what we’ve got here is failure to communicate

So let’s pretend that you are an amazing production person.  That you are able to do amazing things through the use of technology.  Not only are you an incredible technician, but you are an artist.  In a word, genius.

Détail de "Blah, blah, blah" du studio Louise Campbell (Maison du Danemark)Now let’s say that you are at a church that has a low priority on production values and they have a budget to match this very low priority.  As a result, your genius is being wasted…like pearls before swine.

So far, I am preaching to the choir.  Now, to the kicker:  for the leadership at your church to place high value on the technical arts, it is your job to cast vision to them, to convince them that it is worth spending resources on production.

I think that most senior pastors understand 2 languages:  vision and money.

Senior leaders are about some kind of mission, some driving vision for why they are in ministry in the first place.  They are also running a business, for lack of a better way to say it.  Money matters.  If the mission is going to be accomplished, it requires money to keep the ball rolling.

From a communications standpoint, when you talk, your senior pastor hears that you want some new fun toy, that will make your job easier and it is going to cost a bunch.  You are speaking the exact opposite of the language that they respond to.

We need to learn to speak in terms of vision, then money becomes a secondary conversation.  How will your idea advance the cause of your church?

Lately, I have noticed that I turn this around and emphasize how “cheap” a solution is, just barely accomplishing the mission.  I need to be better at dreaming big, so that the mission of my church can advance the most, worrying about the money part later.

How can you communicate in terms of your church’s vision?  How can I communicate vision before money?

 

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