Know What You’re Competing Against
TEASER
Do you feel like your church just can't compete with other churches? Maybe a church down the road or in your town has a better sound system or a cooler pastor than yours does, and you find yourself thinking, "if only we had those things, we'd have more people too."
Well, if that's how you're feeling, then you're in luck because I've got the solution for you in this week's episode of the Podcast, so stick around. We're starting right now.
INTRO
Hey there, and welcome to another edition of the Church Helper Podcast. Our Mission here at Church Helper is to help churches make every decision on purpose. My name is Mike, and I'm excited to help you and your church today, so let's get into it.
This episode is the last in a series that we've put together about leading your teams well, and this episode is a little different because as the first three were a little more general, this one is pretty specific.
Know What You're Competing Against
Over my time Helping Churches through Outreach Strategies, Renewing their Mission and Vision, Realigning Family Ministries or finding new ways to engage with the community, there's a theme that comes up repeatedly – Competition.
More than a few times, I've been sitting with a staff or elders team at a church struggling to reach new people and the subject of "other churches" comes up.
Someone will point to the church down the road with 800 people and say, "kids, don't come here because that church has a more beautiful facility and a play place." Sometimes I hear about how their downtown church has too few parking spots to attract anyone new, unlike the churches in the outskirts with more property and less traffic. Or someone will mention the number of churches in their geographical proximity by saying, "well, there are seven churches within four blocks, and that's why it's hard to get new people.
And I understand these feelings. We live in a world right now, especially for those who are active on social media or other online forums, where it's so easy to look at what others have and feel that we can't compete. And so that it makes its way into church meetings is entirely understandable. I know how it happens, I understand why it happens, and I understand why people feel that way.
But, just because people feel that way doesn't make it ok for them to act that way.
There is a culture of competition between churches today that's unhealthy. The idea that if we only had the resources or the staff or the building the church down the street has, we could compete.
And here's my question: Compete for what?
When your committee or elders team sits around a table and talks about how the other churches in your community are holding you back, my question is this – what are they holding you back from?
Let me give you an example of an actual conversation I once had with a church making this point.
I was working with a church that was going through a time when they needed to start making tough decisions about their next steps as a congregation; I spent some time doing interviews and assessments and hosting workshops and a couple of congregational meetings.
At one meeting, we looked at the neighbourhood's demographics around their church building when one church member raised their hand and said.
"There's one thing you left out of this report,"
Thinking that I had made a crucial error that would doom their church forever, I politely asked what I had missed.
They said, "You didn't mention that there are seven other churches within walking distance of our church."
Thinking for a moment, she was right. I hadn't put that in the report. I knew that information, but I did not include it intentionally. I had a pretty good idea where they were going, but I asked for a follow-up to be sure.
"Why is that information important? I asked.
They were quiet for a moment but then articulated that the other churches in the neighbourhood were a barrier to people attending their church. The feeling was with so many different options in their area that a person might find a church they liked before they ever reached the doors of her church. Others in the crowd nodded.
I asked one more follow-up question.
"Do you think the reason people aren't coming to your church is that they are going to the other churches?"
Over the next few moments, we talked about how over 25% of this church's neighbourhoods weren't affiliated with any religion, and most of the other churches near them were facing similar attendance problems. In the end, they still weren't sure, but they knew they felt like with so many other churches around, it certainly wasn't helping. They felt that if they were the only church around, they would stand a better chance.
YOU ARE NOT IN COMPETITION WITH THE OTHER CHURCHES IN YOUR CITY.
In theory, most of the churches in your city should be trying to do the same thing – reach people with the gospel message of Jesus. That's it, that's the goal. Love people like Jesus loved you and spread the good news as He commanded. And in the end, the reward isn't a bigger building or more newspaper articles or a cooler youth pastor – it's that people have got to know their creator in a profound and meaningful way.
In Canada, 24% of the population is Non-Relgiouslly affiliated as of 2016 (and we're months away from new census data to see how those numbers have grown). That number is up from 4% of the population in the 1970s.
Why am I mentioning this? So that we all remember, myself included, that 24% of Canadians didn't decide to go to another church - they chose not to go at all. They didn't walk into another church that isn't yours. They walked away from all of them equally.
And this is the first of many reasons that churches need to stop looking at each other .as competition. You aren't up against a neighbouring church with a sweet sound system; you're up against a culture that's walking away from Christ at an alarming rate.
Just to double down, let's make sure we know what our completion is not.
Your competition is not the cool pastor on Instagram that wears skinny jeans or doesn't use sermon notes. Is that pastor good at their job? Sure. Might they attract a crowd? Ya, they might. Is that crowd bigger than yours? Maybe.
But let me be clear about one thing. Someone else's leadership style or Instagram following does not, in any way, affect your ability to effectively and purposefully share the gospel message or love your community as Jesus called you to. It might feel like they have more resources or influence, but influence does not equal effectiveness.
Your competition is not sports, or dance classes or piano lessons. So many leaders say that they can't get kids or youth out because they are "competing with" so many other extracurricular. Well, your church isn't extracurricular, so stop thinking about it that way. Your church is ordained and called by God to share the love of Jesus in your community. I've never been to hockey practices, and I don't remember that being the mandate. Are people busy? Sure they are. But usually, when you're blaming people's schedules for lack of attendance, it's because you don't know what else to blame. People prioritize things that bring value to their lives, period. Knowing your creator brings value, and there isn't a dance class in the world that can take that away. If people aren't showing up, it's more likely because they don't see the value in engaging with the church. That's not on a calendar. That's on you.
And finally, your competition isn't the church down the street. And here's why – you're all trying to accomplish the same goal. You're all pulling in the same direction. Spreading the gospel isn't something that you "win" at. It's something that requires as many people as possible who are willing to do it. So hoping that there aren't churches down the street is actively hoping that fewer people are spreading the message of Jesus - and I'm not sure anyone thinks that's the right way to look at the Good News.
Now some people might still say they feel like they are competing or fighting against something. Maybe you can't articulate it, but there's still that feeling down in there.
So if that's the way you need to hear this message, I'll try to put it in those terms. If you need to compete against something, consider it this way. You're competing against Spiritual Forces. Every day, there's a war going on for people's hearts that's both natural and supernatural. And let me tell you something, you might have the biggest, baddest, most equipped church on the block – but that's not a battle you want to go into alone. Only God can overcome those battles. So don't look at other churches as the competition. Look at it as more light and darkness. As more support in a fallen world. You're not competing against the church down the street; you're competing against sin. And in that battle, I think you're going to want as much help as you can get.
In closing, I'll just say this. It's tempting to look at others around you who appear to have more and lament your budget or your parking lot - but remember this. In the early days of Christianity, all early Christians had were a few letters they could share in secret and the knowledge that what they were doing was so important and true that nothing, not even the threat of imprisonment or death, was going to stand in their way. They didn't have a church down the block with a shiny sign; they had a government trying to wipe them out. And yet, here we are, talking about spreading the gospel over 2000 years later.
Paul says in Romans 8,
38 And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God's love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God's love. 39 No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.
That includes the forces that try to drive people away and the church and that church that is down the street. Be a church that loves Jesus and tells people about the good news people will come. How do I know? They always have. Because the story of Jesus is a magnet that always draws people in no matter what is around the corner.
OUTRO
And that's it. Make sure you like and subscribe to the podcast or our YouTube channel. If you think someone needs to hear this content today, but they're just not the computing type you can head to churchhelper.ca/podcast, to print out a full transcript of today's episode for them to read.
Make sure you go back and check out our series on mission drift that I mentioned before, and if you've ever got any questions, please reach out to us through email at hello@churchhelper.ca or go to the Get Help Today tab of our website.
Thanks for taking a few minutes to help your church make every decision on purpose today. I'm Mike, and I'll talk to you again real soon.
