was unable to overcome the debt burden of $55 million. Jesus paid our sin debt, but all other debt is paid by the people, the congregations, the leaders. Jesus paid our debt; he did not go into debt. One wonders about the plan that included a debt burden of $55 million, how it was formed, how it was justified.
Consider what God spoke in Exodus 14:14 “The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace. And the Lord said unto Moses, Wherefore criest thou unto me? speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward.” The Lord will fight for you, while you are moving in faith.
6As students of statistics know, the bell curve applies to virtually all groups, and that would include churches. A small percent will be in the lower three statistics; about sixty-eight percent in the middle, and a percent in the high performing end, equivalent to the percent of the lower performing three standard deviations, plus or minus. However, a church member, leader or pastor does not need statistics to understand if their church is not doing well.
Basic Assumptions
But sensing the church is not doing well is not enough. It has gradually morphed away from the shinning fresh church it once was, almost without specific notice. It is no longer vibrant, overflowing with praise for Jesus Christ, now moving by rote. Without being consciously aware, they assume this is the way it’s always been. This condition is not discussed (in church) because it is not recognized as something that should be confronted or changed.
Church members have a natural tendency to accept things as they are. They choose to say nothing that might be perceived as provocative or criticizing the leadership of the church. That is easier and safer. Some churches are fortunate to have in their congregation a contrarian. This will be the person who will bring up things most others are reluctant or silently constrained to bring up. There are times when this person will be irritating to your own views. This person will cause other church members to recoil at the idea that anything is amiss with their church. Bless the contrarian. We should be tempted to reread Hans Christian Andersen’s classic, “The Emperor’s New Clothes”. We also should not forget how provocative Jesus was.
What, you may ask, does being a contrarian have to do with church finances, the main theme for this book. Glad you asked. Low performing churches, those that are failing or sliding in that direction have achieved complacency.
Contrarians may ask questions that others (1) Have not thought of. (2) Have thought of the questions but had their own reasons to remain silent. (3) Afraid (there's that word) it will affect their friendship of others who are silent. (4) Assume that if it has not be brought up already, it must be of little importance. Well, now!
Why not acknowledge there can be contrarian thoughts or questions that are not heretical or blasphemous or antibiblical, but simply seeing a bird in flight, disagree with , others as to how high it is flying, or how fast. Many years ago, I sat close to such a man in church who had contrarian views about some things, that were often ridiculed, or at best ignored. He was considered a nuisance by many, wasting time in meetings. As it turns out, many of his insights were very helpful but sad to say I think he passed on without the congregation acknowledging his worth. He was not a troublemaker, but he did disturb one's thinking.
A little book from a few decades ago with the very bland title of 7“Who moved my cheese” (by Spencer Johnson, M.D.) illustrated the ease by which two little mice, used to living with an abundance of cheese, slipped into complacency and when the abundance dried up, they were shocked to realize they had to forage.
Revelation 3:16 "So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth."
Complacency is at the heart of average people and comfort is at the heart of failure. On a continuum of performance, complacency resides at the very lowest level, slightly more positive than actions that are actively detrimental to the church. Try to defend complacency, that is not easy without bringing specific people to mind.
A church, a social club, or any other that depends on drawing members into it, can become complacent, going through their rituals with stiff motions. Joy is something that can only be felt, it is not an intellectual activity, as Psalm 30 sings, "Joy comes in the morning." Joy and complacency do not share the same space, the same spirit.
Business Models
Individual churches have their own business models, different from many other churches and from non-church organizations. The business model depends on numerous factors, with each affecting the outcome to some degree. Their business model tells the story about how their enterprise functions. It answers questions about who your customer is, (yes, churches have customers; they are also called church members), what that customer values, and how the church delivers to the customer the sought-after services at an acceptable cost (you will learn about cost per person). The business model describes how the church will respond to events and circumstances. This will be defined by church age, size, traditional responses, and internal mechanisms in place. The church must respond to many events, such as the COVID pandemic, exogenous events outside the church to control or prevent. You can only respond.
There may be disagreement that a church should have a business model, contending that the church is not a business, therefore a business model is unnecessary. Please keep reading.
__________________
1 Schein, Edgar H, Organizational Culture and Leadership, San Francisco: Jossy-Bass, 2004
2 Wilfred Bion, 8 Sep1897 - 28 Aug 1979, Identified three Basic Assumptions: Dependency, Flight-Fight, Pairiing.
3 Why People Fail to Recognize their own incompetence; Dunning, David; Johnson, Kerri; Ehrlinger, Joyce; Vol 12, Number 3, June 2003, Current Directions in Psychological Science
4 The three enterprise above were clients of the author who later was business manager (the first) for the church.
5 Wikipedia article, Christ Cathedral, Garden Grove, CA
6 The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life is a 1994 book by psychologist Richard J. Herrnstein and political scientist Charles Murray, in which the authors argue that human intelligence is substantially influenced by both inherited and environmental factors and that it is a better predictor of many personal outcomes, including financial income, job performance, birth out of wedlock, and involvement in crime than are an individual's parental socioeconomic status.
7 Johnson, Spencer MD, Who Moved my Cheese, Putnam Adult, Sept 7, 1998 (32 pages)
SECTION 1 - REVIEW
1 Should a church have a business model?
2 Should church leaders better understand their church culture?
3 Can a church be an enterprise?
4 What does a church and a private for profit-company have in common?
5 What is the difference between “artifacts” and “basic assumptions”?
6 What are three possible reasons a church may close?
7 How should a church handle debt?
8 Think about what business model the Crystal Cathedral might have used to acquire $55 million in debt.
SECTION 2 – A CHURCH IN FINANCIAL TROUBLE
LESSON
