A Fresh Way to React to Church Competition
As pastors, we can feel a sense of competition regarding church growth in our city. It is easier to welcome people than to say goodbye, especially when they are giving generously.
There is a subconscious voice, "the numbers are important." Everything in our culture says to grow larger. It is a hard pill to swallow when the growth curve moves in the opposite direction. Often, there is a church and pastor in town receiving those "wayward" sheep, making that new church feel like the enemy.
About eight years into being a lead pastor, a larger ministry with more resources began a satellite campus about a half mile from our location. Within the first few months, our church gave up 15% of its membership. Committed volunteers, ex-board members and friends were choosing to attend this new church.
These were people I thought were partners of our ministry. I lost count of the goodbye conversations. "Pastor, we love you and your ministry, but we are going to start attending the new church in town."
This new church swept up about 25% of several churches in town. It was the first time our attendance went backwards since taking the pastorate in 2002. I didn't know what to do.
Fortunately, God's Spirit intervened with some good counsel. The first piece of advice surprised me.
"Take the Pastor of the New Church Out to Lunch."
It took a few weeks for me to agree with the Spirit. I did not want to have a relationship with this pastor. I was frustrated that his ministry was growing, causing mine to shrink. However, this lunch was the right antidote. I sat with this pastor whom I had felt jealous of for the past four months.
The Spirit whispered, "He is just like you." The words softened me. They made him human. He was not a superstar. He and I felt the same pressures. We had the same fears. We became ministry partners. We used vastly different approaches, but we were not enemies.
Second, I was reading Patrick Lencioni's book, The Five Temptations of a CEO.It is a fable about two companies in the same type of business. The larger company was trying to beat the other company although it already held a larger share of the market.
The smaller company was content with its market share and consistently achieved a higher profit margin than its competitors. This reality frustrated the larger company.
As I got deeper into the fable, I heard the Spirit say,
"Play Your Own Game."
I was not in competition with anyone. God is calling lost people home. Each church is uniquely called, supernaturally equipped, and specially positioned to reach people in their city. Comparison kills. It is a real distraction to the true calling.
Finally, the "Parable of the Wedding Banquet" came up in my daily reading of Scripture (Matthew 22:1-14). Jesus reminded me of my responsibility to set the spiritual banquet table. I was called to plan a worship service for the exaltation of God and the feeding of His sheep.
My responsibility included inviting people to the worship table. It was not my duty to compare and evaluate who was or was not coming. Filling the house was to consume me rather than measuring myself against others.
"Compel those to attend who have not been invited."
The pastor who I imagined was better than me, was really a friend waiting to be pursued. I was able to defuse the situation because I chose a relationship. I put aside my jealousy and unfair judgments which are easy to have from a distance. I got back to work setting the worship table and calling people to it.
These lessons set me free. I am not trying to justify people switching churches. This is another matter entirely. In the end, praise God, both our churches grew in the next few years by over 30 percent!
When tempted to feel competitive with another church or pastor: extend friendship, play your own game, and compel those to attend who have not been invited.