Weak Economy Provides Key Catalysts for Church Health
by
By Allen Ratta
Hard times, in the providence of God, have always been good for the Church. Persecution and poverty make heaven dearer and serve as a refiner’s fire in the hands of the master purifier of souls. False motives are exposed and expunged in the heat of adversity. Financial duress can be good for a person and a church. At first glance you may want to disagree with such a disturbing notion but the scriptures make a compelling case for its veracity. “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials,” Jas.1.2
“How can financial difficulties possibly help my church?” you ask. I hear your pain. “I have salaries, bills and a mortgage that have to be paid. How can $10,000 in income meet $12,000 in expenses? I am talking about the facts of pure math.”
It is critical in the midst of these economic times to understand an immutable Kingdom principle. God’s Kingdom is NOT dependent on the kingdoms of this world or any other earthly resources. This is not to say that you can practice poor stewardship and expect God to rescue you on demand. But it is important to understand that God’s provisioning of His Kingdom transcends every worldly-wise principle upon which the empires of mankind are entirely dependent. Money may make “the world” go round but it can actually be a huge distraction to authentic Kingdom building. Jesus said, “I will build My Church.” I am talking about the power of pure faith, which supersedes math. Do the math and try to figure out how two loaves and five fishes can feed 5,000.
I suspect that I am now starting to lose some of you who imagine that this is another argument for blind faith in the midst of real and visible problems. So let’s get very practical. What concrete benefits can your church realize from a lack of adequate fiscal resources?
1. An Increase in God Dependence
Prayer is the greatest resource/weapon of the local church and every Christian. Paul uses an all-inclusive word, like James who considered it “all” joy, when it comes to facing difficulties. Paul admonishes, “…in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” Phil. 4.6 NASB Surely “everything” includes the realm of finances. A fiscal crisis can be a great catalyst to mobilize a church in passionate prayer to Jehovah Jireh, our God who Provides. Reality is that a church family that is earnestly crying out to God is far richer than one with a multi-million dollar endowment.
2. An Appropriate Re-Emphasis on Body Life
When money is tight churches often have to get very creative with staffing to just cover the basic requirements of church ministry. This dire necessity plays beautifully into the hands of God and the plan He has to advance His Church. By the way, I have consulted with a number of churches over the years that were “fat” with paid church staff. When inquiring about the large number of paid staff in ratio to the size of the congregation the usual response is, “we are staffed for growth.” This might be a good business principle but it is certainly NOT a Kingdom principle. In fact it is antithetical to the biblical recipe for church growth. The Bible states that the key to sustainable church health/growth happens when the focus is on activating the members of the Body of Christ. They need to be moved from a spectator to a participatory level of Christianity. The mobilization of the Body of Christ happens to also be the perfect recipe for an under-resourced church during tight economic times. Paul explains the principle. “…according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body” Eph. 4.16
3. The Decentralization of Ministry
Whenever I am consulting with a church I look for choke points. By this I mean places where information, decision-making, resources, ideas or creative energy are overly restricted and thereby rendered largely useless to much of the Body. Some churches are reduced to a mere fraction of their ministry effectiveness because too few are appropriately empowered to actually do the work of the ministry. Organizational paralysis can easily quench what God wants to do in and through His family. I have found the following general principle to be true. People will never function at the peak of their creative energy and capabilities until they are adequately empowered to do so by church leadership. This can be threatening to some. It is confusing to others who believe their members are adequately empowered but have developed blind spots to key choke points in their church’s operational style and structure.
It has been my experience that one of the greatest benefits of web based church ministry systems is that they have the potential to radically decentralize church ministry and free volunteers to function on a much higher level. It begins with “anywhere anytime” instant access of information that was previously known only by a few. ConnectionPower’s church software systems go far beyond just information and database management. We have designed them to specifically empower volunteers to fully manage their ministries with a level of sophistication that exceeds their ministry experience. We partly accomplish this with ministry-specific dashboards that consolidate and push critical information to ministry leaders. We also embed and place critical processes at their fingertips that experienced ministry professionals know are critical to the advancement of any ministry.
