Crossroads At the Way and Churchianity

by Jesse Steele

ourselves.

  Hank: That makes sense. I had a sales job in college and I was scared spitless, even though I believed my product was the best.

  William: That’s sorta’ the same thing. If we sell buckets and someone comes to our business and says, “Do you guys sell buckets?” we’d better not say, “No.” But, more often than not, we start off our careers saying, “Well, maybe we sell buckets. Does that offend you?” We’re so worried about other people rejecting us that we don’t step out to help the people who want what we have. That’s an organization that will quickly go under. Never apologize for being who you are.

  Hank: Okay, you’ve got the confidence thing put well there, but what’s so difficult about communicating?

  William: It really comes from the same fear. We usually don’t take the time to pause and ask how we come across to other people. Someone asks what buckets we sell. Then, we start using “bucket jargon” that only us bucket businessmen know. We’re so scared that we forget to use words other people understand. That’s why communication begins with listening.

  Hank: Listening… ah, yes.

  William: Listen to what the other guy says you sound like when he listens to you. Focus on him more than your fear of him. Then you can love people and they’ll go to you when then need what you have.

  Hank: I thought people generally keep their opinions to themselves.

  William: They do, which is why you need to ask. Stick out your hand and go across the street to have dinner with your neighbor—just to get to know him. If you don’t understand people outside of the Church then you’ll never know how people outside the Church perceive—and misperceive—you. You’re a pastor. Do you do that?

  Hank: I usually don’t have time. I’m so focused on meetings and the duties of the ministry.

  William: Think about how much more productive you’d be if you know what the outside world sees when they look through our stained glass windows. That’s one of the reasons we don’t use stained glass windows here. They tend to taint and warp the outside perspective of what we do.

  Hank: You sure are misunderstood by a lot of pastors.

  William: Sure. And we don’t criticize them, but it would be nice if they would take the time to understand other people, whether they are pastors or if they don’t even go to a church.

  Hank: They way you talk almost sounds like marketing—with communication and vision and all.

  William: Marketing isn’t just about perfuming the pig. It’s the substance that sells. Think deeper than chrome plating—be useful. “Stickiness” is useless unless you have something worth sticking.

  Hank: You seem to know a lot about marketing.

  William: My father was a business man.

  Hank: That explains a lot.

  William: Your best education comes from the dinner table.

  Hank: So, some of these ideas came from your dad?

  William: He always ranted about how too many people get stuck on appearances and call it “Marketing”. That’s why many people think we water down the gospel here at our church. They think we only look on the surface because they only look on the surface. The only shiny stuff they’ve ever offered anyone was chrome plating. We offer solid gold and they assume it’s fake and complain about the color.

  Hank: For example?

  William: Many preachers confuse “Biblical teaching” with “big words”. Only five people understand what they say on Sunday morning. CS Lewis wrote to children and theologians alike. Why can’t pastors do the same? If people think that bigger words equals more truth, they’ll think that we hate the truth just because we’re understandable. Big-worded preachers assume that we watered-down the gospel when we actually just watered-down our vocabulary to be more clear.

  Hank: Isn’t the truth a mystery, though?

  William: Yes, but that’s why God came down to be among us, so it wouldn’t stay that way.

  Hank: If you try to be understood, misunderstandable leaders will misunderstand you.

  William: That’s one way of putting it. Many people mimic our methods by watering down the truth of their own messages. Then they claim they learned it from us and that gives us a bad name.

  Hank: Do your messages ever offend people?

  William: Seekers understand us well enough that they sometimes get more angry at the truth spoken here. In other places, communicating the gospel is too complicated to be understood, let alone offensive. Non-Christians can’t be offended by preaching that they don’t even understand. Preachers who depend on big words might feel threatened by the fact that we are so understandably offensive.

  Hank: I’ll attest to that.

  William: Just make sure that, if you ever offend someone, it’s because you clearly communicated answers to questions they were asking.

  Hank: Questions they were asking?

  William: Everyone asks questions about God. If you ignore their questions and shout from your own soapbox… well, you’ll make people angry, but it’s not from what you say… it’s because you don’t listen to others like the Bible tells us to.

  Hank: Is that about the whole “relevant” thing?

  William: You could say that. But, these days, a lot of people use “relevance” as a guise to throw out ideas that should offend people who don’t want the truth. I just stick to: Be quick to listen. If someone asks you a question, answer it! Don’t just talk about whatever you want.

  Hank: That’s why so many Christian leaders don’t understand you—you answer questions asked by non-Christians, rather than questions asked by seminary professors.

  William: Being understood by some people means being misinterpreted by others. We’ve chosen to be understood by the seekers. That can apply to ministry and business just the same.

  Hank: Do you let business practices direct you?

  William: Only the business practices that Jesus taught.

  Hank: He taught business practices?

  William: God wants His people to prosper. Do you know how many of Jesus’ parables addressed masters and stewards and paying people for their work?

  Hank: Well, you have a good point there.

  William: You might understand better if you saw the difference between secular vs. Biblical business practices.

  Hank: Hmm…

  William: We don’t bring Satan’s business philosophy in these doors. No-sir. We bring the teaching of Jesus into all aspects of our lives, including business. That’s why we get a lot of businessmen: We believe that Jesus has something for each of us. What many people think are “business” practices are merely principles of stewardship and that’s what Jesus taught about when He addressed things we relate to business.

  Hank: So, do you advise businessmen?

  William: We advise businessmen, yes. We also advise parents, single mothers, college students, children, high school and junior highers, the elderly, government leaders, politicians… In fact we advise anyone who wants to learn what Jesus taught. That’s what we do. We are a local church. Jesus’ teaching relates to every walk of life.

  Hank: But something is different about what you do. I can’t put my finger on it, but it’s something…

  William: We re-evaluate ourselves constantly. If we sing a worship song, we make sure that people can understand why we do it. We don’t want them to think that we are earning our way to Heaven with liturgy. That’s why we must put our actions into words.

  Hank: Don’t you mean, “Put our words into action”?

  William: No. I mean put our actions into words.

  Hank: That seems kind of backwards.

  William: If your talk comes from your walk, then you solve the problem of hypocrisy.

  Hank: Only teach what you yourself have done. I can agree with that.

  William: But there’s more to it.

  Hank: What?

  William: Finding the right words to explain what we do isn’t easy.

  Hank: But you don’t need to have the exact, perfect words for everything.

 
; William: On the contraire. I don’t mean niggling over someone else’s choice of words when you know what they mean. This is about making sure that other people can understand your own ideas. To do that, you need to think carefully about your words.

  Hank: Is this your father speaking again?

  William: In a way, yes. That’s what fathers do.

  Hank: …what father do?

  William: Fathers teach their children by giving words to explain how life works. Why is the rain good? What’s the difference between a sidewalk and a street? Why are rivers different from lakes? And, why don’t other people like it when we treat them unfairly? All of these things need explanation… a father to explain them to us.

  Hank: I can see that. So many people who had a bad connection with their fathers can’t seem to understand the most simple things—and they resist whenever someone tries to help them.

  William: And that’s why we must learn to put our actions into words. We need words so we can understand life and talk about it with other people. That’s why it meant so much that Jesus taught us gently, like a shepherd. His teachings explain stuff we’d never figure out on our own. And it’s why God is a Father to us when He gives us laws—to protect us, such as Love your neighbor as yourself. And, it’s the same with a vision and mission statement.

  Hank: Mission and vision relate to parenting?

  William: Of course. Many founders start an organization and simply do stuff, but they don’t take the time to pause and put their own actions into words. As a result, the people in their companies and ministries don’t know what it was that brought success to the organization in its early years—and