The iPhone and ministry?
Church Marketing Sucks: Beautiful Basics In regards to the iPhone, this author draws a parallel to the "ministries" approach to ministry.
Just like most cell phones are a nightmare to use because someone insisted there be a camera button and a volume button and a speaker phone button until there are so many buttons you don't know which one to push to answer the phone--churches can often be overcome by trying to provide too many ministries. We need a worship team and a drama team and a children's ministry and a youth minstry and a college ministry and a young married's ministry and a couples ministry and a sensitive-yet-lame name for the old folk's ministry, and a justice ministry and a men's ministry and a women's ministry and a Hispanic ministry and it's no wonder it's all a little overwhelming. Franquiz's church sticks to five things they're good at: Sunday service Children's Ministry Student Ministry Small Groups Couples Even that list may be a lot for some churches. But the point is not to add ministries if you can't do them well. What's the point of a lame youth ministry? To placate the parents? And in the process you do a disservice to the church because resources are going somewhere where they're not being used as well as they could be and everything else suffers. Nevermind the disservice you're doing to the youth. People would rather have an amazing Sunday morning service and no youth ministry than a so-so Sunday service and a so-so youth ministry.The analogy falls a little flat in that the iPhone does do quite a bit but does it in an elegant and simpler way than its competitors. It is a locked platform meaning you can't upload any program to make it do whatever you want it to do. In the same way, God designed the church around a specific vision. We keep hearing about "new ways to do ministry" rather than "how to be good stewards of the ministry God has given us." Just like with Apple and the iPhone, God has specific gifts in mind for his church to give (and be about.) The church catholic has established an efficient, elegant, beautiful, and easy-to-use vehicle for delivery those gifts. Many will come to Apple begging and pleading that their iPhone do more, allow for customization, and the like. Many come to the church asking for more, different, and custom tailored worship to their tastes rather than respect the simplicity and the time-tested user interface Jesus has deigned for his bride the church.
