Are you Attached, or Connected?
We recently discovered a problem with our speaker array in our church. When the technician arrived to perform a software update, he tested each speaker to set the correct level and EQ for that speaker. Even though we have 9 speakers in each of our arrays, the arrays are designed to perform as one speaker, not 9 individual speakers. As the technician set the microphone in front of each speaker, he found that about 1/3 of the speakers were not putting out the same signal as the rest of them. They were not only softer, but the frequencies were different as well. When he took one apart to see if he could find the problem, he discovered that some of the speaker wires were attached to the terminals, but were not making connection to carry electrical signal.
It seems that a couple of months ago, the manufacturer told us that there was a problem with one of the speakers in our arrays. So they shipped the speakers to us, we took each speaker apart and replaced the speakers before hanging them again. Apparently, as we replaced the speakers, we didn’t check to make sure that the wires were properly connected. So for the last three months or so, our speakers have been performing at about 60%. In addition, they have been giving us a much lower frequency than was intended. This made the sound a little “muddier”.
The thing is – if you looked at the speakers, you could not tell that they were not connected. The wires were coming out of the speaker and going into the connectors. You could pull the wires and they did not come out. They were firmly attached. But they were not connected. They were not doing what they were designed to do. As a result, the entire sound system was under performing. The sound produced was also much inferior to the sound that the system was capable of producing.
Why am I telling you about our sound system? Because it serves as an analogy for a great number of churches. Our churches are filled with people who are attached, but not connected. By this, I mean that the majority of the people who sit in our seats each Sunday are simply attenders and not contributors. They are attached to your church in that they attend regularly. But there is no connection that provides function. And so, like the speakers in our sound system, your church is not living up to its full potential.
The church in America seems to have adopted a business model of service instead of the kingdom model. Most of you are probably aware at some level of the 80/20 rule. In business, this is the Pareto Principle, which says that for many events, 80% of effects are achieved by 20% of causes. So in business, we find that 80% of the work is done by about 20% of the workers. A recent study shows that the average church engages about 45% of the congregation in serving. This same study shows that above average churches can engage as much as 71% of the congregation in serving. To many of you reading this, that number sounds impossible. And it probably is. You see, our culture has adopted a business concept of serving. Anything more than 20% participation is considered good. 71% would be considered almost magical. The problem is, the kingdom of God is not a business. It’s a kingdom. And it doesn’t work on business rules. It works on kingdom principles. This principles are found in the Bible. And nowhere does the Bible say that we should work toward 50% or 70% engagement in serving. The only way those numbers would be acceptable in the kingdom would be if 50% or 30% of our congregation were not Christians. From those professing salvation who attend our church, we should expect 100% participation in serving.
In 1 Corinthians 12, the Apostle Paul is addressing the topic of spiritual gifts. In writing to the church in Corinth, Paul says that each of us are like the different parts of the human body. And just as we expect the different parts of our body to perform a different function, each of us is to perform a function within the local body we have been placed in. In Romans 12 he says something along the same lines. We are different parts of the same body. The gifts we have been given should be used to serve others in the local body.
As I get a little older, I am discovering what it’s like to have various body parts NOT function the way they are supposed to. Things that used to be routine parts of living are now difficult to do. Like tying my shoes or walking up stairs. In fact, just this week I made the discovery that it is no longer worth the effort to bend down and pick up a penny from the parking lot. When parts of the body don’t work the way they are supposed to, the whole body is affected. My knees remind me of that nearly every day! Likewise, when parts of your local church are not functioning in the capacity that they have been placed by God to perform, your entire church is affected.
But instead of teaching this kingdom principle, we cater to the consumer and try to recruit volunteers. We don’t want to risk offending anyone. But consider that the only ones who would be offended by this teaching are those who are not doing anything anyway. Would it be so bad if they went and did nothing at the church down the street? The point is, we were designed to function as a part of a local body and, ultimately, as part of THE body of Christ. It is not enough to simply be attached. We need to be connected so that we can effectively do what God has called us to do.
