One of the topics I’ve seen flying around many of the blogs and feeds I follow is the question, “does the church need a new scorecard?“  It spawns a great, thought-provoking dialog, and one I’m very interested in since I’ve just co-planted a brand new church in downtown Indianapolis.  Last Monday morning, the day after our launch, the questions were predictable:

“How many showed up?”
“How much was in the offering?”
“How many salvations?”

It’s the typical stuff, and it’s not so much that it’s wrong to ask or that those issues aren’t important (or are they?).  It’s just that this checklist has become our scorecard and I think it may measure the wrong thing, or at best push things of lesser importance to the top of the list.  So how do we “keep score?”

This morning I met with one of my newest friends, Dr. Mike Elmore.  Mike has spent the past few years developing his passion and personal plan for mentoring people towards real & positive life-change.  He threw a couple of questions at me, things he looks for in those he’s mentoring, and it got me wondering if maybe these wouldn’t be the beginnings of a dialog that could lead to a better gauge for our “success” as a church.

• What does my spouse or significant other say about me to others (unsolicited)?
• What do I talk about?  Is the reality and activity of God in my life evident in the way I speak?
• Have I shown a shift from self-focused to others-focused?
• Have I shown a change in my attitude towards adversity in my life?
• Do I have a desire for solitude with God?
• Have I progressively shown more positive interaction in relationships with others?
• Do I have a passion to serve humanity?
• Have I displayed an increased submission to God in decisions that I make?

Honestly, these things can’t be quantified in a graph or Excel spreadsheet.  They’ll show up in relationships.  In dialog.  In real stories from real lives.  But at the end of the day, these questions dig into the things that really matter.  I’m not sure what it all means or what we do with it, but I know the church I’m called to co-lead needs a different filter.  A new scorecard.

I’d love to hear your thoughts…

I’m noticing something interesting about the mindset of a builder:  everything is fresh and new, all paths are undiscovered, theories are untested, and risk is easy.  After all…there’s nothing to lose.  Literally.  When I’m working to create something that does not yet exist, risk is not difficult.  Really, what’s the other choice?

But what happens when time has created something worth holding onto?  That’s when we begin to manage, to protect the successes we’ve already achieved, the “assets” that have already been amassed.  Cue red flashing sirens and danger alerts.  When we stop dreaming of God’s future and start managing God’s past blessings, we’re on the doorstep of a catastrophe.

I’m writing this today as much as anything to hold myself accountable.  Human nature, no matter how well-intentioned, naturally reverts to protectionism.  And success may just be the worst culprit.  As we plant City Community Church today, it’s easy to risk.  Five years from now, will that risk be so easy?  Undoubtedly no.  That’s why today the question must be asked:  when current building begins to become future management, what are we going to force ourselves to risk?  God’s purposes are never found in only managing the past.