Where Is Your Focus

I read a great blog post by David Lee King about customer service in the Library system. He started by comparing how small town music stores handle customers compared to the music giant Guitar Center. The question posed was "Why is Guitar Center so large and popular?" You can just look at their business practices to see that they focus on costumers more than on their own property.

Read David's post and then come back here for my thoughts below.

David's post brought to mind the many rules, regulations, policies, etc. that I have seen throughout my nearly 30 years in the ministry. Building usage rules, equipment usage rules, procedural rules, teaching rules, wedding rules, meal rules, chair placement rules, business meeting rules, parking rules, and the list can go on and on. Often these rules do not make sense to anyone, but 30 years ago the church felt a need to make the rule for some reason.

While in Seminary my Practice of Church Music professor made this recommendation to us: "Avoid going to a church that has a rule for everything because it shows that they have had a lot of problems in their past." And I have noticed that the smallest churches often have the most rules and policies. They have pushed everyone away with all of the "Thou shall not let your child play on the piano"and "ties and dresses are required for worship." Is your church more concerned with their possessions than the people in your community. Maybe it is time to chunk the rule book and start caring for the lost surrounding you everyday.

When a church becomes more concerned about broken property than broken hearts, more concerned about dirty walls than dirty hearts, more concerned about missing hymnals than missing people then it may be time to shake the dust off your feet and find a place where God resides.

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