Have you ever posted something on social media but failed to do a quick check before sending? You know, when auto correct decides to ruin your day? We quickly type and hit "send" and before you know it, you've posted something to this nature: "so excited for Stephanie to be porning this Sunday!" when you meant to send: "so excited for Stephanie to be opening this Sunday!" Yea, it happened to me...details matter.
Have you ever stopped at one of your favorite fast food places for a quick bite to eat? While you are there you notice the tables haven't been cleaned in a while, the floor seems to stick to your feet with every step, and your sandwich seems to have been sitting under a heat lamp for the past 2 days. Details matter.
My point is that in most aspects of our lives, we all demand some sort of attention to details or excellence. But why? Because when we see excellence it says 3 things:
-You care about what you're doing
-You want people to take notice of what you do
-Its important
We can all pretty much agree with all of those statements. We enjoy eating at places that are clean, have nice employees, and go the extra mile with customer service. I believe Chick-fil-a is successful not only because of their Christian standards but because of their excellence in customer service.
My fear is that when it comes to doing church sometimes, the small stuff doesn't matter to people. Or at least it doesn't matter to the ones that have been there for a while. Here are 3 reasons why I believe excellence is overlooked in the church:
I Don't Get Paid For This
Many people approach serving like a job instead of a privilege. We often put more excellence into something that we know we are going to get paid for than something that we volunteer for. Ask a kid to clean his or her room and they'll complain. Tell them that they are getting an allowance and they'll clean it with a toothbrush. When the church looks at serving as an honor and a valuable way to give back to the body of Christ, excellence will be evident. When we hire staff, we don't hire people with the mentality of "I would do more if you paid me". We hire people that we can't do without because their value is in their hard work, attitude, and excellence. What we have to remember is that we DO get a reward. (Read Matthew 24:45-46 NLT)
Leaders Don't Empower
When leaders refuse to let go of ministry, excellence suffers. Why? Because it all rises and falls on that one person's ability, availability, and knowledge. One or two people can't see all of the holes, short comings, or issues in a ministry. They spend so much time doing the big stuff, that they miss the small stuff. I have even seen ministry leaders "hope" that the ministry suffers if they are absent. That way they will be more appreciated. That leader cares more about themselves than about the church or the people its reaching. (Or not reaching for that matter). If you want to see your church become stagnant and frustrated, simply keep all the ministry to yourself. Pretty soon the details become huge eye sores.
It's Really Not For Jesus
The most frustrating reason why people show up late, bail on serving without so much as a phone call, half prepare for a kids lesson, choose the song list five minutes before service, refuse to tithe, prepare for a sermon late Saturday night, refuse to smile in the parking lot, or even talk to people they don't know is because it's really all about their comfort level and not about giving Jesus our best. Colossians 3:23 tells us:
"Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people."
Believe me, God is all about details. Look at the human body or our planet. God was so detailed that He formed a plan to save us BEFORE we even sinned! Have you ever read the detailed plans to build the first temple in 1 Chronicles 28? Wow, I would not have wanted to be on that building committee!
I just want to encourage all believers, and especially all of our GC peeps today. Do everything with the best effort and attention to details as possible. Yes, excellence is measured differently to many people. But when people come in to our church, we want them to know that we care about what we do, and we do it as if it was for Jesus Himself.
No comments:
Post a Comment