To often in leadership we find ourselves looking at the successes of others and wanting it for ourselves. The thing that I’ve learned is that someone else’s successes are preceded by a long history of struggles and “working things out.” And who’s to say that their way of doing things is going to be successful in your specific context?
As leaders, we need to be stretching the mold in our designated areas. Working out problems and struggling through creativity where God has us is the beginning of something great. I’ve seen the results of churches and organizations crippling their potential by simply copying the work of others. As leaders, it’s our responsibility to focus our team to do a few things great. This simple way of “doing” allows for the best amount of creativity possible. It’s when we pile on a bunch of useless tasks that we find ourselves rushing and copying.
A few weeks ago I saw a graphic that began a new way of viewing this thing we call creativity in our churches and businesses. Coca-Cola has been the best, in terms of Cola sales worldwide, for over a century. The challenge for anyone else wanting to pursue the Cola business is not comparing themselves to Coca-Cola. Looking at this graphic, it’s clear to see Pepsi’s problem since their inception. They tried the same things as Coca-Cola. They looked the same, and when that didn’t work, they kept making changes, as if their brand logo was the problem.
So what can we learn from Pepsi’s mistakes and Coca-Cola’s successes?
* Be You – I am all about looking at what others are doing and learning from them, but there has to be a point in your decision making process that you decide to be, you! Church leaders, stop trying to be North Point or Fellowship Church. Be who the people in your city need you to be, so they can hear the gospel in a way that only you can uniquely share it. Can we learn from other’s and their ways of doing things? Absolutely. But for some, learning has become copying and it’s keeping you from being who God’s equipped YOU to be.
* Go With Your Gut – Coca-Cola put their best foot forward in their “brand.” I’m sure they took their time and were simple in their approach to their branding, and they stuck with it. Pepsi, not so much. The beauty of being simple, is it gives you the time to put the effort into doing a few things well. Plan and prepare well and then stick with it. Does it mean that you won’t make mistakes and have things to change? Absolutely not, but when you’re free to go with your gut on things and create your best work, you’ll be free to see what the real issues are that need changing.
* Good Content Wins Every Time - All to often I have seen churches and organizations put their effort into how things look and forget about the quality of the content. Church leader, do you have awesome environments that are always changing, yet lack the depth in your planning to communicate sound content? Don’t be like Pepsi and think that people aren’t latching onto your brand because of the logo. Pepsi just needs to make better tasting Cola. At the end of the day your creativity should just be a way to accent awesome and profound content. Don’t put the logo before the flavor.
I’d love your feedback on this post. What things are holding your church or organization from greatness?
You have sooo hit the nail on the head Chris…
The church has (Many times) been so conditioned to making things that relate to the world that end up being designed and presented as the “christian” version of a given precepts.. the result being that we miss the gospel in it, and end up thinking the concept is a cool but familiar knock off of what the world has already presented.. Franky Schaeffer wrote years ago in a book called “Addicted to Mediocrity” about the fact that the early church was the leader of society when it came to the social issues as well as the arts and how Christians were trendsetters (not imitators) …
I believe (as you had stated) now that we (the church)are trying to imitate and conform to many times, to today’s trends and we try to present the gospel by copying … If we are truly inspired by God He will give us unique and impactful ways to reach those that don’s know him…
In The “Wild Goose Chase” (Mark Batterson) it refers to the un conventional following of the Spirit and “new” work of His spirit…for which i believe is great departure from copying and being transformed into a “new work” for his kingdom.. I know he is stretching me in that way and has been for years … so thank you for your posting…
I agree with Jim, you hit the nail on the head. All too often the church looks to the success of others for their insight, rather then to the Lord. When that happens, we are simply doing what the Lord told someone else to do, not what He has told us to do. Notice I said told, not asked. We like to think we can say no because he “asks” of us. Reality is that he does tell us and we choose whether to obey. When we copy others rather then obey the Lord, we miss out on seeing the Lord work in our local body, and in our own community.
Your first paragraph makes your whole point beautifully Chris. We want to eat of the lush crop, sown and grown by those individuals and groups we perceive as successful. What we don’t take into account is the toil, labor, small victories and BIG failures that led up to the ideals we want to recreate.
There have been a few times in the past when I’ve been really jazzed after hearing a particular song from a live worship record; hearing all the crowd singing and the perfectly placed dynamics…then taking it into a sanctuary with one of my worship teams and utterly BOMBING.
Looking back, those spiritual trainwrecks were a result of my contrived attitude, trying to put myself in the picture, rather than authentically responding to the Creator.
Also, “don’t put the logo before the flavor” should be on a t-shirt. I’ll take an XL V-neck. Thx.
Chris, Great Post! The Church has been dealing with identity theft for a long time. We always want to be something that we’re not. This not only takes place in how we design a service or brand our church, but also on who we have leading our church. We think if we only have this guy to lead our music or this guy to preach, then our church will grow. We are always looking for the next Superstar to come to our church. The truth is we need to start growing our leaders from within the church instead of always trying to bring in others to “grow the church”. Yes, there are times when you do the nationwide search for a pastor or worship leader, but 9 times out of 10 the leader that is needed may already be sitting in the pew. I believe the thing that makes a church a Coca-cola church instead of a Pepsi church is using the God given spiritual gifts of the congregation before you, instead of trying to entice the superstar to come to your church. God has entrusted us leaders with His flock, so let’s not bury them in the sand for safe keeping, but let us use their gifts and multiple them!
All for His glory,
Ryan Street
I agree as well Chris, but it’s difficult and frustrating, especially when you lack good team around you. When it’s just you or you and one other person, which is where I am today, it’s challenging to be creative and let God speak to me because I’m in a reactionary mode. There’s so much to do, that sometimes the easiest thing is to merely copy. I totally agree that the best way to lead, is to allow for God to work through us creatively, be the leader I need to be for my group and develop content specific to the needs of that group. But, How do you get from reactive to proactive? Building a team of volunteers who have the willingness to sacrifice their time and their talent is a great first step, but getting to that first step is challenging. So Chris, here’s a topic for one of your posts…How do you recruit and build a successful team? Peace.