Patrick Lencioni, in The Advantage says, “The single greatest advantage any company can achieve is organizational health. Yet it is ignored by most leaders even though it is simple, free, and available to anyone who wants it.”
I agree with Mr. Lencioni and while the majority of his work is done with business organizations large and small, I contend the same is true with the organization of the church. If we do not have organizational health in the church we will never reach our potential as a church. Any living organism not functioning in full health cannot operate at full strength. Take the human body for example; even a common cold will keep you from operating at full strength. A sore throat or head congestion can slow you down, make your activity seem sluggish, and tire you more quickly than normal.
With the organism of the church the same is true. Even the smallest hint of unhealthy symptoms will keep a church from reaching the potential in ministry for which it is capable. Organizational health is oftentimes ignored in the church due to a couple of reasons. The first is a misunderstanding of how simple reaching organizational health can be. The second is we are conditioned to deal with the urgent most often at the expense of the important.
Time is precious and as pastors and church leaders we already have our plates full. Attempting to carve out time to research and develop organizational health is deemed an unnecessary additional drain on our already overbooked schedule. Also, the depth involved in creating organizational health in our church would take up more time than we have available. These statements demonstrate the lack of understanding of how organizational health can be reached and the effectiveness it can bring to your church.
Time is precious and our plates are full to overloaded. However, organizational health can relieve pastors and other church leaders of some of the stress involved and will bring about more effective ministry from within the organization.
Most pastors and other ministers entered the ministry with a desire to help people and fulfill the Great Commission. Yet, many have become managers. In the church we need to return to effective leadership and move away from the manager model. However, due to the organizational model of the church that we have created in North America, pastors and church leaders spend the majority of time on managing what seems to be urgent at the expense of what is truly important.
Once Organizational Health is appropriately recognized and placed into the right framework, it will exceed all other disciplines in the church as the greatest opportunity for effective, purpose driven ministry. (For those wondering, prayer is part of the organizational health of the church.)
The key ingredient for improvement and success is not knowledge or resources. The key ingredient is the health of the organizational environment.
Upcoming post 12/19/12 Identifying Organizational Health in the Church
For more information contact SonC.A.R.E. Ministries at http://soncare.net