{"id":141,"date":"2016-01-14T17:16:44","date_gmt":"2016-01-14T17:16:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wwv.group.com\/whengodleftthebuilding\/?p=141"},"modified":"2016-01-15T14:21:46","modified_gmt":"2016-01-15T14:21:46","slug":"the-ministry-machine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/whengodleftthebuilding\/2016\/01\/14\/the-ministry-machine\/","title":{"rendered":"The Ministry Machine"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1><span style=\"font-size: 36px\">The Ministry Machine<\/span><\/h1>\n<p>by Thom Schultz<\/p>\n<p>In the midst of another hyper-busy day, the rueful Christian leader paused, looked across his desk, and said, \u201cI no longer feel I\u2019m running this organization. It\u2019s running me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For many, ministry has become a machine. A big, complex machine that requires constant feeding and maintenance. What began as a tool and a structure to accomplish greater good has become, itself, the focus. Rather than a means to an end, the means has become the end.<\/p>\n<p>This is part of what\u2019s causing the drift of the American church, which has become big, complicated, bureaucratic, expensive and professionalized. Our new documentary film on the state of the church, \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/wwv.group.com\/whengodleftthebuilding\/\" target=\"_blank\">When God Left Building<\/a>,\u201d illustrates this phenomenon. Take a look at this brief clip with Rick Warren and a former megachurch staff member:<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Church Decline in the Industrial Age\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/i4NmCJDsxmo?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Tony Steward, the second man in the clip, said the American church is currently in its own \u201cIndustrial Age.\u201d And that\u2019s contributing to the church\u2019s tendency to focus on professionalism and self-preservation, rather than the real results it was established to create.<\/p>\n<p>Most of the ministry leaders I know lament this industrialization. But they\u2019re caught up in a structure that consumes their time and attention. One pastor told me, \u201cThis isn\u2019t the job I signed up for. I wish I could spend more time talking with people about faith. But most of the time I\u2019m expected to get the air conditioner fixed, fill the pews on Sunday, and keep the toilet paper stocked.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>What might reveal that a church has become more focused on the machine than on God? Here are a couple of indicators:<\/p>\n<p><strong>Aftertaste<\/strong>. What do you most often talk about after leaving a church activity? Is it about how God showed up\u2013or something else?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Agenda<\/strong>. What occupies the bulk of your leadership meetings? Matters of God? Or matters of machine?<\/p>\n<p>So, how can a church temper the tendency for ministry to devolve into a machine? Some suggestions:<\/p>\n<p><strong>1. Start with the staff<\/strong>. Devote time developing and nurturing staff members\u2019 spiritual lives. Pray together\u2013for one another. Care for one another. Model real ministry and Christian community at the staff level.<\/p>\n<p><strong>2. Focus on what God is doing<\/strong>. Among the staff and with the congregation, tell the stories weekly of how God is changing lives among your people.<\/p>\n<p><strong>3. De-emphasize the church\u2019s typical industrial ABC score cards<\/strong>\u2013attendance, buildings and cash. Recalibrate attention onto Jesus\u2019 Great Commandments\u2013love God, love people.<\/p>\n<p>Author and church consultant Reggie McNeal, who also appears in our film, summed it up bluntly: \u201cThe church is not the point.\u201d The church is like an airport. It facilitates our journey. But it\u2019s not the destination.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Ministry Machine by Thom Schultz In the midst of another hyper-busy day, the rueful Christian leader paused, looked across his desk, and said, \u201cI no longer feel I\u2019m running this organization. It\u2019s running me.\u201d For many, ministry has become a machine. A big, complex machine that requires constant feeding and maintenance. What began as a tool and a structure [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":71,"featured_media":145,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-141","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The Ministry Machine - When God Left the Building<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, nofollow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/whengodleftthebuilding\/2016\/01\/14\/the-ministry-machine\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Ministry Machine - When God Left the Building\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Ministry Machine by Thom Schultz In the midst of another hyper-busy day, the rueful Christian leader paused, looked across his desk, and said, \u201cI no longer feel I\u2019m running this organization. It\u2019s running me.\u201d For many, ministry has become a machine. A big, complex machine that requires constant feeding and maintenance. What began as a tool and a structure [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/whengodleftthebuilding\/2016\/01\/14\/the-ministry-machine\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"When God Left the Building\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-01-14T17:16:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-01-15T14:21:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/whengodleftthebuilding\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2016\/01\/machine.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"650\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"433\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"tschultz\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"tschultz\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/whengodleftthebuilding\/2016\/01\/14\/the-ministry-machine\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/whengodleftthebuilding\/2016\/01\/14\/the-ministry-machine\/\",\"name\":\"The Ministry Machine - When God Left the Building\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/whengodleftthebuilding\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/whengodleftthebuilding\/2016\/01\/14\/the-ministry-machine\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/whengodleftthebuilding\/2016\/01\/14\/the-ministry-machine\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/whengodleftthebuilding\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2016\/01\/machine.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-01-14T17:16:44+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-01-15T14:21:46+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/whengodleftthebuilding\/#\/schema\/person\/0408ccc24630b09e05fe7d33361d8663\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/whengodleftthebuilding\/2016\/01\/14\/the-ministry-machine\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/whengodleftthebuilding\/2016\/01\/14\/the-ministry-machine\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/whengodleftthebuilding\/2016\/01\/14\/the-ministry-machine\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/whengodleftthebuilding\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2016\/01\/machine.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/whengodleftthebuilding\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2016\/01\/machine.jpg\",\"width\":650,\"height\":433,\"caption\":\"Clockwork Background. Close-up Of Old Clock Watch Mechanism With Gears\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/whengodleftthebuilding\/2016\/01\/14\/the-ministry-machine\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/whengodleftthebuilding\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Ministry Machine\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/whengodleftthebuilding\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/whengodleftthebuilding\/\",\"name\":\"When God Left the Building\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/whengodleftthebuilding\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/whengodleftthebuilding\/#\/schema\/person\/0408ccc24630b09e05fe7d33361d8663\",\"name\":\"tschultz\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/whengodleftthebuilding\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dedfb628b3bb843c417905a78bc2ca8e662a0ca34c8532b6c463fc66f6e4e7ff?s=96&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dedfb628b3bb843c417905a78bc2ca8e662a0ca34c8532b6c463fc66f6e4e7ff?s=96&r=g\",\"caption\":\"tschultz\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/whengodleftthebuilding\/author\/tschultz\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Ministry Machine - When God Left the Building","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"nofollow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/whengodleftthebuilding\/2016\/01\/14\/the-ministry-machine\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Ministry Machine - When God Left the Building","og_description":"The Ministry Machine by Thom Schultz In the midst of another hyper-busy day, the rueful Christian leader paused, looked across his desk, and said, \u201cI no longer feel I\u2019m running this organization. It\u2019s running me.\u201d For many, ministry has become a machine. A big, complex machine that requires constant feeding and maintenance. What began as a tool and a structure [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/whengodleftthebuilding\/2016\/01\/14\/the-ministry-machine\/","og_site_name":"When God Left the Building","article_published_time":"2016-01-14T17:16:44+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-01-15T14:21:46+00:00","og_image":[{"width":650,"height":433,"url":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/whengodleftthebuilding\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2016\/01\/machine.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"tschultz","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"tschultz","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/whengodleftthebuilding\/2016\/01\/14\/the-ministry-machine\/","url":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/whengodleftthebuilding\/2016\/01\/14\/the-ministry-machine\/","name":"The Ministry Machine - When God Left the Building","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/whengodleftthebuilding\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/whengodleftthebuilding\/2016\/01\/14\/the-ministry-machine\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/whengodleftthebuilding\/2016\/01\/14\/the-ministry-machine\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/whengodleftthebuilding\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2016\/01\/machine.jpg","datePublished":"2016-01-14T17:16:44+00:00","dateModified":"2016-01-15T14:21:46+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/whengodleftthebuilding\/#\/schema\/person\/0408ccc24630b09e05fe7d33361d8663"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/whengodleftthebuilding\/2016\/01\/14\/the-ministry-machine\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/whengodleftthebuilding\/2016\/01\/14\/the-ministry-machine\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/whengodleftthebuilding\/2016\/01\/14\/the-ministry-machine\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/whengodleftthebuilding\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2016\/01\/machine.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/whengodleftthebuilding\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2016\/01\/machine.jpg","width":650,"height":433,"caption":"Clockwork Background. Close-up Of Old Clock Watch Mechanism With Gears"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/whengodleftthebuilding\/2016\/01\/14\/the-ministry-machine\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/whengodleftthebuilding\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Ministry Machine"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/whengodleftthebuilding\/#website","url":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/whengodleftthebuilding\/","name":"When God Left the Building","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/whengodleftthebuilding\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/whengodleftthebuilding\/#\/schema\/person\/0408ccc24630b09e05fe7d33361d8663","name":"tschultz","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/whengodleftthebuilding\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dedfb628b3bb843c417905a78bc2ca8e662a0ca34c8532b6c463fc66f6e4e7ff?s=96&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dedfb628b3bb843c417905a78bc2ca8e662a0ca34c8532b6c463fc66f6e4e7ff?s=96&r=g","caption":"tschultz"},"url":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/whengodleftthebuilding\/author\/tschultz\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/whengodleftthebuilding\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/whengodleftthebuilding\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/whengodleftthebuilding\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/whengodleftthebuilding\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/71"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/whengodleftthebuilding\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=141"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/whengodleftthebuilding\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/whengodleftthebuilding\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/145"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/whengodleftthebuilding\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/whengodleftthebuilding\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=141"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/whengodleftthebuilding\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}