My wife and I have driven 730,000 miles since we were married. There was a man by the name of Ford who led us every step of the way — Henry, not Danny. Henry Ford may have realized something that church leaders sometimes forget. He said, “You can take my factories, burn my buildings, but give me my people and I will build the business right back again.”
People are our greatest resource. Our society is filled with programs we can buy to make our lives easier and our churches better. We are inundated with one five-step program after another. The church sometimes resembles a 400-pound man eating Twinkies while watching from his recliner the newest exercise program he purchased and wondering what he is doing wrong. Get out of the recliner, Church, and start doing something!
Invest in people before programs. No program or presentation is going to make up for people who are living out the great commandment and leading others to do the same. Your church budget may be filled with line items full of food and programs. Our most valuable resource may be our children. If your church homecoming budget is more than the amount you spent on your young people, you may have a problem. What if you eliminated some of the stuff, and invested in more leaders who equip and impact people?
Pastor, your greatest assets for reaching your community sit right in front of you on Sunday morning, bored to death. I’m not talking about your sermons! Their boredom is related to a life that is not on mission daily and lacks adventure, faith and risk. Challenge them to take risks. Celebrate when they do. Give them permission to fail. Let them loose! If you are one of those people, quit blaming the preacher. Take a step of faith, and believe in someone who is not yet a believer. You may be surprised. Your greatest resources for the future may be disciples who have not yet been developed in your neighborhoods — people who are waiting to be challenged, developed and deployed.
On Oct. 23, church leaders from around the state will converge on Columbia for the IMPACT conference. It is a gathering to discuss how we might be able to mobilize our most valuable resource — the people sitting in our pews — to engage their communities and develop them to be disciples. Come and join us. You can register at www.scbaptist.org/impact.
You know, as I look back on those 730,000 miles, I do not remember talking too much about the engine and the tires of my Ford. What I remember are the conversations I had with family and friends along the journey, dreams fleshed out in conversation, and the people I connected with at the destination.