Small is a relative term. Being ‘small’ has less to do with how many people attend your services and everything to do with what you compare yourself to. The church down the street or the mega-ministry on TV may seem large but what really makes you feel small is how you view your resources in light of the call of God. If you get nothing else from this article please know that you can! If God has called you then He will and already has equipped you to do it. Here are some tips to help.
Invest in knowledge and not products:
- Just like televisions MacGyver and Bear Grylls can save the world or themselves with a pocketknife and a stick of gum; if you know what you’re doing you really don’t need much. So first seek knowledge and if that knowledge tells you to buy – look elsewhere.
- Learn how to use the products you have. Church closets and stages are filled with ‘this is going to make us sound awesome’ products that people just don’t know how to use. Buying more of those is not the answer.
Only let people who are helpful help you:
- Being small can lend itself to feeling desperate for people. I cannot emphasize enough that it is better to have only a few people helping you move forward than to have a lot of people going nowhere.
- Shocking as it may seem, you do not need individually talented people on your team – you need team players. In sports we call it being a ball hog, a pre-Madonna, or the 2013 LA Lakers. Only add people who have proven that they are willing to help and secondly are willing to learn no matter what.
- Don’t try to find everything in one person. Look at what you need – break that into sections and then find two to three people that can each successfully accomplish a portion to complete the whole.
Lead at all cost – which is free:
- It does not require money or products to lead. Jesus never owned a sound system, DMX lighting, or an HD projector but I think we would all agree His ministry was effective. If you are successful in leading people into the presence of the Lord, no one will care what the music sounds like. However if you are not, then everyone will care.
- Don’t buy products to avoid leading – mostly because they don’t work. A countdown timer displayed in HD does not move anyone into the sanctuary – ushers do. Playing perfect music with high quality sound does not get people to sing – leaders do. It’s sometimes a little scary but true leadership is free and effective.
After working with churches all across the country I am convinced that every church already has what they need to accomplish what God has called them to do – it’s really just about learning how to put those pieces together. Be encouraged – once you know ‘you can’- you won’t be ‘small’ for very long.