OK, blogs are meant to cause people to think and some will not respond positively to this one - but, if it causes people to think, then I will be good.
On a regular basis I hear from pastors or others that they have a wonderful thing going by paying pastors in some majority world country where they can support a pastor for maybe $150.00 per month. I usually don't share my opinion because I am not being asked for it. But if I was asked this is what I would say. "It is really a very bad idea." There are huge unintended consequences to this practice.
Let me clarify that I am not talking about supporting indigenous missionaries or those involved in training. I am talking about supporting indigenous pastors.
Why is it a really bad idea? First, it kills (yes kills) the reproducibility of the church. The church was designed to reproduce itself in any economic or political situation but once you start paying pastors from the outside this becomes the expectation and other churches are not started until there is money to pay them as well. In addition, you start funding people who are more interested in the job and steady income than have a passion for the gospel. What sounds like a small amount of money to us if often a huge amount of money to others. And, the moment a pastor is motivated more by the dollars than by the gospel you have killed authentic ministry.
As an aside, people should know that there are denominations who will entice pastors to join their group by paying them - essentially purchasing churches for their denomination so that they can claim higher numbers to their constituency back home. As for pastors in our networks I say, "if they are willing to jump ship for money, they don't belong with us in the first place." The people who are my heroes are those pastors who are driven by a heart passion for ministry and would be doing it whether they got paid for it or not. And there are millions of those kinds of workers around the globe. Many of them are bi-vocational, earning a living and pastoring a church.
As a further aside, there are many third world pastors who have learned to play the game and are being supported by numerous individuals each thinking they are the only ones sending needed money. Trust me, it is true. Money has a seductive and corrupting influence in ministry as well as in politics and business. In the end, we feel good because we wrote the check, they feel good because they get the check but the gospel itself does not win and is indeed compromised by money.
Second, when you pay a pastor from the outside, you rob the people of their joy, responsibility and privilege of supporting their church. We have unintentionally trained congregations that they have no responsibility to give since the money flows from somewhere else. With the amazing emphasis in Scripture on giving as part of discipleship, it is a sin to rob congregations of their responsibility to give. In contexts where there is even no cash they can give - eggs, chickens, produce - and many do. This is how thousands of pastors are supported in places like Congo where cash is often non-existent.
Third, and I am going to quote a leader in a third world country. When you pay a pastor from the outside, "you neuter him and make him dependent on you." He is beholden to others, he is not ultimately accountable to his congregation (they don't provide for him) and we have created a dependency model - which does not make for dignity either for the congregation or the pastor. In our experience, where we have paid pastors, the church has not reproduced, leaders have been weak and relatively ineffective and the passion for the gospel is weakened.
There are two things we can do to help majority world pastors who are in need. First, we can help them teach their congregations about giving - a foreign concept to new believers everywhere. Second, we can help with micro enterprise where they can earn a living without losing their dignity or becoming dependent on others. This is a one time investment rather than an ongoing investment.
There are many, many ways that we can and should be investing in ministry around the world. We spend way too much on ourselves in the west and way to little on helping the majority world. But, we are often naive in how we go about helping those who need help. And we do not often enough think about the unintended consequences of our "help." Before you write a check to support a pastor in the majority world, stop and think of the unintended consequences.
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Ministry Excellence: More ministry for less money
All indications seem to point to a fundamental economic shift taking place in our country, and indeed globally. This shift may well impact the amount of money that is available for ministry and the days of year over year automatic increases may be coming to an end. This is not necessarily a bad thing in that it forces ministries to think carefully about how they use the resources they have and to look at ways to leverage what may be fewer and more precious dollars.
The foundation of ministry has always been people first and money second, although we all acknowledge that funding is important and necessary. The question is whether there are ways of doing what we do without the kinds of increases we have been used to in the past. While this issue is on the horizon for the ministry world it has been the reality in the business world for some time.
Finding ways to do more with less is known as "lean manufacturing," or "lean management" in the for profit sector. For instance, I know of one firm that was able to drive a very significant amount of overhead from its annual costs, decrease the inventory in its warehouses, speed up delivery of its product and drastically decrease inventory damage all of which went to the bottom line. And this was a very well run company. Yet, by thinking differently and doing some things differently it decreased its staff, integrated its processes and saved very significant dollars which in an upside down economy not only allowed them to survive but to thrive.
I believe that the same kind of thinking would not only benefit ministries but may become a non-negotiable in the new economy that is emerging. In ReachGlobal, for instance, we have been working with a consultant from the lean management sector to help us in a host of ways from more efficient meetings, to better planning and evaluation tools, scalable processes, eliminating duplicate systems, time wasters and breaking down divisional silos that prevent efficient and effective operations and decisions. In fact, we will not hire new support staff until we have rigorously determined that there are not other efficiencies that can be found. We call this effort ministry excellence and it is paying significant dividends. It is all about being the best we can be and using the people and dollars we have to their best advantage.
I sometimes hear people say, "we should not run a ministry like a business." Yes, a ministry is different than a business in its mission and end result but I believe that God would desire us to honor Him in our stewardship of people and resources. Perhaps the right answer is that ministries should be run better than many businesses because unlike the quarterly dividends of many corporations, our stakes are eternal. We all work with limited resources but God is able to provide what we actually need as opposed to what we usually want. It may be that He would entrust more to us as we are prudent and careful with what He so generously provides.
It would seem that the marketplace with its lean manufacturing and management has some things to teach ministries. Ministry excellence is a way to see more ministry with less money through creative and disciplined management of our resources.
The foundation of ministry has always been people first and money second, although we all acknowledge that funding is important and necessary. The question is whether there are ways of doing what we do without the kinds of increases we have been used to in the past. While this issue is on the horizon for the ministry world it has been the reality in the business world for some time.
Finding ways to do more with less is known as "lean manufacturing," or "lean management" in the for profit sector. For instance, I know of one firm that was able to drive a very significant amount of overhead from its annual costs, decrease the inventory in its warehouses, speed up delivery of its product and drastically decrease inventory damage all of which went to the bottom line. And this was a very well run company. Yet, by thinking differently and doing some things differently it decreased its staff, integrated its processes and saved very significant dollars which in an upside down economy not only allowed them to survive but to thrive.
I believe that the same kind of thinking would not only benefit ministries but may become a non-negotiable in the new economy that is emerging. In ReachGlobal, for instance, we have been working with a consultant from the lean management sector to help us in a host of ways from more efficient meetings, to better planning and evaluation tools, scalable processes, eliminating duplicate systems, time wasters and breaking down divisional silos that prevent efficient and effective operations and decisions. In fact, we will not hire new support staff until we have rigorously determined that there are not other efficiencies that can be found. We call this effort ministry excellence and it is paying significant dividends. It is all about being the best we can be and using the people and dollars we have to their best advantage.
I sometimes hear people say, "we should not run a ministry like a business." Yes, a ministry is different than a business in its mission and end result but I believe that God would desire us to honor Him in our stewardship of people and resources. Perhaps the right answer is that ministries should be run better than many businesses because unlike the quarterly dividends of many corporations, our stakes are eternal. We all work with limited resources but God is able to provide what we actually need as opposed to what we usually want. It may be that He would entrust more to us as we are prudent and careful with what He so generously provides.
It would seem that the marketplace with its lean manufacturing and management has some things to teach ministries. Ministry excellence is a way to see more ministry with less money through creative and disciplined management of our resources.
Friday, October 21, 2011
Changing antiquated local church mission strategies
Mission agencies are moving toward a model of missions that fits the globalized and color world in which we live. These include major shifts in how they approach missions work both to meet the needs of a new day as well as to leverage their people and monetary investment. With a world rapidly approaching seven billion souls, how we approach the great commission is more important than ever before.
Many congregations are also reassessing their missions strategy – a good thing. However, many congregations are still locked into strategies that were forged in the pre-globalized, black and white world setting. This includes supporting a list of missionaries without much strategic involvement in what they do, supporting personnel that they would not consider qualified to work in their own church, and spending mission dollars in isolation from the ministry priorities of the rest of the budget. Congregations ought to approach their missions investment with the same care and analysis as they do the rest of their budget so that like healthy mission agencies, they are leveraging their investment for the greatest global impact. Given that the typical missions budget of a church ranges from ten to twenty five percent, the aggregate of those funds across evangelical churches is huge indeed. Yet many of our strategies creak along as they have for the past fifty years oblivious to the change that has taken place around us.In prior blogs I have addressed some of these issues:
When money hurts mission efforts
Western vs. indigenous missionaries
Determining what missionaries to support
Do it alone or do it together
Missions today is about....
When thinking about a missions paradigm for your church I believe there are some key questions that need to be answered.
One: Do we have a grocery list approach to missions or do we have a well defined strategic approach that makes sense? Just as one focuses ministry in other areas of church life, focused missions is far more effective than a shotgun approach. You cannot do everything but you can do some things very well. Are you focused or unfocused?
Two: Do you truly screen those you choose to support or is it more a relational thing where you support missionaries based on their relationships with someone in the church? Your support dollars are like salary dollars. You choose carefully who you will pay a salary to and one should likewise choose carefully who one supports so that your investment is a wise one. See the blog above for further comments. Not all missionaries are equally qualified.
Three: Is your missions strategy one where it is possible for your church to participate hands on either in short term trips and projects or in a way which galvanizes your entire congregation? When mission is just about sending money, people today disengage. When they can participate, they engage significantly and pray.
Four: Is your missions strategy one that leverages your mission dollars for significant results? I am not talking about how many conversions your missionaries see as that depends on the soil they are working with. But do they and the organization they work for have a definable, workable and intentional plan to see the gospel penetrate the area in which they are working? Not all strategies are equally strategic.
Five: Is your missions strategy balanced? I suggest that churches think about mission in for categories: One; supporting a church planting effort that will reach an entire city or region. Two; engaging in biblical compassion that shares the gospel and raises the dignity of people. Three; coming alongside an indigenous movement leader and helping him/her expand their church planting and holistic ministry efforts and four; making sure that the unique DNA that God has put in your church is integrated into all these efforts so that your church increases its unique influence.
Don't allow your mission budget and strategy to live in a world all on its own. Integrate it into the overall ministry strategy of your church and work to be as strategic in missions as you are in other areas of ministry.
Many congregations are also reassessing their missions strategy – a good thing. However, many congregations are still locked into strategies that were forged in the pre-globalized, black and white world setting. This includes supporting a list of missionaries without much strategic involvement in what they do, supporting personnel that they would not consider qualified to work in their own church, and spending mission dollars in isolation from the ministry priorities of the rest of the budget. Congregations ought to approach their missions investment with the same care and analysis as they do the rest of their budget so that like healthy mission agencies, they are leveraging their investment for the greatest global impact. Given that the typical missions budget of a church ranges from ten to twenty five percent, the aggregate of those funds across evangelical churches is huge indeed. Yet many of our strategies creak along as they have for the past fifty years oblivious to the change that has taken place around us.In prior blogs I have addressed some of these issues:
When money hurts mission efforts
Western vs. indigenous missionaries
Determining what missionaries to support
Do it alone or do it together
Missions today is about....
When thinking about a missions paradigm for your church I believe there are some key questions that need to be answered.
One: Do we have a grocery list approach to missions or do we have a well defined strategic approach that makes sense? Just as one focuses ministry in other areas of church life, focused missions is far more effective than a shotgun approach. You cannot do everything but you can do some things very well. Are you focused or unfocused?
Two: Do you truly screen those you choose to support or is it more a relational thing where you support missionaries based on their relationships with someone in the church? Your support dollars are like salary dollars. You choose carefully who you will pay a salary to and one should likewise choose carefully who one supports so that your investment is a wise one. See the blog above for further comments. Not all missionaries are equally qualified.
Three: Is your missions strategy one where it is possible for your church to participate hands on either in short term trips and projects or in a way which galvanizes your entire congregation? When mission is just about sending money, people today disengage. When they can participate, they engage significantly and pray.
Four: Is your missions strategy one that leverages your mission dollars for significant results? I am not talking about how many conversions your missionaries see as that depends on the soil they are working with. But do they and the organization they work for have a definable, workable and intentional plan to see the gospel penetrate the area in which they are working? Not all strategies are equally strategic.
Five: Is your missions strategy balanced? I suggest that churches think about mission in for categories: One; supporting a church planting effort that will reach an entire city or region. Two; engaging in biblical compassion that shares the gospel and raises the dignity of people. Three; coming alongside an indigenous movement leader and helping him/her expand their church planting and holistic ministry efforts and four; making sure that the unique DNA that God has put in your church is integrated into all these efforts so that your church increases its unique influence.
Don't allow your mission budget and strategy to live in a world all on its own. Integrate it into the overall ministry strategy of your church and work to be as strategic in missions as you are in other areas of ministry.
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Transparency in leadership
Leaders are often reluctant to be candid about their own struggles and their shadow side, thinking that those they lead will think less of them for revealing their own mistakes and failures. Ironically, if you ask those they lead if they think less of them or more of them for doing so the answer is invariably "more!"
Why? first because those we lead know we are not without our own struggles and in fact, they have probably experienced our shadow side from time to time. Second, our transparency is a sign of something that those we lead value highly: authenticity. To pretend we don't have similar struggles to others is inauthentic and to allow others to put us on a pedestal is dangerous because the pedestal will fall. What people want in a leader is authentic character without pretence. Pretence is a lie and it reveals lack of integrity.
Third, our transparency invites those we lead to join us on a journey toward greater wholeness, maturity and personal growth. I cannot challenge others to grow if there is not evidence of growth in my own life. The first step in growth is acknowledging the need and it is authentic, transparent, humble individuals who acknowledge their need. Pride does not acknowledge need for growth either to ourselves or to others. And it is deadly to ministry organizations where humility is a prerequisite for true service. Humble, transparent leaders grow humble, transparent teams.
The ability to be transparent comes out of true introspection regarding our own lives - the good and bad - and an attitude that we have nothing to prove to others and nothing to lose by being honest. What we fear we will lose (respect) is ironically what we gain. More importantly, however, we grow a team that does not live with pretence but with authenticity. When leaders choose to be authentic others will. When leaders choose pretence, others do the same.
None of us can relate to perfect people since that is not the reality we live with. Thus if leaders want those they lead to relate to them they will choose transparency over pretence. I love the advice Paul gave to Timothy in 1 Timothy 4:15 - "Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress." The greatest example we can be to others is that they can see the progress of growth in our own lives.
Why? first because those we lead know we are not without our own struggles and in fact, they have probably experienced our shadow side from time to time. Second, our transparency is a sign of something that those we lead value highly: authenticity. To pretend we don't have similar struggles to others is inauthentic and to allow others to put us on a pedestal is dangerous because the pedestal will fall. What people want in a leader is authentic character without pretence. Pretence is a lie and it reveals lack of integrity.
Third, our transparency invites those we lead to join us on a journey toward greater wholeness, maturity and personal growth. I cannot challenge others to grow if there is not evidence of growth in my own life. The first step in growth is acknowledging the need and it is authentic, transparent, humble individuals who acknowledge their need. Pride does not acknowledge need for growth either to ourselves or to others. And it is deadly to ministry organizations where humility is a prerequisite for true service. Humble, transparent leaders grow humble, transparent teams.
The ability to be transparent comes out of true introspection regarding our own lives - the good and bad - and an attitude that we have nothing to prove to others and nothing to lose by being honest. What we fear we will lose (respect) is ironically what we gain. More importantly, however, we grow a team that does not live with pretence but with authenticity. When leaders choose to be authentic others will. When leaders choose pretence, others do the same.
None of us can relate to perfect people since that is not the reality we live with. Thus if leaders want those they lead to relate to them they will choose transparency over pretence. I love the advice Paul gave to Timothy in 1 Timothy 4:15 - "Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress." The greatest example we can be to others is that they can see the progress of growth in our own lives.
The Privilege of Persecution
I spoke yesterday to a group of church leaders and pastors from across India on the subject of ministering from a posture of weakness (my grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness) from 2 Corinthians 12:7-10. At the conclusion I asked for their response and heard some amazing stories of persecution, suffering and God's intervention. These men and women of faith understand what it means to minister from weakness and to share in the sufferings of Christ.
In one instance a church planter told about being surrounded by radical Hindu's on a road where he was travelling by bicycle. He had on him a Bible and some tracts. The men asked him what he was carrying and he told them, "I have the gospel of Jesus for you." They told him they were going to kill him and he said, "Before your do so, you need to know which God I am serving," and handed them a tract. His comment - coming with the lack of fear that they expected scared them and they quickly backed off and left him alone. The pastor said, "They were scared and I was calm." God was obviously with him.
The church in the west knows virtually nothing about the privilege of sharing in the suffering of Christ because of our faith but we ought to be praying for those who experience it day in and day out. These men and women are my heroes. They have nothing to gain by what they do and everything to lose but they live day to day trusting God for their very food and protection. And He shows himself to be faithful in small and large ways.
Recently I wrote an endorsement for a new book entitled, The Privilege of Persecution. It is a must read for those in missions, for mission supporters and for those who care about the global church. It opens our eyes to the realities of serving God in most places on the planet where persecution is a reality but it is a book of hope as one reads stories like the one above of men and women who not only endure suffering for the cause of Christ but count it a privilege. Do we?
In one instance a church planter told about being surrounded by radical Hindu's on a road where he was travelling by bicycle. He had on him a Bible and some tracts. The men asked him what he was carrying and he told them, "I have the gospel of Jesus for you." They told him they were going to kill him and he said, "Before your do so, you need to know which God I am serving," and handed them a tract. His comment - coming with the lack of fear that they expected scared them and they quickly backed off and left him alone. The pastor said, "They were scared and I was calm." God was obviously with him.
The church in the west knows virtually nothing about the privilege of sharing in the suffering of Christ because of our faith but we ought to be praying for those who experience it day in and day out. These men and women are my heroes. They have nothing to gain by what they do and everything to lose but they live day to day trusting God for their very food and protection. And He shows himself to be faithful in small and large ways.
Recently I wrote an endorsement for a new book entitled, The Privilege of Persecution. It is a must read for those in missions, for mission supporters and for those who care about the global church. It opens our eyes to the realities of serving God in most places on the planet where persecution is a reality but it is a book of hope as one reads stories like the one above of men and women who not only endure suffering for the cause of Christ but count it a privilege. Do we?
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Top ten read blogs on church boards
1. Signs of a dysfunctional church board
2. When my church board is not healthy
3. Church Board Development
4. Every congregation is one leadership board away from trouble and decline
5. Your church board is unhealthy but you are not on it and don't know what to do about it
6. Church board best practices
7. Split boards, split congregations
8. Church boards and church culture
9. Conflict and problem avoidance create sick churches
10. What boards and pastors need to know about each other
2. When my church board is not healthy
3. Church Board Development
4. Every congregation is one leadership board away from trouble and decline
5. Your church board is unhealthy but you are not on it and don't know what to do about it
6. Church board best practices
7. Split boards, split congregations
8. Church boards and church culture
9. Conflict and problem avoidance create sick churches
10. What boards and pastors need to know about each other
Hearts of compassion
Whenever I travel in the majority world I ask to be taken to the poorest section in town. Here in Ahmedabad, India I don't need to ask - just look out the window of my four star hotel in two directions and I see how half of the population of this city lives. It is a graphic reminder of the privilege we have of decent shelter, good food, clean water and bathrooms - none of which are present in these slums.
Virtually the only groups who bring hope to such populations are Christians who share out of the little they have with those who have less. One couple I met yesterday illustrates that commitment. He is a church planter among the poor. She is a PhD in the subject of the empowerment of poor tribal women in India and both have passed up what would be lucrative jobs with their education to work among the least of these: he planting churches and she running a school for tribal children who would otherwise have no education. When I asked them what brought them the greatest joy they smiled and said, "when someone responds to the gospel."
Travel in the majority (poor) world raises serious questions for those of us who live with great wealth in comparison. Consider the fact that 54% of our world lives on less than three USD per day and 91% lives on less than 10,000 USD per year. If one has a combined family income of $100,000 per year or more we are in the top one half of one percent of wealth in the world. A startling statistic for those of us who don't consider ourselves wealthy. Yet a glance out of my dirty hotel window tells me that I am very wealthy indeed.
The question this raises for me is the portion of my giving that ought to go toward the worlds poor. Not in creating welfare like dependencies but in supporting Christian ministries that seek to both share the gospel and help those caught in a cycle of poverty. The school run by my friends mentioned above gives children an opportunity through education to get out of the poverty that has been the plight of their families for generations. And, to find hope in Jesus Christ as they are given a truly Christian education. As their lives change, parents start to ask why and they too are introduced to the gospel.
Having travelled in fifty plus countries and seen the world for what it is and having been exposed to countless heroes of Jesus who work in difficult circumstances, my goal is to see at least 25% of my giving targeted for Biblical compassion - where the gospel is shared, dignity is restored, and people have an opportunity to be lifted out of their poverty. Yes, the poor will always be among us but like Jesus who gave great attention to the poor, our hearts should break at the circumstances that so many find themselves in.
We think nothing of spending millions of dollars on our church facilities with all the excellence and technology we can cram in. All wonderful. But do we have the same commitment to those who have literally nothing and where $50,000 is like a million in what it can do? This not about guilt for what God has given. Rather it is about having the heart of God with those who have almost nothing.
Have you thought about strategically targeting a percentage of your giving toward Biblical compassion? The difference it will make is huge and eternal.
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