Last week, our staff went to hear Reggie McNeal speak at a local event. I found him to be excellent. I haven’t read any of his books, but his talks were based on The Present Future. Throughout the day he worked us through six bad questions and their better counterparts. I’ll post those questions tomorrow.
Jordon Cooper has an excerpt from McNeal’s book that summarizes what we heard him talking about:
Adopting a missionary approach will require changing the scorecard. Church scorecards currently reflect member values: how many show up, pay up, and participate in club member activities. There are the numbers used to compare one church with another–the numbers that denominations ask for in their reports. These numbers establish the pecking order among clergy. The bigger the better and the more respected by club members of other churches.
A missionary church culture will need to begin keeping score on things different from what we measure now. These may include how many ministry initiatives we are establishing in the streets, how many conversations we are having with pre-Christians, how many volunteers we are releasing into local and global mission projects aimed at community transformation, how many congregations are starting to reach different populations, how many congregations use our facilities, how many languages (ethnic and generational) we worship in, how many community groups use our facilities, how many church activities target people who aren’t here yet, how many hours per week members spend in ministry where they work, go to school, and get mail.
Until we start making heroes of people who decide to be and act like missionaries, we will fail to turn club members into missionaries. Until we bless people who “go out” from us to reach people who may not come to us, we will continue to have a kingdom vision that is shrink wrapped to church programs and church real estate. Until we start adopting school and hosting community food banks and teaching parenting seminars for people who come to us for food, we will keep fostering club member mentality.
Telling Stories, Asking Questions, Learning Lessons
I’m really struggling with this “scorecard” idea… Help me understand the reason we would want to keep that concept (however different the metrics) in our move to missionality?
In training leaders for corporations, I often teach that: What gets measured gets done. And I actively encourage leadership teams to reconsider what they really need to measure as they move toward success (whatever the endeavor).
I guess what I’m saying is, I’m all for the asking of questions. And in business I believe the right kinds of measurement are critical to success. That being said, in this particular case, I’m not sure that any of us (individually or collectively) are capable of determining THE specific measurements for what the Kingdom values. Nor am I convinced that God uses a scorecard.
Am I missing a key teaching from scripture here? As I just typed that question I thought of the Book of Life. Is that the ultimate “scorecard”? Does that have relevance in this discussion?
Thanks,
J