Why we do what we do

Your last post, Administration & Pastoring, has kept me thinking. I will forever get wrapped up in the business of ministry while neglecting to give thought or attention to the ministry of ministry. However, without the act of doing ministry, the business of ministry is entirely pointless. So the following is a public service announcement as to why I want to do ministry consulting. I'd also be interested in hearing the "why" behind your involvement; it always gives everything a deeper meaning to me if i know the "whys" behind things.

I've been around the church for my entire life. I've visited a multitude of churches and been involved in a good amount of those. What I find time and time again is that people in church leadership generally have good intentions, but ultimately struggle in how to bring their good intentions to fruition. In the end, the ministry is a mess and people who need real help never attain it.

I also have an unshakable belief that the church is very uniquely positioned to be a tremendous positive voice in society. Even with the bad reputation the church has secured for itself in today's society, it is still overpoweringly influential in individuals' lives, and individuals are indeed the people who make up this thing we call "society". Moreover, if the church actually built a very positive reputation for itself in the public view, it would be an even more potent influence over society and culture.

I want more than anything to see the church succeed because of these things. What other organization can so positively impact both an individual and an entire community? However, to maximize on this potential, churches have to be well-run. They absolutely cannot be a breeding ground for commitment to the mediocre, a stagnant attraction to the status quo. They must be inspirational, empowering, purposeful, smoothly operating.

The glaring deficiency in attaining this, in my experience, is on the side of administration and execution. Ministry has not been treated as a profession - it has been treated as a role that can be filled by any person with a big heart, charisma, and good speaking ability. I want to see churches move beyond this and professionalize what they do.

Why not be excellent at devising and executing strategy? Why not be excellent at leadership and developing people? Why not have a rampant intolerance for subpar performance? Are we not working for God Almighty? The Creator of the Universe? The Sovereign Lord? Then why do we give sorry attempts at truly carrying out His mission to help the poor, the sick, the lost, the needy, the orphaned, the widowed, the broken?

So anyway, that's my half rant / half discussion on why I'm doing this. Very simply, I want to see churches excel at ministering to people, and they can't do that if they are clueless as to how to run an organization.