Stepping Outside Ourselves

We know so much about our church that it’s difficult for us to program with the first-timer in mind.

Deep and Wide, Andy Stanley*

One of the problems we face in church leadership has to do with the fact that we are always around. Now, this can be taken a couple of different ways.

First, it could mean that we take on too much in our leadership roles. If something is happening, we are there. This is not always the best approach, especially for those who are serving in larger churches with a lot of activities. We can’t possibly attend every meeting, event and study that is taking place. It’s not humanly possible. And we certainly can’t be leading everything. While this is certainly an important point, it’s not the primary one I want to talk about in this post.

The second problem with always being around is that we don’t tend to look at things with fresh eyes. We can overlook things that are obvious to those who are seeing it for the first time. We’ve gotten so used to it that we barely pay attention any more.

Maybe it’s the messy table in the entryway. We know it’s there. We may even think that we need to do something about it during the week, but never get around to it. Of course, it’s the first thing that new people see as soon as they walk in. What kind of impression does that make?

Maybe it’s the person doing the initial welcome, who doesn’t see anything wrong with asking new people to stand up and introduce themselves. After all, he’s been doing it that way for thirty years. As someone who has been in that situation, it’s awkward and off-putting.

Maybe it’s the side area that nobody uses, but is cluttered up with old medical equipment “just in case”. We know those crutches and that gurney are sitting there, and, at one point, it was for a good reason. But, those first-timers… not so much.

We need to be able to walk through our worship space, both physically and emotionally, with fresh eyes in order to see the things that have always been there, but we’ve just ignored. This can be accomplished in one of two ways.

First, we can use our imaginations. Surely, we are all capable to putting ourselves in a mindset to see things as if for the first time. This will help us see some things that have always been there, but we’ve started to ignore. I do this occasionally in my office. I don’t exactly have the most organized workspace. I have papers that need to be filed. Books that need to be shelved. And other things that need to just be tossed. I’ll get to it… in a few months.

Secondly, we can simply ask new people what they are seeing. This one is a little more challenging. Most people don’t want to be completely transparent when pointing out flaws. But, every once in a while, we have people who have no problem with it. It can be abrasive, but it’s certainly necessary

The bottom line is that it’s important for us to step outside ourselves from time to time. To get an “outsiders” perspective. It is only then that we can see what we’ve overlooked and begin to make improvements.

*Amazon affiliate link. Andy Stanley is such a great communicator. I highly recommend this one for any church leader out there.