Effectiveness

We just finished holding a Creativity Conference in Orlando; it’s the sixth time we’ve done this conference. We do it in partnership with a group of very committed Christian Disney employees, creative pastors, and church leaders. It is a very helpful event. You can visit our our website to read some of the conference evaluations.

I studied the Disney Company extensively over the years and certainly all of us are impressed with the creativity of Disney World and the Disney movies. So much of our culture has been influenced by the excellent entertainment, experiences and stories. Disney has influenced the world’s culture in some very positive ways. In the midst of all the excitement of Disney productions, movies, and stories it’s easy to miss one of the most significant contributions of this organization in our society.

That is - simple effectiveness. The church needs to realize that our purpose is to be effective.

• We need to lead worship that is effective in leading people to the presence of God.
• We need to provide education that really works in teaching children values to live by.
• We need to provide an understanding of prayer in a way that can be effectively used in people’s daily lives.
• We need to be an effective church, an excellent church.

In studying Disney I’ve realized that Disney is effective because of their clear goals, high standards, rules, and disciplines. For instance, if you work at the Disney theme park as an employee (a.k.a.“cast member”), whether you’re in a good mood or a bad mood you’re required by Disney to perform at your best and to present a mood that serves your customers and accomplishes the goal.

As a pastor, many times I would excuse a poor job in preaching, neglected pastoral care responsibility, or a failed church program on the lack of dedication of my church members, the bad mood I was in, or the family issue with which I was dealing. Disney expects their employee to put those things aside and do their best to accomplish the goal. Working for Jesus ought to be as important as working for Disney. It should demand our complete loyalty, our willingness to put aside our own cares and problems with the determination to do the best we can for His church.

Effectiveness has to do with discipline, loyalty, clear goals, and the desire to do things right. After being around Disney employees, I am impressed with their loyalty and determination to be effective. Sometimes I am ashamed that I have not been as loyal and determined in working with Jesus as they seem to be working for Disney. Effectiveness is our goal.

The Great Commission

We’re not doing what He told us to do. The mainline Protestant church is declining and has been for years. Jesus in Matthew 28 told us clearly to reach more people. We’re not doing what Jesus told us to do. It’s as simple as that. It’s the great commission, not the great excuse. It’s what Jesus told us we must do.

Any study of statistics of the mainline Protestant church today will make it clear that in the next 30 years we will not exist because the majority of our members will have died. This is scary and ridiculous that we cannot do the mobilization to reach new people that the leaders of our various denominations have done in starting the denominations. It is ridiculous that we have put other things as priorities and not followed Christ’s clear direction to make disciples. It’s time for us to mobilize our efforts to do what Jesus said.

Go to our website to find more information about what you can do. I’ve published two books on how to reach new people for Christ: Needs-Based Evangelism (The Good Samaritan Church) and TELL: How to Share Your Faith. I’m going to be doing training all over the country. I’d love to come to your area. Go to our Facebook  page and join in sharing comments about our lack of evangelistic effectiveness today and what we can do about it.