Being awesome doesn’t have to be expensive! Whether you have a budget or just chuckle at the mere idea of having a budget, the truth is that spending Kingdom finances is usually not the best way to achieve your God given vision. Sometimes it’s good to just put down the latest glossy product catalogue and remember that Jesus, nor his disciples, nor their disciples, ever had an HD video wall, a microphone, or a worship team of any kind. But yet, somehow in spite of their severe lack of technology, most would say that their ministry was pretty effective. It just takes some courage, faith, hard work, and often a single moment of creativity to get where you want to go. Here are some helpful tips for your planning:
1. You Must Believe You Can or You Never Will
If God has called you to do it YOU CAN! However, if you don’t believe that you will quit before you even begin. ‘We can’t do it because…’ or ‘if we had…’ or ‘when…’ is the kind of thinking that keeps you where you have been – waiting for something to come your way.
2. You and Jesus Is Enough
Almost all of the miracles in the Bible involved someone doing something simple with something they already had. Often the best solution is simply relying on the supernatural power of God to work through you. What you need in that moment is God, not a product.
3. What Do You Really Want?
The real goal is to have more effective worship, not to sound better and not to own the latest soundboard. It might be that your soundboard is not your problem. Another real goal is to get more people to come and your hope is people will if you make the service more exciting. The goal is not to purchase flashing lights. Find the real goal and then look for all the ways to achieve it.
4. Force Yourself to Think Differently
Take off and put on imaginary restrictions to find creative solutions to problems. What if you had no budget at all? What if you only had 5 minutes or could only use three people? What if you needed to double the results in half the time?
5. Understand Your Change Threshold
Creativity is by definition, ‘bringing something that didn’t exist into existence’ which is…CHANGE. Some ministries are very comfortable with change but others are not. Keep in mind that changes don’t all have to be big or happen at the same time – sometimes smaller and subtle is better.
6. Know the Non-Negotiables
What are the actual hard boundary lines? You can change what you want until what point? For some that is very restrictive and others it’s wide open. Don’t forget to actually ask your leadership so you are not limited by your impression of what’s possible. I have found those not to be the same thing.