People really are more important that Projects but is that the reality in church life?
Does the church that you are part of view people primarily as a resource for fueling their projects or as children of God who are valuable and loved?
Do we want to help people to become who God is calling them to be or is priority to shoehorn them into what we are trying to accomplish?
Do you ever feel like the church leader I spoke to recently who said ‘I want to be a part of a church that doesn’t wear people out!’
One of the points that churches often lose sight of the value of people is when it comes to outreach. Most churches I have come across have an evangelistic strategy that is all about projects or events.
I heard a story recently about a church that ran what they claimed was a successful outreach event. It was a coffee morning and lots of people who never would have darkened the doors of the church turned up to drink coffee and to eat cake. They thought they were doing well but the problem was that all the church people stayed behind the counter and didn’t interact with their guests except to sell them things.
The church was running a project that looked good but they had lost sight of the primary purpose which is to bless people and to connect with them.
The reality is that a coffee morning with two people who are spoken with and valued is more effective than one with two hundred people who are ignored.
So, do the projects in your church give life to people or are people simply being used as fuel to keep those projects going?
If we realize that we are not valuing people more than projects, how could things change?
Ironically, it’s the projects and the programmes that wear people out in over busy churches.
What would it look like if we really put people before projects?
Instead of needing to manufacture meetings and events to facilitate relationships, we could make loving Jesus and one another central and just see what happened? This wouldn’t necessarily mean that we wouldn’t run any programmes but it would mean that we could keep focused on what we are really should be all about.
Honest about my faith 