Badly

If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing badly.

Have you seen some things being done badly in your ministry lately? If so, it might be a good sign! Not everyone would agree with me, of course. And that's not something you hear in seminary every day, for sure! But listen to G.K. Chesterton's explanation: "It is a good sign in a nation when things are done badly. It shows that all the people are doing them. And it is bad sign in a nation when such things are done very well, for it shows that only a few experts and eccentrics are doing them, and that the nation is merely looking on." Now read that quote again and substitute the word "church" for "nation":

"It is a good sign in a church when things are done badly. It shows that all the people are doing them. And it is a bad sign in a church when such things are done very well, for it shows that only a few experts and eccentrics are doing them, and that the church is merely looking on."

In most growing and going churches things are not done badly, that's for sure. The emphasis of the attractional church model has been on professional excellence. There is a hired staff doing the ministry, ensuring that it is done right (by "experts and eccentrics"). Professionalism has left the church "merely looking on," instead of as engaged participants. The church growth maxim that quality is the means to quality has ruled out the contributions of millions of believers (that is, except their contribution of money to support the professionals).

I believe that the church is on the front edge of a second reformation. The first reformation placed the word of God into the hands of the people; the second reformation is placing the ministry into the hands of the people. This shift parallels shifts in the culture, where quality is being exchanged for broader participation and diversity.

A good example of this is YouTube. YouTube is not professionally produced television. It is of the people, by the people, for the people. There are hundreds of thousands of contributions coming from average people. Is the quality at the level of Steven Spielberg? Not exactly. YouTube videos are in "the steep part of the curve" in terms of cost and time. But don't underestimate how revolutionary this shift to the amateur is. Ten years ago only professionals could produce a video that could distributed worldwide. Now anyone can do it. Because anyone can do it, anyone does, which leads to exponential growth. When you think about it, everything in our world that is growing exponentially (YouTube, Facebook, Google, etc.) is based on the architecture of participation, not professionalism.

There's a new day coming, where things worth doing are going to be done badly. The first reformation followed the invention of the printing press. The second reformation will follow the invention of the internet.