(Churro is a Spanish or Mexican Donut)
I live near the northern VA battlefields. If you can get beyond the sheer magnitude of human loss that occurred just a few miles from my house, the lifestyle of the Civil War soldier is really interesting. You can buy bullets, find your ancestors enrollment records, and read about the daily life of a soldier in the gift shop, and pick up some money printed by the Confederacy. It looks a lot more like real money that the rainbow colored, computer chip embedded bills that we use now… but just try to spend one of those confederate bills to buy gas or get some churros (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Churro) at the local convenience store—all you will get is a smart remark or perhaps a chance to explain your intentions to a policeman.
In some of our church efforts, we are still trying to spend currency that no longer has value. We cannot build healthy churches based upon the credibility of the church from another generation. In our current culture, the title “pastor” or “minister” may not automatically engender trust, but might conjure up memories of fallen televangelists, or raise personal memories that aren’t positive. To anyone who has planted churches, it is obvious that trust and credibility do not automatically come when we hang out a new church shingle—if anything, we are having to work harder today at establishing a perception of value and trustworthiness among those that we seek to serve.
Our efforts to engage people using outdated approaches or values only reinforce what they already think about us. For many people, what they have seen in their church experience, is a currency that just won’t spend.
How do we create community currency? How do we become a presence that can be trusted to approach intimate issues of meaning, values and faith? What allows us to join the world of relationships and community?
One of our primary strategies in the current approach to church is what I would call “market emulation.” This is similar to what car makers do every year. I remember when all the cars started looking like European sedans. Nice look—but you have to investigate a little deeper to know what you are really buying. In some ministries we tailor our worship experience to sound and look like current local culture. That is a good step—speaking the same cultural language through music, graphics and architecture sure beats trying to sell Edsels during the hybrid era. But is market emulation enough to really convince people that we don’t just look like their favorite coffee bar—that we really have a quality mocha java double nonfat late’? When it comes to opening the hearts of men and women to intimate issues of the heart, we need more than just a cutting edge interior designer and musical program, we have to trade with a currency that has real value.
Many leaders are asking this question—“How do we build a currency of trust in the communities that we serve?” One answer is sure—it will take more than marketing. Marketing only presents a well packaged product to those already ready to buy, giving them another choice about alternatives. We might entice an occasional impulse buyer—but that seems like a risky approach considering the stakes. While marketing will help us gather some people– it won’t reach them all. We must reach those who aren’t convinced that our product is worth trading in their hard earned self-sufficiency. We have to build a currency that satisfies their sense of value.
Whatever the answer, we can always apply the churro test of value: “can you spend it?” Does our approach to building trust result in people trusting us? Let me suggest three answers to help us answer this question.
Simple answer– we have to learn how to listen. We have the reputation as people who “tell, but don’t listen.” Let’s learn to listen to culture, spend time listening to people, and cultivate an environment in which all of our leaders and volunteers listen on purpose. I recommend community needs assessment as a good initial step toward creating this culture and teaching our teams to listen to people on purpose. http://www.compassionbydesign.org/church-planting.html
Simple answer–we have to show them. If in fact we have heard what our community values and needs, then we need to respond by demonstrating that our efforts are not just about us, but that they are really about the needs of others. This is Jesus multiplying fishes and loaves, bringing back a beloved brother from the dead, and chasing money changers out of the temple. Our listening should be followed by serving, and serving that is more than just a token occasional event where we give stuff away. Real serving involves working on hard issues and being there over time.
Simple answer–we have to build relationships. If we follow the logic of First John (check out verse 1:3), when we invite people into relationship with God, we are also inviting them into fellowship with us. Real love draws people into relationships. A bigger question than the nature of our church style, is our relational commitment. Does our church program cultivate and foster relationships, or does it sap away what little time people have left into activity. Are we contagious in love and kindness? Do we connect with people?
Listening, serving and building genuine relationships will get you more than a good churro— it will get you currency that you spend on community transformation. If you are trying these three methods, I would like to hear from you.
Disclaimer: I am aware that some of you have never seen or tasted a churro—and for that I am sorry– I am just trying to broaden your cultural horizons. If you accuse me of mixing metaphors (churros, espresso and confederate currency) I will have to agree.