Gear Up!: Nine Essential Processes for the Optimized Church

Introduction

Most of us have had it happen at one time or another. You climb into your car, turn the key, and find your car won’t start. You try again. Still nothing. At that point, some get out and look under the hood. Others call someone to help. Some kick the tires in exasperation. We have the expectation that when we turn the key, the car will start and take us to our desired location. Yet, there are times when the car does not start up and transport us as desired or planned.

Of course, the car manufacturer had the intention of the car being dependable transportation for the buyer. Yet, there are times when things don’t go as planned. Sometimes there are defects in the parts. Other times there is an assembly or installation mistake made. There are sometimes issues of inadequate maintenance. And of course, there are those times when the car is simply out of gas. Any one issue, let alone a combination of these issues, could keep your car from running altogether or at least keep it from running smoothly and efficiently. Therefore, safe and reliable transportation may be in jeopardy.

When our automobile is not running well or not running at all, there could be a variety of issues causing the problem. If it won’t start at all, you might wonder if the battery is dead. Is it the alternator? Has the starter gone out? Is there an engine problem? Are you out of gas? If your automobile is running but not at its best, there is yet another whole host of possibilities, such as the transmission, brakes, tires, heating/cooling system, air filter, oil filter, or spark plugs. There are multiple systems within your car that all work together to give you the safest, most reliable, dependable, and efficient transportation possible. If one system malfunctions or quits altogether, either safety, dependability, efficiency, or reliability may be at stake. Or all these things might be at stake. You may even completely lose the ability to use the automobile for transportation.

When it is time to purchase an automobile, we likely spend some time researching the best cars that fit our needs, desires, and budget. We might also research the automobiles that have received the highest consumer rankings in a variety of categories. Or maybe we ask for referrals and advice from friends and family. Besides making an educated automobile selection, we also research current market value, current pricing, and rebates available. Once we purchase an automobile, there is also maintenance required. When we maintain our automobiles per the manufacturer’s and our mechanic’s suggestions, we have the best possibility of having safe, dependable, and efficient transportation. From time to time, we may even have automobile manufacturer’s recalls that need to be addressed. We will have our mechanic evaluate our automobile from time to time to make sure all systems are working well so we won’t be stranded on the side of the road. We refer to this as preventive maintenance—heading off automobile problems before they leave us stranded.

Just like your automobile, your church needs functioning systems. These systems provide the church the most reliability, efficiency, and effectiveness. Without all the systems in place, running well and in sync with one another, your church will not run as effectively or efficiently as it could. If you are running systems that have not had a tune-up in a while, those systems may not be providing the reliability and effectiveness they once did. And, as always, it is best to have preventive maintenance performed on our systems before they actually fail.

The nine gears explored in this book are intended to provide the intentional processes to support effective ministry. Without intentionality, we most often miss the mark. The gears are also strategic in their design to provide and support the intended outcome of effective, efficient, and vital ministries to reach new people. Without being strategic, we often miss the synchronicity of those gears.

Most of us do not peek under the hood of our automobile before we climb in and start it up each time. We can tell by the purr of the engine and the performance of our car if it is running well or not. Likewise, when we have the vital gears for our church up and running, we don’t have to continuously peak under the hood each day to inspect or tinker with the gears. Gears are in place as part of the overall engine. The engine allows the car to move us about. In our churches, the process gears are like the engine of the automobile. When these gears are installed and working optimally, they allow us to go about the ministry with the processes in place like a well-oiled machine. These gears are there to optimize and move people along.

The gears (aka processes or systems) in this book are not a menu from which to select only a few. All the gears and systems are required to run smoothly in sync and coordination with one another for you to have a well-run machine that is effective and efficient. The expected outcome of having an automobile is for you to have safe and reliable transportation. For a church, the expected outcome is to achieve the mission. I believe every church, no matter the denomination, has the same mission, which Jesus Christ clearly outlined for us in Matthew 28: to go and make disciples. Therefore, we need to make sure we have all systems and processes in place to assure we are effective and efficient at making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. When all the gears are optimized and working in sync with one another, it will provide the best opportunity for us as churches to live out our purpose. Is your church a smooth-running disciple-making machine?

In order to have all the appropriate gears working efficiently and effectively, it requires people power to fuel the gears. This is where a cultural shift may need to occur in your church. I often experience churchgoers as consumers of church. This is most often described as the action of showing up for worship desiring everything a certain way just as we like it and leaving only to return the following Sunday with the same expectation. Not out of intention, but out of the lack of intention, we have created some churches filled with pew potatoes. For a church to live out its mission of making disciples, we most generally need to shift off the consumerism and pew-potato approach into a discipling approach to church. This means that people inside the church are working at becoming more fully committed followers of Christ who see it as their responsibility and privilege to reach more new people for Christ. Because of their mature discipleship, these people make themselves available to serve on Sunday. They are not there to consume, but they are at church to be ambassadors for Christ. These people are willing to forego Sunday school in lieu of having a small group experience at another time and place in the week. These people are willing to make conversation and connection with new people a priority on Sunday in lieu of catching up with friends at another time. These people teach children’s Sunday school or work in the nursery so that the parents of these children can be discipled. Service is their priority rather than attending for what is in it for me? These fully devoted followers of Christ are not only models for discipleship but also the needed fuel for the process gears to make new disciples.

Many times I see churches who are merely going through the motions of doing church. These churches have the best of intentions. They oftentimes are working really hard. Yet, often they are in a rut trying harder to do the things they have always done that are not bringing about fruitfulness. We live in a time where all organizations must be nimble and flexible, and churches specifically need to be able to respond quickly and efficiently to our constantly changing culture. While what we have to offer, Jesus Christ, doesn’t change, the way we go about reaching people for Christ must change and adapt. What and why we do what we do doesn’t change (the message). But how we go about it (the method) must change as our times and culture change. Therefore, we must constantly evaluate and refine our systems and processes to assure they are working at their optimum and bearing fruit. If they are not fruitful or working optimally, we need to be ready and eager to adapt. We must have intentional systems that are in rhythm with one another and together create the desired outcome—making disciples of Jesus Christ. This is why the gears of these intentional processes are essential.

Here is something I have found to be extremely helpful in my work with churches. Communication is key when it comes to changes and transformation. Many times our churches struggle with effective communication to begin with. In addition, we most often communicate what the change is and forget to communicate why change is needed or even required. When we only communicate what the change is, people often see changing as only for the sake of change. And if the change is perceived only for the sake of change, most people will be resistant. When we communicate only the what, people are likely to become defensive about the change because it immediately links to something personal, something that will change how they personally experience church without any reasoning for the change. On the other hand, if we lead with why the change is recommended, we are much more likely to bring people along with the change. When we connect the why to the greater good and the why to reaching new people, most will come alongside the change and be supportive (some more quickly than others). So remember, speak more about the why and less about the what as you go about creating or overhauling your process gears.

Through my work with hundreds of pastors and churches, I most often see struggling churches lacking a few or many of the needed gears (processes/systems) to fully and effectively live out the mission of making disciples. So it is