I have to admit I have been one who has complained unconnected people only want to be entertained or view the church as a product and themselves as consumers. Often pondering the “what do members want from church discipleship or services question?”
Upon further review and distance, whose fault is that? Are churches sending the wrong message to Christ’s followers and to those we are attracting? Do church leaders have a pathway to make disciples or a strategy to attract customers to improve the ministries bottom line? The answer is not an either/ or, but a both/and when times get tough and dollars tight you will drift toward survival. Survival mode leads to an overemphasis on transactional ministry model.
Transactional Ministry
When I graduated from the Seminary, our commencement speaker made a horrible analogy. He said, “When you get into the parish view your people as cows, not pigs. Cows you can milk for years. Pigs are only useful when they are killed for food.” I was stunned and horrified by that example. This is my flock he is talking about. I am called to care for them provided them with ministry services not milk them and cast them aside. We are called to shepherd. A word of caution of we turn the church into an organization which only provides ministry services, i.e., Sunday school, Bible classes, various affinity groups we risk shifting our congregations into a transactional consumer driven destination.
“The Transactional Mindset is actually an old sales philosophy that has 4 main tenants:
- Value the transaction over relationship.
- Meet only their minimum expectations or whatever the customer will let you get away with
- Advertise and “market” to people constantly
- Use persuasion as a tool to get people to buy”[1]
Paul Hiebert makes this observation in his book, “Transforming Worldviews”about the church.
“Modern Christians tend to organize their churches the same way they organize corporate action in other areas of their lives. Consequently, many churches are religious clubs. They focus on a single interest (religious life), have voluntary membership, follow democratic procedures in organization, and have their own symbols, property, and patterns of behavior. There are attempts at building deeper fellowship through small groups and church dinners, but few members are willing to pay the price for real community: involvement in members’ daily lives and willingness to bear one another’s burdens through sharing and financial assistance. When a church organizes itself using the social principles of a club, it soon becomes a club, no matter what it preaches about community.”
When our churches reduce ministry to service-rendered (transactional), budgets become inundated with programs, and we pray these programs are what our members (customers are seeking.) Are these programs changing lives? Do they help make disciples? To be fair some do, but that is not usually what the ministries are created to accomplish. Our focus is on attracting people to our church to get them to buy into joining and being a repeat customer. This must be balanced with creating a culture and space for relationships, or our ministry can become mainly services provided driven.
Click here to read more.
Source: Christian Post
BCNN1 WP 