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July 21, 2010

Bothered by the Business of Church

by by Nicole Unice

I’ll admit that I like to pull a Scarlett O’Hara when it comes to the less attractive side of church leadership, like getting the parking lot paved or turning in a budget. “Fiddle dee dee!” I shrug. “I can’t think about that now! I’ll think about that tomorrow…”

I think the business of church can be excruciating. What do you get when you take a room full of over-committed volunteers, mix in some underpaid staff workers, and toss in hundreds (or thousands) of church-goer expectations? How about business leaders who are used to managing corporate dollars combined with under-resourced and over-ambitious “kingdom” plans? Welcome to church business.

The ministry-minded among us tend to be jazzed by relationships, not regulations. We look upon tomes of policy with disdain, fearing death by legalistic rules and passion-less programming. But it’s a fair argument to say that avoiding this church business is not being a good steward of the resources that God provides each of our communities.

We do have to make sure the plumbing runs and the paychecks get cut. We need lights and A/C and erosion control. But church business can take a toll.

I talk to pastor’s wives, whose eyes betray the battle scars their family has endured at the mercy of “business.” I consider my own experiences helping raise a new church from its infancy, and recognize that nothing has the power to fracture and divide a community like the need to get something accomplished.

Generally, we church leaders tend to agree about the essentials of the faith. If I chose to begin teaching polytheism or swore off Jesus’ deity, I believe the “business” of church would be unanimous about my removal as a teacher. But when it comes to business, there is no go-to Scripture to consult, no theological treatise to quote.

On bad days, it feels like God is pulling his own Scarlett, leaving us church folk on our own to wrestle through these decisions. But in reality, I wonder if he’s left it up to us as a test of our own strength of community; stretching the bonds of unity in the essentials and of love and compromise with each another in the non-essentials.

The stories passed among leaders of battles lost tend to stick more than the victories won. Rarely do I hear about the celebration of a leadership team who decided without fanfare to approve the budget. What sticks is the ugly. The times when teams can’t agree and bitter strife is the result. Those are the things that fracture, that divide, the arguments that make us wonder if we are anywhere near what God intended for us as the body of Christ.

Acts 2 is the highly quotable passage about the early church, that utopian place we all long for. But by Acts 15, there is strife and disagreement between Paul and Barnabas over a fellow leader, John Mark, that ultimately causes them to part ways. I take great comfort in their later reconciliation (2 Ti 4:11). I am glad God gave us that slice of reality in his Word, knowing that despite sharp disagreements about the business of the early church, there is still unity of faith in the end.

The business of church can seem so regular and mundane that we forget the need to invite God into it. When ministering at a dying person’s bedside or counseling a couple through a crisis, prayer is rarely forgotten. Yet I’ve found that the more “ordinary” things of church leadership engage a part of me that wants to take charge, to control, and to manage outcomes on my own—a sure sign that my flesh is at work. When we find ourselves locked up in the business of church, we must be on guard against all kinds of evil—pride, stubbornness, close-mindedness and selfishness. We must draw near to God who promises to set our hearts straight and renew our minds. Only the power of God’s spirit can work us into that place with one another and enable us to embrace the business of church life.

Posted by Caryn Rivadeneira on July 21, 2010 11:39 AM

Comments

Great message, Nicole. Thanks for the encouragement to re-align my heart in the business of church.

Posted By: Juliet | July 22, 2010 10:29 AM

I found myself resenting the time spent in the "business" rather than ministry of church life.
After bemoaning the amount of time and energy spent in this area, God reminded me of Leviticus, Numbers and I Chronicles where much time was spent on the details or administration of worship. Gatekeepers where chosen, those who counted the articles in the temple, different priests made bread, kept the incense going, cleaned furniture while others kept the oil replenished. Yet, these people were considered on the "worship team" for the order of worship in the temple.
The myriad of administrative details were important to God -- to worship. So, I now offer my "church business" as worship to God and as part of the necessary details of the order of worship. This new perspective gave me new motivation and energy to enjoy the business rather than dread it.

Posted By: Angela C | July 26, 2010 11:35 PM

I agree that details can be the hardest challenge we in the church face most days. My personality is very nerdy and I like details, but I still find myself worn out daily.

For me, the problem is a lack of payoff. I love all the creative thinking needed to make something come off smoothly, but if I don't see the results as valuable, then I feel useless.

I think the key is to shift our focus and our definition of value. As you mention, we rarely pray over the color of the carpet, because we don't think the carpet REALLY matters. If someone gets a divorce, that matters. I'll pray for that, but we rarely think the carpet is worth the trouble of even picking it, let alone praying over white vs. eggshell.

One thing my home church does, that works well, is they constantly remind the teams that the atmosphere of the church is the most important thing humans can work on. The right atmosphere keeps people from getting distracted, and lets God have their full attention. The right atmosphere makes people feel welcomed and loved, and that opens hearts to the moving of God. When atmosphere that valuable, handling details is easier, because the carpet color affects the atmosphere. People who go sleepless nights re-painting the youth room are partners with God in the salvation of youth, because they created on the atmosphere that made it possible for teens to feel valued and loved, which opened their heart, distraction free, to God's word.

Posted By: Trevor the Church Management Details Guy | July 27, 2010 1:27 PM

I like this article as it brings up the point that we need to be seeking what God wants ALL the time. I see the value in all the so called 'mundane' jobs, but I don't think I can agree that painted walls affect the passage of teens feeling connection to God. Please don't misunderstand, I am not putting down the role of people who do this, but I am elevating the need to get God's desire for us 1st and for volunteers not to be tiresome to those who don't want to be badgered into detail work. This creates the disharmony seen over and over in church groups when the core of weary workers, resents the fact they are stepping out again and others aren't. Marys and Marthas. What does God value? He is the key.

Posted By: Tracy | July 29, 2010 5:19 PM

Nicole, I think you nailed it when you said, “I wonder if he’s left it up to us as a test of our own strength of community; stretching the bonds of unity in the essentials and of love and compromise with each another in the non-essentials.”

I think that’s exactly what he’s done, out of the deepest love and not the basest cruelty; learning how to live in community requires that we become mature, after all, which, as it turns out, is exactly what he wants us to become. That maturity is reflected in the very non-spiritual, non-religious experiences that we engage in together, like church business.

It is in those times that who we are really becoming is revealed.

Posted By: Eric Foley | August 27, 2010 2:17 PM

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