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| Are We Monks or Ministers? Has "poor-me" taken over?
By Dan Mirgon, CFRE
I’m writing this with some concern about who might have difficulty with this topic. In fact, this is a difficult subject to bring up because most of the time, I want to be nice, only giving news that goes down well. But alas, that’s not the role of a consultant is it?
I have struggled with an
issue I’ll call “poverty-think” that I see in many smaller ministries.
It is the perspective that because we are serving God, we can’t have the financial resources we need to do things like provide adequate employee benefits, pay a livable wage and many other ideas. This thinking affects the entire organization and how it relates to the community it draws financial support from.
When Anthony of Egypt established Monastic vows in the third century A.D. I’m sure he didn’t think about the impact it would have on modern ministries. Later picked up by Benedictine, the vow of poverty, chastity and obedience was meant to make adherents “independent of the fleeting things of earth” and therefore more spiritual than the commoners.
The question I have is whether we are we doing the same thing today – but under the banner of “stewardship?” You see many smaller ministries take the term “non-profit” literally, and run their organizations so lean; that they are always “broke.” Then they wonder why it is so hard to raise support. At the other extreme are those that hoard financial resources, pay excessive salaries and do little “ministry” at all. Spending too much energy on fundraising without delivering on the Matthew 28:19 mandate is just as wrong.
No, the answer lies somewhere between these extremes. It requires a proper balance of faith and process. On a scale of one-to-ten, if broke is a 1 and hoarding is a 10, I think we need to plan for a 5 (if not 4.5).
The reason this is so important is the Luke 14 thought that I outlined last month. (see: Ministry Management - It's Your Testimony) The idea is that God’s reputation is at stake as the secular world looks on, wondering whether these “Christians” are any different than the crooks and cons they read about so often in the press.
So how do you go about changing this? I think it begins with your perspective. First, if God really did call you into ministry to solve a particular societal or spiritual problem, He did it so that He would be glorified. Anyone can start a non-profit organization with the intention of solving problems – but only Christians can offer the hope of a transformed life in Christ. That’s what makes us different, and what should set us apart.
Whether your delivery system is serving the homeless, preaching to urban cultures, overseas missions, medical or emergency relief, education or something else, the primary goal still needs to get back to bringing men and women, boys and girls to Christ.
Secondly, you need to find a few nuggets of “God at work” in your ministry and highlight them. People will and do give to proven impact more than they will ever give to needs.
Finally, when it comes to the conversation about those you can’t serve because of limited resources, your stewardship of the quality of services you are able to provide has to be maintained, and the unmet need is the reason that more people need to be involved.
When you water down the quality in favor of quantity you diminish the impact and the ultimate praise God gets for the work He called you to do. The unmet need should become the “vision motivator” for those who see the great work, and want it to be multiplied.
After all, Christ didn’t give the crowd smaller fish – He multiplied what was there already. Let’s plan to do His work with quality, and invite people to multiply the blessing to those who still need it.
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