So there’s this high school coach who keeps winning state championships by never punting and always attempting an onsides kick. The video explains the logic.
And yet thousands upon thousands of coaches, from pee wee football to the NFL, routinely punt and rarely attempt an onsides kick. He is literally outnumbered by thousands to one — and yet he wins.
Now here’s my question. What is there in how we do church today that is the equivalent of punting — a strategic mistake that provably a strategic mistake that everyone continues to commit just because it’s how everyone does things?
The list is long but here is for starters: teaching the exact same lessons year after year and expecting different results. It is time to study successful churches outside the CoC. What good are they teaching that we have missed?
The Coach apparently has an awesome defense !! Maybe it’s good to be aggressive when you know that somebody (Jesus) has your back.. Peter only sank when he began to doubt but at least he was brave enough to get out of the boat !!
My guess is that if a local body of believers fasted and prayed for direction, believing that would receive it, and moved with confidence toward the goal, knowing that Jesus had their back, “church” might look a little different.
Now, who knows what “direction” this particular group might receive that would necessarily be different from another group so it’s difficult to speak in specific terms but in general I would say that there would be a more “all out” approach, versus giving primary focus to budgets. I’m convinced that once a focus and direction has been established that the object of the mission (feeding the poor, housing the homeless, reaching a specific people group who speak a different language) becomes the objective…not so much the “how” . Prudence is good but fear can often times be disguised as wanting to be prepared for all contingencies.
the Coach believes… that’s a good place to start.
My first one is…
Church Buildings. The vast majority of churches in North America (the West?) believe they aren’t legitimate until they have their own property, building, and parking lot. Why is this an assumed necessity? Even among church planters who currently don’t have a building – most of them still aspire to someday have one. Church buildings aren’t biblical, they suck up a huge portion of the church budget, they lock the congregation into the same geographic location, they gradually introvert a church body, and most churches only use their buildings for 10% – 20% of a week’s hours. Seems like a major waste!
Instead, why not rent a facility like a school cafeteria/gym, a downtown storefront, a restaurant/pub, a movie theater, conference center, etc. Renting is not only cheaper but less of a maintenance hassle, freeing up the church’s money and time to be spent on service to the community instead of on themselves. Just the rent check alone is a blessing to one community business owner, not to mention the new relationships formed between the church and the owners. Renting also frees the congregation to more easily relocate whenever they grow or shrink, or their missional strategy changes (this way their facilities are working for them instead of the other way around). Not being chained to a building allows a church to continuously move to where the community needs are, thus maintaining its salt and light presence. Next, by renting, a church is forced to operate out in public where they’re more visible to the community and can receive the hospitality of their community members. For instance, by not having a building, the church has to worship publicly; by not having a church office, the Minister is forced to prepare lessons and counsel folks at coffee shops; by not having a building, the little old ladies are forced to have their sowing group at the library. Everything that churches would be inclined to do at their church building (to justify having it!), thus isolating themselves from their community, now has to be done out in plain sight where new relationships with non-believers may be formed. Imagine how much easier it is for a non-believing couple to show up to a church’s worship gathering when it’s being held at their favorite downtown pub or their kids’ elementary school instead of an unfamiliar church building auditorium!?
There are a handful of other great reasons why I believe a church should rent instead of buy a building, but this is getting long, so I’ll leave it at that for now!
My second one is…
Sunday Morning Gatherings. In my entire life, I only know of one church that meets on Sunday afternoons instead of Sunday mornings! And that’s voluntary – not because of scheduling conflicts. So why does everyone else meet in the morning on Sundays? It’s certainly not biblical. Perhaps years ago it was important to do it early for travel, or daylight, or farming purposes, but that’s not relevant in most places today. So why 10am instead of 4pm (or for that matter, why even on Sundays, but I won’t go there this time!)?
How much of a hassle is it for a Christian family to frantically get everyone dressed, fed, and to the church building on time (and in good, godly moods!) at 10am!? And if they do make it, they’re half comatose sipping on coffee trying to wake themselves up! Instead, a Christian family can take their time, enjoy their mornings, be with friends, get their minds up and running, perhaps have some Bible quiet time, etc. before attending services at 4pm.
And here’s an even better reason. On Sundays at 10am every believer in a community is at their church of choice. This means the only people out in public at restaurants, the grocery store, car washes, walking their dogs/kids at the park…are non-believers! They have the entire town to themselves because all the Christians are off gathering with themselves! MLK was right, and for a new reason, when he said Sundays at 10am are the most segregated time of the week. It’s when Christians most segregate themselves from non-Christians.
I say, if a church is trying to accomplish God’s commission to seek and save the lost, it should gather on Sundays at, say, 4pm so that it’s members can be out in public, relating with non-believers in the morning time. It’s like shooting fish in a barrel – the only people you’ll run into out in town on Sundays at 10am are non-believers! So play with them in park, have brunch at a local restaurant, wash your car in your driveway while your neighbor is washing his, etc. Develop relationships with the people who obviously aren’t going to a church gathering anywhere. And then down the road, who knows, perhaps one Sunday after watching the football game together in your man cave, your new friend will go along with you to your church gathering at 4pm!
Not necessarily saying youth ministry is a mistake, but I just read this article that was linked in another blog. Just as the coach in the video reevaluated the effect of his punting, our churches need to reevaluate the how and the why of youth ministry and youth programs.
http://www.charismamag.com/spirit/church-ministry/18920-youth-groups-driving-christian-teens-to-abandon-faith
By the way, I think the headline is a bit sensationalist. I don’t think youth groups are driving kids to abandon the faith, but I do think constant age group segregation is unhealthy.
ZBZ
I will go one step further. Why hire a preacher when many in the congregations, especially those with business experience, could do a great job of preaching.. A volunteer group is more effective and less of a headache than most paid preachers.
brianbergman,
I believe your assessment of the youth group is correct. Though, I would not call it unbiblical (I did click on the link and read the article) the teaching of the youth group does tend to be light, the meetings often nothing more than entertainment, and the speakers usually too much on the bombastic side, thinking that it is necessary to grab and keep their attention.
I think there is something to be said for keeping the youth close to the adults, especially the elderly. The wisdom of years can open the eyes of children to challenges and problems that they and their peers do not yet see. Granted, there are many shallow adults out there, but I hate to see the wisdom of the learned ones (not just from formal education, but from experience) go to waste.
When did we decide it was wise to isolate teenagers from the rest of society until they graduate from college and get a job? While there is some value in making sure we are speaking to young people in terms to which they can relate, I am afraid that in most clubs, the objective of “youth ministry” is pretty much the same as the objective of Mothers Day Out.
This is one reason serious ministry to youth is hard. The club’s expectation is not discipleship, but peace and quiet among the parents of adolescents. The measure of success is “Is everybody happy and still coming to church voluntarily?” The disconnect between the stated goal and the real goal frustrates those who really seek to disciple these pre-adults.
ZBZ and Sunday Morning Gatherings
Once in my life I attended a congregation of Christians that met at 6PM only on Sunday. Of course it was an odd group of expatriates (government and oil company people) in Lagos, Nigeria in the mid-1990s. The meeting time was determined because on Sundays, the expat community went to the beach. We weren’t segregated – Christians and non-Christians together at the beach. This worked fine. The congregation grew slowly and healthfully from a dozen to over a hundred in five years.
Sunday evening only would work just fine in America today for many reasons.
Bob,
if a church pays for someone just to be a good preacher then that’s the issue. I realize my denomination is a different model, but in ours the job entails pastoral care (and being on-call 24/7 for it) and administration. They work way more hours than most people and there is no way someone could do it on a volunteer basis without being independently wealthy. I hope church isn’t just for a good sermon or there are much bigger issues.
Hebrews 10:25 NRSV not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching
Everyone talking about youth ministry,
I think everyone with any sort of youth ministry experience has read that by now. Yes there is a problem of helping connect youth to the rest of the congregation, but the larger problem is dealing with them AFTER high school. So many drop out of church life when they go to college. They no longer have that youth group connection, they don’t have parents making them get involved, and churches do a horrible job at reaching out to those in that age group. That’s the punting in my opinion. Just expecting young adults to reach out on their own to get involved with a church rather than the church reaching out to them. We just expect them to come back at some point.
Bob and Zach,
Youth ministry remains an unsolved puzzle. Personally, I think the solution is for parents to be engaged in meaningful church ministry and for them to bring their children along to help/observe.
I know one couple, very affluent, who took their teenage boys to the Cameroons on a medical mission. The parents did surgery etc. for the desperately poor, while their boys scrubbed in to help. And the boys’ attitudes toward wealth and church was changed — not just by seeing real poverty but also by seeing their parents’ very real compassion for those in need.
My church is trying to find ways for teens and adults to minister alongside each other — so that the teens can see adults doing ministry for others — not for their children or the teen program.
The biggest influence on teens remains their parents, and merely holding home Bible studies doesn’t persuade the teens. They need to see their parents actively sacrificing for the sake of others.
Mr. Jay Guin,I cannot begin to how much I envy the teenage boys. How unbelievably amazing can it be to travel with your mother and father and assist them in surgery?
More families of doctors should do that.
These kids are way privileged.