That “gap” was caused by our differing life experiences. Mom and Dad experienced the Great Depression and World War II. Compared to my few experiences, life was difficult for them. For them, there were days and years when it looked like money would always be in short supply and there was no end in sight to the Depression. But the economic problems were “solved” by a war that continued for years and killed millions of people. Families were torn apart, some never to exist again, and multitudes of lives were altered forever. Physical and mental damage from the war were common. Following years of grim, wearing, ugly warfare, many American men were unable to transition back to civilian life.
Life got better. They were greeted as heroes when they came home from the war. (Because they were heroes.) They were given the possibility of obtaining a college education. (The GI Bill.) Slowly but surely, the economy started to flourish. It was about this time, as one of the first Baby Boomers, I met my parents. As far as I knew, life was good and had always been good. My Dad was educated, had a good job, built the house of his dreams, we children wanted for nothing, had great schools to attend, and the long summer days were amazing. When I hit the teen years I got a job to save for college, played sports and longingly stared at the teenaged girls. The Cold War was on, but the only effects were felt were an occasional trip under our school desks during a bombing drill. What an amazing waste of time and energy. Like our desks were going to protect us from a nuclear explosion. We got polio shorts and didn’t have to worry about that feared illness. Life was good.
The Greatest Generation taught us, the Baby Boomers, some valuable character lessons and values. Some of us paid attention. One of the things they taught us was a work ethic. Work is valuable. Work can be fulfilling and even fun. Hard work produces some wonderful results. Somehow, that work ethic, generally speaking, has failed to be passed down through the generations.
Many of the younger people who have worked for me over the years, seem to carefully count the hours they work so they don’t “overdo”. A few have expected to work 36 hours a week and be paid for 40. I don’t know about other workplaces, but in the church, I expect 40 hours work for 40 hours pay, plus. That plus works like this: if we expect laypeople to volunteer hours to the work of the church, we, too, should volunteer several hours a week to the church. That doesn’t seem to make sense to some of my younger employees. I talk to some in the ministry who chose this profession because they thought it was easy. And it is if you don’t want to succeed.
I knew the work ethic was in trouble when I noticed a note on the counter of a restaurant chain that read: “Help wanted. If you show up to work on time for 30 straight days, you will receive a $100 bonus.” Really? When I was working, if you showed up to work on time every day for a month, they let you keep your job. Duh. Expecting to be paid more to do less is a recipe for disaster.
There are many in the church who work very hard but see little success – slight changes in people’s lives and little or no growth in the size of the congregation. We rationalize our lack of growth by saying, “We aren’t growing physically but we are growing spiritually.” Quite honestly, that is not true. A spiritually growing church just naturally attracts people. Healthy churches grow.
Working harder is not a bad thing, but sometimes it doesn’t help. We need to work smarter. Often those of us in ministry spend much time and energy maintaining what we have instead of investing in the future of the church. We visit shut-in’s, lead groups, listen to complaints and put out fires instead of doing the things that will empower church growth. Though many church members think we exist to serve their needs, we need to spend a majority of our time and energy on nurturing relationships with non-believers and developing lay ministers and church leaders. To do otherwise is to work hard but not smart.
Knowing this, I was surprised when I realized the other day that we were doing just that – working hard, not smart. We are in the process of transformation and the staff and laypeople are working our butts off. But we are seeing very little growth. We are seeing some spiritual growth but little else. Like what might be true for a majority of North American mainline church, we are teetering on the edge of extinction. Time is short. We need to work smarter.
Unfortunately, I don’t know what that “smarter” looks like. But it is my job to, prayerfully, figure it out. Pray for me.
Copyright © 2018, William T. McConnell, All Rights Reserved
Bill McConnell is the Interim Minister at Norwood Christian Church in Cincinnati, Ohio, and is a Church Transformation consultant and a Christian Leadership Coach. He is a frequent speaker at Church Transformation events. His latest book on church transformation is DEVELOPING A SIGNIFICANT CHURCH and is available at Westbow Press.
He can be contacted @ bill45053@gmail.com. Connect with him on Facebook @ William T. McConnell or on Twitter @billmc45053 or visit his Amazon Author Page @ Amazon
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