Effort Don’t Cut It—ESPECIALLY in Ministry
Why Game Film is a Ministry Imperative
Yesterday, I read with great interest the post Effort Doesn’t Count by Mizzen & Main co-founder Kevin Lavelle, and was particularly struck by how critical a notion his post presents for those of us who work in ministry or other non-profits. If you didn’t catch it, you absolutely should, regardless of your arena.
What really jumped out at me in Lavelle’s post are the challenges that we have in ministry to apply the standards he proposes. And the challenges are unique to ministry because of the inherently non-quantifiable work we often do, and because of the culture of many of our churches. Some of this is not only understandable, but something to be celebrated. But, some of it ought to be ruthlessly cut out like the cancer that it is.
A few years ago, my son was playing freshman football as a quarterback. Having arrived in Texas high school football, he got to enjoy his first session ever of game film. Later that Saturday morning, I asked him how it had gone. He said, “Dad…it was awful. We were in this room with the whole team and coach just kept going over every mistake that I made.”
In a knee-jerk response, I told him, “If you can learn to take constructive criticism, you’ll be ahead of about 90% of any team you’re ever on.” As the words came out of my mouth, I realized that we needed a “game film” process for our church staff—not because we don’t trust people, but because we DO trust them.
The fact is that when investing primarily in people, much of the “work” is going to defy measurement. It’s going to result in worship climate developed and grown, divorces averted, lives changed, past anxieties overcome, patterns of self-destructive choices abandoned, relationships built, trust earned, and honor built. All, items which fail to find a line item in a P&L or a quarterly performance review.
And, it’s the healthy church that recognizes and celebrates that aspect of our calling and the work associated with it. It’s the healthy church that “measures” the unity of their staff and their commitment to the vision, loyalty to one another, availability to members, and heart for ministry.
But, that is not to suggest that evaluation, accountability, or feedback ought to be abandoned. As a matter of fact, I think we answer to a much higher standard and owe it to ourselves, to God, and to our church families to regularly evaluate and provide feedback and accountability.
Every single person on our staff is paid out of money that faithful people choose to put in our offering bag or donate online as an act of faith—faith in God, and trust in us that we will wisely and honorably administrate those resources. That’s no small responsibility. So, IF we find a staff member is not performing their role well or honorably, we owe it to God and to our church to address that performance issue.
Also, I realized we owe it to that person to provide feedback. Mature, healthy people WANT feedback. They WANT to get better. They WANT to know that they’re rowing in the same direction as everyone else.
People who shy away, avoid, or even resent accountability, have no place on a church staff. They’re not mature enough spiritually or emotionally to be the leaders and caretakers that the Bride of Christ deserves to have serving in those capacities.
But, those conversations are so difficult to have with people we often like or who are “really good people.” In the marketplace, most people expect to have performance reviews, at least in a healthy work culture. But, for some reason, church-folk often feel like that’s too “corporate” or “worldly” or I don’t know what.
The reality is that accountability is a necessary component of love. The people who love me the most—my wife, our kids, my closest friends—they hold me extremely accountable precisely BECAUSE they love me. And, not coincidentally, I listen to them when they call me out…wait for it…because they love me and I trust them.
Effort, by itself, just don’t cut it.
