Cause or Organization?

One of the more tricky areas in leading PCC has to do with the nature of the church itself. Let me explain.

When we started our church, we were very nimble. Decisions were made immediately, in real time, and executed right away. It didn't take long for changes to take effect. This is important, because churches who do not respond to the changing environment around them quickly become irrelevant, which leads to decline. Why? Because all of us have a finite amount of time. Time is precious and valuable to us, and most of us choose to put our time into activities that bring the most value. And for an activity to be valuable, it must be relevant. Or, to put it in a linear form:

Relevant = Valuable = Time Investment

Relevance is a core value at PCC. We believe that God is alive and interacting with people and the world, and that He speaks through the Bible, Prayer, Circumstances and the Church. When we gather for Church and examine the Bible together, we can help people have a meaningful encounter with God that is valuable when we respond to culture in a relevant way.

I read an article about this that would be quite helpful for me in bringing some clarity to this conversation. It poses a question: "Is your church an organization or a cause?" I really liked this quote:

"In a “cause with organization,” however, the leadership’s emotional commitment to the organization itself is always subordinate to the emotional commitment to the cause. Decisions are made rigorously around expanding the cause-outcomes. Vision is visceral. Self-preservation is not even on the radar, because death-in-dramatic-attempt is more attractive than life-in-playing-it-safe."

To see the entire article, click here.

I think PCC is a 'cause with organization'. I'd be interested to know your thoughts, too.