In his book, The Advantage, Patrick Lencioni asserts that organizational health trumps every other advantage, resource or asset for an organization. This truth can be transformative for leaders and churches in particular, if we are willing to embrace it.
No church can or needs to be the biggest, most technologically savvy, have the best worship, best staff, best location, best facility or a host of other ‘bests.’ Rather, to be effective and to have an advantage in reaching and serving people, churches need to simply strive to be the healthiest they can be.
Churches do not need to be the ‘best’ at anything, they simply need to be healthy.
Healthy things grow. Healthy things produce value. Healthy things make all the other stuff around them more healthy.
Healthy things grow.
Toxic things may grow for a season, but ultimately they produce nothing but pain, suffering and disease. Toxic things hurt all the stuff around them.
Healthy churches have healthy leaders. Healthy churches protect the health of their leaders. Healthy churches make everyone that is a part of them better.
No one wants to be a part of something that is unhealthy, especially a church. People may visit and even join an unhealthy church, but they won’t stick around. The few people who hang on in unhealthy churches are often part of the reason that the church remains unhealthy. Conversely, when a church is healthy, it tends to scare away and crowd out the toxicity.
Healthy churches make disciples and reach people. Healthy churches have a positive impact on their community. Healthy churches never have to worry about reputation. Healthy churches cause their people to grow and reach those outside the church.
Being effective as a church is not rocket science, its a matter of health. Money and other resources are not required for health. Any church can have the true advantage if they are willing to do the work to find and keep lasting and transformational health.
The health of churches and leaders is our main priority. Don’t hesitate to reach out to us if we can help your church or its leaders find lasting and transformational health.
Rev. Dr. Marcus J. Carlson, Executive Director
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