When rebooting a youth program, people want someone who can come in with a lot of charisma and produce programs with such magnetism that no one can resist their attractive force. During my time in the private sector, I repeatedly encountered managers who thought that bringing in that one software package, that one consultant, or that one productivity initiative was going to solve everything. The software, the consultants, and the initiatives could not match the expectations, because the managers wanted something that would bring change without effort. To change an organization, you must change yourself.
When talking about the magnetic pull of programs, someone is bound to say, “If you build it, they will come.” I used to say it. But I’ve learned that’s only a line from a movie. The scriptwriters arranged the story so the words would come true. Good programs are important, but they don’t generate enough magnetic pull on their own.
The key phrase is not “If you build it,” but “critical mass.” It takes a certain number of people committed to making “it” work. Here’s where we need to change our thinking: the “it” is secondary to the commitment to do “it”.
I hear food metaphors are the most effective, but we have to use the right one. We think the metaphor is a restaurant. You have choices, but the chef has to put food he thinks you want on the menu. If you don’t see anything you like, you eat somewhere else. If the chef makes the right choices consistently, people come to the restaurant. The whole thing hinges on the chef making the right offer. Restaurants may work that way, but not ministries. Ministries are community meals. I have a kitchen where we can cook together. Everyone comes together, everyone brings ingredients, and everyone cooks. Together we figure out better ways to cook and together we enjoy eating what we have prepared. We need enough people to bring enough food to make a meal. We need enough hands to prepare the meal. Sometimes the simplest meals are feasts when we enjoy them with our friends. It is more important to commit to come together and eat than it is to have the right menu.
Einstein is supposed to have said, “We cannot solve our problems with the same level of thinking that created them.” Thriving ministries constantly evaluate and adapt. They embrace what works, abandon what doesn’t, and constantly dig deeper to try to distinguish between what appears to be true and what actually is true. Getting the right metaphor helps describe the situation, gets everyone thinking the same direction, and secures that common commitment. I’ll do a common meal with the youth to drive home the point.
The Feral Deacon 