Conventional wisdom says that the best way to do ministry is to do it in the most “efficient” way possible.

Ministry leaders who make decisions with “efficiency” as their guiding value often choose to add another service over starting a new church because they view it as good stewardship. Their reasoning goes something like this: why would we invest hundreds of thousands of dollars to start a new church when we can make room for hundreds of more people simply by adding another service? The cost of a second service is minimal and the outcome is that more people are being ministered to.

It’s truly difficult to argue with logic like that IF “efficiency” is a Kingdom value.

But I have a hard time finding evidence that “efficiency” is a Kingdom value. On the contrary, I find reams of evidence to support the idea that “obedience” is the Kingdom value that should guide our decision making processes about what to do next. It’s not the “efficient” thing that God is calling us toward…it’s the path of “obedience” that must be our guide.

So much of what God does on our behalf is anything but “efficient.” God’s acts toward us, when viewed through the filter of “efficiency” could be described as “extravagant” and even “wasteful.”  Choosing powerless Israel as the ethnic group through which He would make known the Messiah was not the most efficient path. Efficiency might have chosen the Emperors court as the most expedient way to make God’s glory known. Starting His Church with a band of common men of mostly lower social status was not a decision guided by the value of “efficiency.” An “efficiency” consultant would have predicted nothing but failure if Jesus had submitted his strategic plan for His Church to the scrutiny of an efficiency audit. 

It is important to identify the source of our values and give them the appropriate priority. “Efficiency” is clearly an American value, but I’m not sure it’s a Kingdom value. It’s not evil or wrong and certainly should be part of our consideration when we formulate our actions steps. But the dominant Kingdom value is “obedience.” To paraphrase Jesus, “If you love me, you’ll do what I say.”  Sometimes, and maybe even most times, what He tells us to do, does not appear to be the most “efficient” way forward.

The application to multiplying the church is that perhaps as we consider our options for reaching lost people, we should start with the value of obedience as our guide and the let efficiency be a consideration instead of a guiding value. God’s call to reach lost people might mean starting another location instead of another service in the same space. It might mean leaving a lucrative position that is financially secure to serve in a servant role to the poor and overlooked. It might mean giving time or finances to a ministry just because God is directing you to do so, not because it will give you the most bang for your buck.

I wonder if part of the reason for the current crisis of the American church is that we have let the American value of “efficiency” guide our decisions about how to be the church. Instead of looking for the most efficient way to get people in the seats, maybe it’s time for us to lead from the simplicity of “trust and obey.”