Mistake #3: Over Committing
By Stovall Weems
Momentum is a great thing, but the dangerous thing about momentum is that you think you can just keep piling on to that energy because everything is growing and working.
My friend Craig Groeschel has written a great book called “It”. When you have “it” everything just seems to work and be blessed. One of the quickest ways to lose “it” is to overload your church and ministry calendar with too much activity, too many new initiatives, too many events, etc. The quickest way to kill momentum is over committing your church to too much activity instead of focusing on the things in your mission that will produce what you are trying to produce (hopefully disciples-fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ). It seemed like every time the big mo was rolling we would overload the calendar, thus killing the momentum. Then we would simplify the calendar and stick to the main things of our mission and the mo would come right back. Then we would overload again and repeat the cycle. When your church calendar is overloaded, you are overloaded, your staff, leaders and volunteers are also overloaded. Then the soul of the church starts to fatigue which leads to killing the spiritual momentum.
The good news is this problem is so easy to fix. All you have to do is learn one powerful word and understand how crucial it is to keep the church healthy and moving forward. That word is “NO!” Our lead team is constantly fighting to keep the main thing the main thing and not allow ourselves to overload. There are always seasons of stretching and working super hard, but it has to be taking you to a place in your mission. It needs to be a step to get the church where it needs to be. There is a big difference in stretching yourself and working hard and just overloading the church with activity. You need to be thinking long term health and sustainability. If your church is growing you will always be saying no, not only to good events, activities and ministry ideas, but also to things currently going on that were valuable to the mission in one season of church life but not necessary in the next season of church life. One of the questions we ask in our staff meetings is: “What are we currently doing that we need to stop doing?”
Keep the main thing the main thing. Reach people, make disciples, and serve your community. There are some great books out right now that are all about simplified church life and ministry. When you say yes to something you are saying no to something else. So it is not really an issue of saying no, but what are you already saying no to because of the things you have said yes to? Have you said no to health and longevity because you have said yes to too much church activity?
One of the greatest lessons I’ve learned is to say no and not over commit myself or the church.
Stovall
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9 Responses to “Mistake #3: Over Committing”
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Thank you sooo much for sharing these “Top ten mistakes”. I can’t say enough good things about it! I’ve grown up making it a point to learn from other people’s experiances. Sometimes people will offer you advice some good and some… not so much. Your experiance is GOLD! Not only that but it’s very comforting to hear the sincere heart of your pastor. It makes me feel safe to know that my pastor is seeking God, Hearing from God and continuously being teachable and willing. In my own life I see that alot of change and growth occurs simply through time. Year after year I see how God helps be overcome things and grow through things that I never thought I could or would. Ultimately, it’s all God and wow, am I so ever thankful. We love you!
Thats so good Pastor. We love being a part of a church that says no to alot of things. Saying No is really spiritual and a great leadership leasson. “It” is a really good book.
BIG THANK YOU! Because not you or your Pastoral Staff, or any staff or weekend workers I have worked with in set up on any campus has ever made fodder out of anybody. I even got a fodder free guaranty from one of the Pastors….kind of like that drowning in grace and mercy kind of feeling. Every service has that…I have been here three and a half years and every service has the…. we are just getting started kinda feeling. Celebration Church is a Gift of God!
Thanks so much for all of your comments and insights-very good.
a friend of my wife said her husband aged 10 years in his first year on a church staff. I’m so glad you’re sharing this with church leaders nationwide, & also with our congregation. as you feel this passionate about God’s house,hopefully that will inspire many of us both at God’s house and our own houses..
Pastor Stovall,
You have no idea just how much this resonates within my spirit and provides confirmation for what the Holy Spirit has already been speaking to me on. For so long I have been too familiar with being busy that sometimes I loose the focus on keeping the main thing the main thing. Thank you so much for this reminder and wonderful teaching. God bless you and your ministry.
Pastor thanks so much for what you have written. Some times we can get so busy trying to build mo with a calendar full of events. In reality all we are doing is killing mo because we don’t know how to say no. I am working really hard to understand what to say yes to and what to say no to. It was so easy in the business world.
Oooooooh, good stuff good stuff! I can definitely relate to this one and I believe it was your wife who saw it in my eyes. When I got saved last year I gave up my addiction to some things but found myself addicted to everything Celebration had to offer, services (at least 2 every weekend) serving teams (at least 3), small groups, events, you name it I was there. I didn’t think you could ever get “too much of a good thing” but come to find out, you can’t give what you don’t have and that’s just what I was trying to do…runnin on empty.
Thanks for the reminder as I am currently praying about getting involved in 2 new areas…hmmm…
Great point Stovall! It’s all about weighing the opportunity costs. Saying yes to something means saying no to something else. Simplified church life is much more sustainable over the long-haul and I think that is what God’s “main thing” and purpose is for our church. Growth is a period of stretching and seasoning where one should remember that God will not give us more than we can handle. Growing our spiritual muscles is important. Just as important and not to be overlooked is our time to recharge our batteries. We are more beneficial to the kingdom when we have higher energy levels for our commitments.