People don’t like to talk money and the church. It makes people instantly think of TV evangelists.
And while those TV evangelists swindled millions out of well-meaning, hard-working Americans, the truth is that 99% of churches are great places and not full of crooks.
I have an encouragement for my friends just entering their 30s,you’re finally hitting the earning power to make a difference in your church.
Here’s something that may be news to you: It only takes about 10 solid givers for a small-to-medium-sized church to stay solvent.
Working for a small church this was clear. 6-7 core “giving units” provided a solid foundation of giving on which our monthly budget was built. We didn’t really know who they were but we were thankful for their faithfulness. But the $200-$500 a week they each gave weekly was the difference between the staff having a heart attack about the budget and knowing we’d at least make payroll! And, of course, people beyond that core group gave substantially too which made all the difference in the world for doing more than making payroll. Yet the fact remained that without those 6-7 anonymous folks we would have been in deep trouble.
Now, I’m sure $200-$500 per week seems unattainable.You’re saying that’s a lot of money! In some parts of the country $800/month is more than the mortgage. So you’ll have to do the math to figure out what that translates to in your local economy.
But here’s the point: These weren’t a special breed of super-givers. These were regular Joe’s and Mary’s. The median family income in that part of Michigan was about $60,000. That meant the median family brought home about $800/week after taxes. ($80/week if they tithed) Yet most of the folks in our church had professional jobs which paid much, more than that. All of a sudden you realize… the 6-7 families funding a big chunk of the church are really just average professionals tithing about 10% of what they brought home.
That’s where you come in. If just 5% of the church actually tithed, your church could stay solvent. I don’t mean they’d be in great shape. I just mean that 5-10 solid givers per hundred forms the foundation of giving for your church.
And if you are wise with your money you can be one of them soon.
Again, that may seem impossible. But if you got serious for the next 6-12 months on reducing your debt load you will be able to give a lot more. And while most people in their early-mid thirties are just starting to dig their way out of mountains of credit card debt, college loans, car loans, and the fat part of a mortgage… as they do that they are discovering they can have a lot more giving power.
It only takes 10 givers to fund a church. The question is simply– Do you want to be one of them?
I came home two weeks ago from Haiti. And almost every day I’ve talked with a church leader with one simple question: I know about the devastation in Haiti, but if I went to Haiti what could my church actually do?
Starting next week, there will be a unique opportunity to partner– very practically– with an existing church in the greater Port-au-Prince area.
So what would your church do in Haiti? You’ll be a part of rebuilding Haiti from the inside out.
I chose to be just crazy enough. More importantly, I want to encourage others to be crazy enough to recognize that they can change the world. — Adam McLane, August 28th 2009
In moments like this I feel like there is little I can do. While I would love to hop on a plane and “go help” the truth is I don’t have any skills that are actually useful. (I doubt they need a blogger) I will do the next best thing. I will give what I can and commit to joining the people of Haiti who stretch out their arms and call out Jesus’ name. — Adam McLane, January 13th 2010
It’s now been a couple weeks that I’ve known I was headed to Haiti to help in relief efforts. In the course of that time I’ve been all over the place emotionally. I’m scared, I’m excited, I’m nervous, I’m worried, I want to just jump on the plane, I pretend like it’s 10 years away, I shop for stuff I think I may need, I change the subject when people bring it up, I watch more CNN than humanly necessary.
Back on January 13th I had no idea I would be heading to Haiti less than one month later.
But it is true. On February 11th I will land in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic and begin an overland journey to earthquake stricken areas of Haiti. In my mind I keep hearing reporters say, “Haiti is a dangerous place on a good day, and certainly this is no good day for Haiti.” (While I am not an expert in rapid response relief, I’m happy to be traveling with a team who is!)
On top of the obvious, there are a couple other elements that have me excited for this trip.
The team assembled by Adventures in Missions for this trip is crazy diverse! The first time I talked to Marko about the trip he joked that when talking to a couple other bloggers one of them said, “We’d all just have to get together and hug it out.” We come from different denominations, liberal/conservative stripes, theological heritages, ministry-types, and even ministry companies who compete against one another. And yet, the need in Haiti is way more important than anything that should/could potentially divide us.
The team is calling you to Haiti. As soon as I told others that I was going they asked me, “How can I go too?” This is one of the secondary purposes of the Advance Team. We are going first, we are exploring what you can do, we are answering your questions, and we are imploring (begging?) you to come to Haiti with a team soon. That resonates strongly to how I encounter the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I long to see Jesus not just regenerate the hearts of the people we encounter but also the places we go and even the institutions which seem beyond renewal.
Soon the world’s cameras will leave Haiti. We will not have daily updates from Port-au-Prince. What will remain when the spotlight leaves is the hard work of rebuilding a country brought to its knees. This will be done by the Haitian people, NGOs, and the church.
I am going to Haiti because God’s people in Haiti cried out in Jesus’ name for help. I am one little tiny part of that very big response from Jesus to those cries in the darkness on January 12th, 2010.
And it is my hope that this little diverse team of people who is laying aside their differences for the sake of the churches response to the crisis will begin an amazing opportunity for Jesus’ people to change the world’s mind about believers.
What would happen if tens of thousands of God’s people laid aside their differences and came together in one response to change on country forever?
What would happen? I don’t really know. But I do know that it’s going to start with you.
Most people’s default measurement tool for their effectiveness is how busy they are.
The thought process goes like this:
If I have a full schedule of activity I feel invaluable to the organization
If I am doing a lot of stuff I must be doing some good
The result of all these meetings and all this planning is that people have lots to do and are motivated
Therefore, since everyone in the organization is busy and excited, we must be effective
The activity-driven formula
Impact (?) = activity + resources + more activity
This is a horrible measurement of effectiveness. This is why billions of dollars are spent in America on the local church and we will impact about the same percentage of people in 2010 as we did in 2009.
Let’s face it. We measure ourselves by how busy we are when we are trying to cover the fact that we have almost no impact. But there is a better way.
The impact-driven formula
Impact = activity – resources + results
If the local church were a machine we’d call it broken. Lots of activity with no or negative results. That’s a zero or negative mechanical advantage! All of the energy of spinning the organization is dissipated out as fiction.
If the local church were a corner grocery store, we’d file for bankruptcy. We paid the bills but the owners aren’t seeing growth, in fact they are net losing ground in the marketplace.
If the local church were a school, the government would take over.We just keep spending more money but test results are not improving, in fact they are getting worse.
If the local church were a politician, we’d vote ourselves a raise. Wait, that’s not a good example.
In an impact-driven organization you measure success purely by impact.
In your mind activity without impact is waste.
Conversely, if you want to make a large impact you have to take the time and invest your energy in maximizing the impact while limiting your activity.
If you are stupid busy but not experiencing results— are you frustrated and trying to figure out why?
