The Church as a Business Venture

I was recently part of a discussion about the business model of the church; not whether there is a business dimension to the church--bills to be paid, donations to be counted and used responsibly, property to be maintained--but whether the mission of the church is appropriately seen as a business venture and to what extent sales and marketing strategies are appropriate tools for ministry.

I had some experience with this in my former denomination.  I first encountered the Brethren in Christ as a student at Messiah College, and they impressed me with their emphasis on discipleship and community.  One of the bishops was fond of saying that they loved one another across more differences than any church he knew, and the differences were significant.  The denomination was rooted in Anabaptism, Pietism, and the Wesleyan holiness movement, but rather than forming a confession that resolved all conflicts, these three streams continued to exist side by side .  So, depending on where one traveled, it was hard to know what to expect in a local Brethren in Christ church, since in different areas one or another of these three streams might be prominent.  But somehow they managed to keep it all together by defining the church as a brotherhood, a family in which different members contribute to the whole.

Did they do this perfectly?  Certainly not.  I've heard and read about some of the problems and divisions that occurred.  I've encountered small-minded people in the denomination.  But despite this, there was a strong sense of community.  My wife and I, coming in from the outside, were quickly assimilated as part of the brotherhood even though I never fully identified with any of the denomination's historic streams.  An elderly friend told us once of a conflict she had with her father when she decided to stop wearing the traditional head covering.  It unsettled and shook him; he thought, at first, that she was departing from the faith.  But as they continued talking he stopped and said, "this is just about my own pride."  His willingness to humble himself combined with a commitment to maintaining unity within the brotherhood was the sort of thing I saw over and over; it was what attracted me to the denomination.  Some of my closest friends are still there.

But a new generation of leaders has adopted a business approach.  Pastors are encouraged to look at successful CEO's, salesmen and managers as examples of leadership.  While General Conference was formerly a time for prayer, worship, and working through difficult things, it has now become a place to promote the latest gimmicks for "growing the church."  It is no longer possible for leaders to humble themselves; to do so would undermine the confident, successful image they're trying to project.  Where there had once been a strong sense of community and commitment to accepting one another despite our differences in personality, culture or theology, there is now a commitment to short-term measurable success combined with a willingness to get rid of anyone standing in the way.

What has happened?  The church is no longer a brotherhood and has become a business venture run by leaders inordinately concerned with the bottom line of numerical growth.  The church has become, not a place to give and receive pastoral care and discipleship, but a place to experiment with the newest strategies for success.  Certainly the church has business matters which need to be handled responsibly and with prudence. No doubt we can learn things from the world of business that will help us operate more efficiently. The problem is in allowing business assumptions and approaches to corrupt the heart of the church.

These thoughts were prompted by the Old Testament reading I heard this morning: "For this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. 12 As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness. 13 I will bring them out from the nations and gather them from the countries, and I will bring them into their own land. I will pasture them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines and in all the settlements in the land. 14 I will tend them in a good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel will be their grazing land. There they will lie down in good grazing land, and there they will feed in a rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. 15 I myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down, declares the Sovereign LORD. 16 I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice....   Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says to them: See, I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. 21 Because you shove with flank and shoulder, butting all the weak sheep with your horns until you have driven them away, 22 I will save my flock, and they will no longer be plundered. I will judge between one sheep and another. 23 I will place over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he will tend them; he will tend them and be their shepherd. 24 I the LORD will be their God, and my servant David will be prince among them. I the LORD have spoken" (Ezekiel 34:11-16; 20-24).  When the church becomes a business venture, pastors and church leaders unwittingly adopt a mindset which is at odds with what God is doing.  Although their intention may be to win more people to the gospel, they too easily end up plundering His sheep in the pursuit of their own goals, rather than nourishing and leading them to maturity.