“"Toast always lands butter-side down when you drop it.”
“If you spend all morning washing and waxing your car, it will rain that afternoon.”
“The hungrier you are, the longer it will take for dinner to be ready”
Just a few of the many “Rules of Life” that seem to slip into the lexicon of conventional wisdom. Many of them are simply humorous observations about the quirks of life. Some, though seem to take on the air of authority and finality. Here’s one of that latter type…
“80% of the work is done by 20% of the people.”
Have you heard that one before?
That’s one of those “Rules of Life” that we need to toss out!
That little axiom has taken root even among the people of God and has become a great fallacy of church life - that 80% of the work/ministry is done by 20% of the congregation (and that, somehow, this is the expected norm). That same fallacy reared it's head again at a recent Staff meeting at the church I attend and serve as a part-time staff member.
It's a curiosity to me that this bit of cultural "wisdom" has gained such a firm foothold in the thinking of the Church... and not just our congregation, but many congregations across North America. We plan and act as if this "80/20 Rule" can be found somewhere in the book of Proverbs or is, perhaps, tucked away in some obscure passage from the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Romans.
But, just to be clear... the so-called “80/20 Rule” is not a biblical concept.
And it's certainly not in keeping with what Scripture does say about how the members of the Church (or even a local congregation) are supposed to work with one another.
The Apostle Paul actually tells us something quite different –
Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
– Eph. 4:15-16 (ESV)
and
For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ… For the body does not consist of one member but of many… Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.
– 1 Corinthians 12:12, 14, 27 (ESV)
In the Body of Christ - be it globally, nationally, locally, or congregationally - the rule is NOT 80/20. It's 100/100.
"But," the objection will come, "that's not reasonable. You can't really expect everyone who attends a particular congregation to be involved in the week-in, week-out work and ministry of that congregation."
I hear that objection.
Actually, I've heard it for years. I've heard it from those sitting in the sanctuary and from those sitting around leadership tables.
My answer to the objection is... Why not?
Why can't we expect full participation? (At least from those in the congregation who claim Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.)
The witness of the New Testament is that we should be expecting it rather than settling for 80/20, or worse, making the 80/20 Rule the goal for which we aim. It worries me that, for too many congregations, attaining the 80/20 ratio would be a marked increase in participation among their members and regular attenders.
I know of a congregation who counts around 1700 adults in the number of members and regular attenders who call them their church home. If the 80/20 Rule was a reality there, that would be 340 people active in the congregation's week-in, week-out work and ministry... not as "consumers" of that work and ministry, but as "workers" and "ministers" there. What an amazing thing it would be with that many folks actively engaged in the doing and being of the congregation's life.
But, biblically speaking, even that many actively engaged folks is far below the vision Christ has for his Body.
Is it possible for a current day, North American congregation to move beyond the limitations and confines of the 80/20 Rule? Even far beyond? I actually believe it is.
A radically unattainable goal?
No… a radically biblical, God-sized goal.
It is what God calls his people to.
It is what the Holy Spirit gifts, equips, and empowers the Church to do.
Even a local congregation. Even the one you call “home”.
So, how is your congregation doing? Is the 80/20 Rule a reality there? A dreamed of goal? Or has your congregation set it aside and begun to move into the fullness of what God has called it to be?
How are you doing with this yourself? Have you made the move from consumer to worker… from the "ministered to" to the "ministering"?
There's room for us all - individuals and congregations alike - to grow closer to God's intention for us in this area.
And, there's room for all of us - individuals and congregations alike to be shaped more fully into the Church God envision us to be…
on the Potter's Wheel.
