What is Productivity?

Are you a person who likes to get things done? To cross things of the list? If you don’t accomplish a certain quota of tasks do you get frustrated? Do you feel like a failure? Like your day was wasted? Are you the kind of person who likes to measure progress and see results?

A healthy number of leaders are task oriented. They like to see things get done. Unfortunately, this desire for productivity can lead to creating and living in an illusion of accomplishment. The hunger for productivity can lead to the trap of meaningless busyness.

What is productivity in mission and ministry? Is it simply keeping up and catching up? You know how it goes: you work to keep the e-mail inbox clear; you try to keep up with snail mail and reports, you keep your website up to date, you compose your latest blog, you return phone calls, you scramble to meetings, you outline strategic plans, you make sure worship services are set to go, you communicate with church leaders and staff, you set up for your next event. Work, work, work. Busy, busy, busy.

But is it productive? These are good things, but at the center of mission and ministry are people. The ultimate measure of productivity in the church is redemptive relationships. Who is lost but now is being found? Who is weak, but now is being strengthened? Who is idle, but now is being equipped and sent out? Who is hopeless, but now is being brought to the Shepherd of their souls?

When I was serving a mission church in suburban Chicago, there were stretches of time when all I seemed to do was spend hours on the phone with people, handle walk-ins, go to hospitals and nursing homes, and spend time meeting people in the community. On some days I felt like I got nothing done! But a few years before that season of ministry, I determined that my number one priority in ministry would be people. Even though I felt as if I never kept up with all the tasks, I was going to connect with people. It felt completely unproductive at times, but God showed me otherwise.

Every month I visited a woman who was bedridden because of severe arthritis. Her sister and brother-in-law took care of her. We talked, drank 7-Up, laughed, prayed and celebrated God’s gifts. It took most of the afternoon. I loved this dear lady and her family, but sometimes I wondered if this was a productive use of time. God showed me it was. In addition to caring for a dear and precious child of God who had no other access to Christian fellowship, this sweet lady and her family had a network of family and friends who I got to know gradually. The synergy of our relationship resulted in remarkable opportunities for witness, consolation, and service to the Lord. God showed me that, ultimately, relationships move the Kingdom forward.

I’ll never forget how meeting a homeless man connected me to a Roman Catholic nun, who connected me with a network of community leaders, who ultimately banded together to reach several key high-risk and high-need areas of the community, allowing me to bring Christ to thousands of at-risk young people and disenfranchised adults. What seemed like a distraction from productivity resulted in the most productive Kingdom work ever.

How could I miss this simple truth? How could I think that a list of tasks and an empty e-mail inbox rivaled relationships with others? After all, Jesus spent time with people. He sought relationships. His web of people connections opened the door of new life for thousands. And Jesus still seeks people.

I am in full support of responsible administration and organizational leadership. I hope that every servant of Christ is able to get certain things done in a timely way. But what if you started to measure your productivity in terms of relationships? What if you reserved large chunks of time to see what the synergy of redemptive relationships can accomplish? What if you redefined productivity and reveled in its new freedom and opportunities?

(Church Planting Series, Part thirty-five)

A Life-changing Event

I was walking in a parking lot in Florida a few weeks ago and saw something I had never seen in my life.

It was early morning. Sprinkler systems had shut off fairly recently and the pavement was puddled but drying. About a foot from the grass was an earthworm. He was stranded on a dry patch of pavement, wiggling slowly. Death was not far away as the sun rose, the temperature grew warmer, and the moisture disappeared.

Suddenly, the worm jumped! Yes, it leaped about an inch off the ground, springing closer to its grassy goal. With a mighty contraction, the worm got some air. Unbelievable.

I’m not sure if the worm made it back to a moist and muddy haven, but this was an unusual action for an earthworm. Trying to free itself from certain shriveling, dehydration, and death, the worm was pushed to go where no earthworm had gone before. It was a catalytic occurrence in the life of that worm. It was a life-changing event.

The church is being ignored more and more. Fewer people are deciding to go to church. The reputation of the church is suffering. By some it is considered boring and irrelevant. By others it is viewed as corrupt and cliquish. The organized church, it seems, is like a worm on drying pavement.

Mind you, the Bride of Christ is alive and well. Christ’s body will advance so that the gates of hell cannot prevail against it. But the outward organization and expression of the church is hurting. My questions are: Will it jump, and where will it land?

Will the church lay down and die or will it spring into a catalytic, life-changing event that renews its relevance, outreach, and vigor?

Will the church leap from dry outmodedness into the living water of Christ crucified, risen, and reaching a lost world?

What will that jump look like? Where will the church land? Will the church be less building centered and more community saturating? Will the church be more servant focused and less consumer driven? Will the church release people for ministry instead of controlling a group for maximum uniformity? Will the church rejoice in Biblical truth instead of watering down its uniqueness and blending with the culture? Will worship services be means of celebration, refueling, and encouragement as believers are sent to their people and communities instead of being the end point of what a believer is supposed to do?

What will the earthworm bride do? We know that God will preserve His Church no matter what. Will the old worm have to die or will it burst into the air to live another day?

(Church Planting Series, Part thirty-four)