Essentials Part 11: Systems

This week's Essential: Systems.

See my prior ten posts for other ministry growth Essentials.

Genesis 1 and 2 are full of order and symmetry.

Everything is in its proper place.

There are systems for creating, naming, marrying, populating and ruling.

No doubt God sees ahead to a massive falling out (Genesis 3), the selection of a people for Himself, a royal lineage eventuating in the Messiah, and an eschaton of cosmic restoration.

Those are some big systems.

Does God improvise along the way, or is the whole thing pretty much scripted?

College students ask me that question, in one form or another, often (four times on a recent tour of Michigan schools).

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Zoom back in. As beings made in God's image, how can we emulate God in our own little ministry "world-making"?

It seems to me that growing ministries think ahead. They plan, train, pray. The world they're creating  exhibits the same order and symmetry as God's.

Struggling ministries tend to do things on the fly, then call that the Spirit.

Thriving ministries always have a crisp plan in place. During actual practice, however, they show flexibility as the Spirit leads.*

Struggling ministries never made a good plan in the first place from which to deviate.

Thrivers know who's in charge of stuff.

Strugglers let things fall through the cracks because the cracks are everywhere.

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Systems. Do not despise. Please.

* (Without commenting on whether God Himself improvises, I think He does ask us to go off script at times).

Essentials Part 10: Proper Slotting

Ministry Growth Essentials thus far:

1. Healthy at the core.
2. High quality, low complexity.
3. Prayed up.
4. Outreach (evangelism) is indispensable.
5. Leadership is a privilege.
6. Positive Traditions

7. This week's Essential: 

Proper Slotting

Recently I spent some time with a highly talented ministry person. Unfortunately her position was not a good "fit" for her. 

We agreed that she could gut it out for a couple of years before a change was needed . . . 

Place people in the right slot and they're unstoppable.

Place them in the wrong slot and they're un-unstoppable. 

Indeed. They stop themselves.

Three reasons for improper slotting

(I believe this applies to volunteers as well as professionals.)

• Fill a need. This is OK for awhile. A stop-gap measure, however.
• Lack of self-knowledge. Sometimes you get into your 30s before figuring this out. Maybe even your 50s!
• Organizational insensitivity. The ministry puts you in the wrong slot and thinks it's OK. 

Signs of being in the wrong slot:

• Tired all the time. Can't seem to get fully rested.
• Job feels like learned behavior. Not natural.
• Ministry results are so-so or worse.
• For the professional: Demarcation between work time and personal time is clear and highly valued. 

Signs of being in the right slot:

• Work/voluntering is fun, rewarding. Not just the results but the actual practice.
• Work/volunteering seems to flow out of you in a natural way. Results are generally positive.
• Sure, you get tired. But recovery time is fairly fast.
• For the professional: Demarcation between work and personal life can be blurry and isn't that important to you (which can be problematic in its own way).

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Whole ministries can thrive or struggle, depending on the slotting of a few key people.

Essentials Part 9: Positive Traditions

Every time I sit down to write about Essentials for ministry growth, which I've done the past eight weeks, a shiver of fear goes right through me.

Fear?

Yeah. Fear that I'm wasting your time. Fear that my blogs aren't worth reading.

Fear that these "Essentials for growth" are so obvious and so lacking in profundity that I should take up knitting instead of publishing my weekly trivialities.

Except for one thing: Why isn't everyone doing them?

That list again:
1. Healthy at the core.
2. High quality, low complexity.
3. Prayed up.
4. Outreach (evangelism) is indispensable.
5. Leadership is a privilege.

6. This week's Essential: Positive Traditions.

In my travels to forty college campuses the past three years -- and many other churches and ministries -- I do in fact see plenty of traditions.

But positive ones?

By positive I mean healthy, growth-producing, momentum-inducing practices that build and expand the mission.

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I just spent a week with a robust, thriving campus ministry at a major university a few states over from my home in Minnesota.

I asked to see their yearly calendar.

It's filled with positive traditions such as excellent retreats, strategic training, thoughtful outreaches, missional prayer, crispy meetings and systematic leadership development.

They're doing 90% of the fine things they did last year -- except they're doing them a little better this year.

I suggested a few tweaks but that was about it. They're already practicing most of the Essentials, and I could feel from them the cool emanation of God-God-God, God vibrations.

OK, lame joke. But remember, I'm in major scramble mode to spice up these boring posts.

Essentials Part 8: A Leadership Parable

For seven weeks now I've been talking about Essentials for ministry growth.

In this post I have a radical suggestion to make. It's taken from a short module on growth that I've been doing for campus and church ministries.

Let's say a cool guy, Joe, approaches me about joining a men's Bible study. I ask Joe who else is in the group and he tells me that Larry is already signed on.

I like Larry. I'm intrigued.

Joe's got fire in his eyes. He tells me this group is not for the faint-hearted. If I join, it has to be 100%. I need to show up every week (or close to it). On time.

Joe lays out the plan and promises me a fantastic experience. He looks at me steady and unblinking and declares simply, "Rick, I want you in the group."

OK, this is different. Whatever happened to "everyone welcome" and "come when you can"?

In these days of half-hearted commitments, I wonder if Joe will ever get this thing off the ground. He's asking too much.

I come to my senses. Joe doesn't care if no one else joins. He and Larry will go it alone and pretty soon they'll be telling me how good it is and how God meets them so powerfully every week . . .

Alright, I'm in.

I regress for a moment and ask Joe if the group is open to the whole wide ministry that we're in -- if other guys can just show up when they want.

Joe looks at me funny like I don't get it. "Rick, it's not an open group. Only guys who can make the same commitment we're making can join."

Wow. Counter-cultural. I can't believe he just said that. But somehow it makes me want to join even more.

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Six months later, Joe has totally delivered.

The group is excellent, as promised. Four guys had amazing experiences studying God's word together and bonding deeply. We watched some football, went on a fishing trip, supported Larry through his mom's death and funeral, and prayed for each other's families.

Joe announces that he's got two more guys who want in. They join. Now we're six.

A year later it's ten, then fourteen, then twenty.

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My belief is that quality and commitment beget quality and commitment.

Ask for a lot and you'll get it.

Ask for a little and you'll get it.

By the way, this little parable is based on a real-life ministry. It's not located in my state of Minnesota, but I don't care. I'll commute. I want in (if they'll take me).