80-20 and the Organic Church, pt 1

(Warning- thinking out loud post ahead. I may not believe everything here. Check back in a couple of months to see if it "sticks")

A couple of my ideals are in the process of dying. Well, not dying, exactly... but let's just say being reworked.

With a baseball bat.

For me, the promise of the non-programmatic, organic way of doing church was Legion. The death of the 80-20 principle (that organizational principle whereby 20% of the people usually end up doing 80% of the work). No more "programming" as a pastor.
Counseling, teaching... that was all I was going to have to do.

Yeah, right.

Two things have worked to shift my views here...
1. Passages in both The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell and the Four-Hour Work Week by Tim Ferris.
and
2. Reality.

It had been my hope in starting Evergreen to do church in such a way that the 80-20 thing got turned on its head. The picture in my mind was of a community where 80 of the people did about 100% of the work of ministry and the other 20 was comprised of new folks on a journey towards Jesus and just getting started, people recovering from significant hurt, or some other reason why we as a community would tell them "No- just rest right now. Don't feel like you have to do anything."

While I feel like we've been able to do that for those who needed it, and while a significant number of evergreeners (more than 20%, that's for sure) are working hard to see good things happen in our community, we're not really on track to turn that 80-20 thing upside down.

And that's okay.

The reality (as Gladwell and Ferris point out) is that the 80-20 principle isn't just a component of church life, but rather, it's actually a fundamental law of human interaction (the Pareto Principle, after an Italian economist). For Gladwell, 20% of people make things "tip"- that is, these are the movers, shakers, opinion makers. The rest of us are just following their lead on everything from what we buy to what we think. For Ferris, the principle means that 80% of your results actually stem from only 20% of your action.

There's both freedom in recognizing all of this as well as danger for someone in ministry here.

First, the freedom.

If my concern is truly for the spiritual health and well-being as well as growth of my whole community, the 80-20 rule says that I should focus on doing that which will yield the best results (duh) for the whole, or at least the most.  Back in ministry classes, we called that "picking the low hanging fruit" and where once upon a time, I saw that as incredibly mercenary, I'm now seeing it as just a fundamental rule of human interaction. The fact is, there are people who will serve and sacrifice to see a community grow and mature. They serve God by serving others. These are maybe 10-15% of folks (my numbers are anecdotal, based on observation not study). These folks just need some attention, appreciation and some general pastoring/discipleship. Otherwise, they are good to go. Then there are those who are not there yet, but are on their way. They are learners, hungry to know, hungry to grow, hungry to serve, but with a lot of rough edges. These folks will get there, but they need not only your attention and appreciation, but your coaching, teaching, discipleship as well. Give them that, and they'll flourish. These, again, are maybe 10-15% of the people in your community.

Then there are those folks who are just plain nice. They show up, they often give financially, but rarely give or connect personally. They are fun to hang out with, make few demands on you as a pastor, but really play little role in advancing the vision/mission of your community other than simply being present. These are anywhere from 50-60% or more of folks. 

Then there are those 10-15% of folks who are seriously needy. Some just spend a season there and need your help out of a bad place. And they should get it. But others have made this a part of their identity, and show little or no effort in doing what needs to be done to move towards health and growth. The complainers, hurt people who hurt people, spiritual and emotional hypochondriacs (you know, the guy or gal who perpetually makes the self-destructive decision, those happy to have your attention even if it comes as a response to their negative behavior, etc), those working out their authority issues... all will let their needs be known loudly and repeatedly. And should you fix one of their squeaky wheels, it just means another will quickly develop an urgent need for pastoral oil.

Here's the problem...
We pastors tend to spend all of our time with either the very nice or the very needy people. The very needy people because of the urgency of their calls to us (and the fact that we are in ministry to help people after all), and the very nice people because, well, they are so dang nice. They're low maintenance, tend to be somewhat recharging for us... but in the end, what happens is this: Between spending all our time with the 80% of very nice and very needy people, we end up with very little time for those who are actually doing 80% of the work in ministry in our community

We've been sitting at that 120 mark for roughly a year now. We continue to bump over it and then slide under it again. And more and more I'm realizing that a big part of the problem is ME. I'm the bottleneck, I'm the one who's been neglecting spending time and effort on those who do the most work of loving, shepherding and teaching in our community. All with the best of motives of course, but still...

Tomorrow- what I'm doing about it as well as the dangers of thinking this way...

Comments

[Jon]

Great post, Bob. I like hearing what you're thinking based on actual experience! It's so easy to have grand plans for what an organic community could look like. It's nice to hear what's working in the trenches and what you're processing....

[aaron]

I've got to say that it's refreshing to read this with the thought and honesty you've obviously put into it. Do you feel like you would ever be in a place to share this candidly on a Sunday morning?

[Bob]

Possibly, but... The context would need to be just right. It's kind of like showing people how you make the sausage before inviting them to enjoy a meal. Very tricky...

[david]

good stuff, bob. i think these are some of the important questions the "emerging church" needs to be wrastling with.

even an organism is organized. the question is how to develop the appropriate amount of structure to provide for growth without losing the organic nature...

and doggone it, if it wasn't for people, ministry would be easy, wouldn't it!

[John Murch]

Nice Post Bob! I think you need to think about spending 20% of the time with people who do 80% of the work. I know while attending church functions I would constanly see the SAME people at the events, if so your looking to help out a organization, hit those people up. I know its hard to say for about the 20% or rather 99% of church "members" who attend twice a year, but thats life.

Anyway, I see your fan of the Tipping Point (Great Book, also check out Blink, same author) and the 4 hour work week. I recently meet Tim and am giving a way a autographed copy of his book. Check out my blog for details.

[Brad Clark]

It's awesome to hear SOMEONE wrestling with the same questions. Both Tipping Point and 4 Hour Work Week have given me many great new questions to ask. Go for it Bob.

[Nathan Ketsdever]

Its got to be a hard job to be a pastor, especially if you're dealing with traditionally unchurched people.

Small groups seems to help. Perhaps the "how can I help you do your best job" conversation might be helpful.

God bless and happy holidays.