us. The sting of past betrayals can create some hesitation to explain every decision. If you don’t understand, try following before fixing. Don’t turn off your brain. In fact, you should be more intellectually engaged than ever as you learn by doing. Believers working together clumsily are far more effective than those who evaluate from the sidelines.

• Invest whole-heartedly or not at all. At some point, you will understand enough of the church’s vision to know if you can embrace it or not. If the answer is yes, roll up your sleeves and get to work, but talk as you go. “This is what I understand the goal to be and this is how I propose we address it.” Working with transparency requires a hefty dose of humility. When we communicate our intentions, we open ourselves to correction and criticism. Those who invest half-heartedly are people whom psychologists label passive-resistant. They create division in the church and render her ineffective. The Bible has harsh words for such people. It’s best to move to a congregation you can support whole-heartedly.

These are my guidelines. What are yours?

Selling Vacuum Cleaners, Part 1

The church has a problem. It’s not what you may think. No, I’m not talking about tumbling attendance rates, financial shortfalls, music wars or the staggering number of our adult children walking away from Christ. The real problem, according to many, is that these pastors are just so darn disorganized.

 “What we need,” say some, “is to look at the church like a business. Of course the church isn’t a business,” they’ll mutter under their breath, “but pastors could learn a thing or two from business people.” And it’s true. Business professionals are trained to develop systems that run efficiently and effectively. What church couldn’t benefit from a little more efficiency and effectiveness? Enter the era of the businessman-pastor.

I’ve visited a number of churches that seem to prefer business skills above preaching skills, spiritual disciplines and even theological training. Here’s the problem. Business people have two primary concerns: (1) develop a customer base; and (2) keep the customer base happy. Now developing a customer base should fit in nicely with the church’s mission. After all, if a church is doing its job (making disciples), then the church should grow (increased customer base).  But is the reverse also true? Does church growth mean the church is doing its job?

I could line my cabinets with the church advertisements I receive in the mail. What I find disturbing is the marketing strategy, “Every other church is boring, money-grubbing and unfriendly so come to ours. We’re different. We’re better.” That’s business for you-destroy the competition. Hmmm. Are we helping our cause?

Trouble is, the strategy works. Those dissatisfied with their current churches come seeking greener pastures. Our customer base increases with much greater speed than when we focus our energy on making disciples out of pagans. As one pastor said, “To ask a businessman to strategize in the area of evangelism is like asking him, ‘how do you sell vacuum cleaners to people with dirt floors?’.”

His answer is usually, “You don’t.” His goal is to find people with rugs. When translated to the Christian subculture, “churched” people have rugs, making them a softer market to sell our church.

As the customer base grows, it’s important to keep the customers happy. The businessman pastor must focus his efforts on internal ministries, services and of course the aesthetic preferences of his parishioners. He leads a church of religious consumers.

Most Christians would agree religious consumerism is not the goal. And yet, here we are. Religious consumers are as common as Costco members. Is the solution to keep business people out of ministry decisions? I hope not. As a business woman, I’d like to think I can contribute to my church. So how do business people support the church’s mission? THAT is the subject of my next post.