Raise the Expectations or Lower the Offerings
I don’t know when I first heard of the 80/20 principle, but, if you have been in nearly any business or organization–including the church–very long, you have likely heard of it, too. The concept is basically that 80% of the work is done by 20% of the people. There are variations, but that principle is the one that is most commonly cited and, seemingly, nearly universally regarded as at least nearly true, if not fully so.
For so many years now, I have heard that formula mentioned in elders’ meetings, elders’ and deacons’ meetings, read it in church bulletins, seen it on church blog posts, and more. This principle is not just true in the business world. Church leaders also realize it is common where they are.
(And, by the way, I have seen/heard it from congregations numbering in the low teens to congregations in the multiple hundreds. So, the size doesn’t exempt you from the reality.)
But it can be solved. It takes time. It takes what really is a culture change. And it takes leadership with tremendous backbone. You may never get to 100/100, but you can march that way with two bold decisions.
For one, when someone wants to place membership with you or is baptized, that person needs to know they will be expected to work. I’m not sure they need to have an involvement form shoved in their face within the first 5 minutes, but they do need to know that “pew sitting” is not a ministry. In other words, up the expectations.
We are often so desperate for new members that we just accept people, put them on the roll, take their picture, and then let them sit if they want to. Meanwhile, the few that are working now have more of the load to carry because there are more people who are not carrying their part.
We are not saved to sit. We are saved to serve. Too few congregations expect that. Oh, they announce it. They print it in the bulletin. They even preach on it. But they don’t really expect it. If they expected it, they would not allow members to just sit. They would team them up with a deacon. They would call and take them visiting with them. They would do something to show that they were serious: this is a church where we all serve.
But there is another solution. It’s harder in many ways, but it might be what some congregations need to do. What is it? Cut the program of work…way down. Sometimes, people do not get involved because there are so many things vying for attention that they don’t know where to start. Or, they see that “the few” are run ragged by doing this and this and this and this…. and they don’t want any part of wearing themselves out like that.
Would it not be better to do a few things tremendously well and have them well staffed than to try to have nearly countless programs and events done by a few exhausted people?
Neither of these is easy and, as I said, either one takes time. But just continuing to say “well, you know the 80/20 principle; that’s just the way it is” is also not the right way to deal with things.
In the Church, every part of the body is vital. Let’s give each part something to do and have expectations that they will contribute to the health of the body.
AUTHOR: Adam Faughn