“The Absence of Large Purpose” (S4Ep02)

The preaching is boring. The coffee’s too strong. Somebody’s sitting in my pew. The cantor is off key. They put the chairs back in the wrong place! Does any of that sound familiar? How about these: I don’t have time. I’m too busy. There’s no room in the budget. If your community is suffering from any of those kinds of complaints, you’re going to love this episode, because it just might help you fix every one of them.

“Pettiness is the tendency of people without larger purposes.” – George F. Will

When you don’t have something big and important that you’re doing – the little things become the big things. If you want people to stop complaining about all the little things, give them something big and important to do together.

If your goals are small, your member’s commitment will be small, and small things will be able to derail them. You have to elevate the importance of what you’re doing. If little things are derailing your efforts at church, perhaps your church’s vision isn’t big enough yet.

Here are a few questions to reflect on to see if there is something big and meaningful at stake for your church:

• Does it matter if we go to church or not?
• Does it matter if we pass on our faith to our kids?
• Does eternal salvation really weigh in the balance?

All churches believe there is something meaningful at stake, but most churches would do well to better communicate what is at stake to people.

Getting practical:

• Start small. Don’t try and engage the 90% of people who are disengaged. Start by individually reaching out to the 1%. Turn them into evangelizing disciples who in turn reach out to the next 1% and so on.
• Get better at explaining yourself. People passionately follow leaders who have communicated that something they care about is at stake. A great example is politics. Communicate that what you’re doing is what’s best for your members and is worth it, and they will follow.
• Speak clearly about what is at stake. If what you’re saying is vague and doesn’t matter, people might not listen. For example, instead of saying “Donate some money to help the needy” be specific about what is at stake. Try something like, “Can you donate $20 so that this village can have clean water for a year? If we don’t come up with this money, they won’t get clean water.”
• Give before asking. Leaders need to earn the trust of their followers. Before asking your members to do something for you, do something for them. Show your members they will be better off engaging in what you’re doing.

In the presence of a big mission, a battle to fight together, a dragon to slay together, a grand adventure to embark on – the little things tend to disappear.

Links from the show

• In the “People Got Church Problems” segment, Matt Warner references a previous episode which you can watch or listen to here: “Say Less, Communicate More”
• Did you find Uno? Send us a photo at howdy@findinguno.com.
• Have a general question about church communication? Submit it to our hotline at Findinguno.com/ask-a-question.