Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Has your church become the K-Mart of your city?

Last night i went to one of my most dread full places. K-Mart. I don;t know about yours but ours is a less than desirable experience. Here are some traits i noticed about our K-Mart that i also see in some churches and if we are not careful could lead to a downward spin.
1.Our K-Mart has a depressing vibe. no door greeters like walmart ( they stole that idea straight from the church). No energy. You will never catch a college aged kid in Kmart. All the college kids go to walmart and target. The toy dept. was hopping 20 yrs ago, now hardly no kids in the entire store.I can remember several stores having deli counters.
2. Employee Unhappiness- most of the employees looked like this was the last place they wanted to be. No one cheerful, very understaffed - saw less than 6 workers for a huge store.You never see the same employee twice because when you go back, they have already moved onto a better job. Churches often hire low quality, bad attitude people with the excuse that is all they can afford.
3.Dirty floors and bathroom- Its easier to sneak into the local jail than trying to find the restroom. Remember the God awful- please buzz me in so I can pee. Most public areas like churches, stores and even schools need to be updated every 10 years or so. Ever seen some 30 yr old shag carpet in church.
4. Merchandise out of date- Have seen many of the boxes have dust all on them because they have set on the shelf for years. If an item in walmart doesn't sell, they discount it or throw it away.  How many times do we see old junk laying around our churches. We are still funding old programs that don't work.
5. No long range vision- the main business decision between walmart and Kmart that may tell of the quality of leadership. Walmart now buys land and build its own stores. Our Kmart has leased its present location for @ 30 years. Many stores are now in the abandoned bad parts of town. Many neighborhood churches built in the 70s are now stuck in declining value and appearance neighborhoods.
6. Blame Game- too often churches that were successful in the 70s, 80s, keep doing what worked then and now that their program is no longer working, they accuse other churches of being seeker sensitive sellouts. wonder if Kmart hates walmart and target instead of looking at how they can improve their stores, customer service, appeal to younger shoppers.
7. low quality merchandise.- the electronics dept. and sport dept. are one step above flea market brands. Churches use the excuse of low funds to bless low effort. We have seen some jacked up sound booths and churches using 30 yr.old sound equipment.

Many pastors can go to a hopping church and just say i want to copy and duplicate everything and hijack someone else's vision with out knowing the why behind the how.God has given the church commandments and commissions yet He gives unique visions and qualities.