For those out there a little less geeky, Beta is a stage of project development (usually software) where the design team is comfortable enough with what they have so far that they open it up for testing to regular people–the key words there being so far.  The development team understands that the product is not yet finished, and it still has bugs to work out.  And the people testing the product understand this as well.  This Beta testing is what helps the developers perfect the product for mainstream release.

Microsoft has released the greatest OS they have ever made in Windows 7, and much of that has to do with the Beta testing they did for more than a year before releasing the final product (especially after such a miserable excuse for an OS that Vista was…).  Google understands this as well, and many of their products take years to lose the Beta tag.  That’s because they are continuously improving their products.  It’s a work-in-progress.

All that said, I read a fantastic blog post from Tony Morgan this morning challenging churches to understand this concept and to put it into practice.  Hit the link, because it’s a fantastic read for church leaders.  And I have to say, I am challenged, excited, and scared stupid at the thought of functioning like this.

Everyone that  knows me knows that I despise most traditions–especially those in the church.  I say bring on the change and innovation!  The part in this that scares me though is launching a new project that isn’t fully fleshed out yet, because one thing I despise more than stupid traditions is lack of excellence.  I strongly believe if you’re going to do something, do it well.  And that’s a good habit to be in.

But I’ll be the first to admit that it’s holding me back.  Trying to do new things in my Youth Ministry or in my church without feeling that it’s perfect goes against everything I believe, so I am slow to act on new things.  But I am beginning to understand the truth of the Beta concept: it doesn’t have to be perfect to get it started.  And of course the second part of the Beta concept is that you continuously change, tweak, and move things around until it’s just right (of course by the time you have it right, it’s time to change it up again… but that’s another blog post entirely…).

So I consider myself challenged today to not let the pursuit of perfection hold me back from testing new ideas and projects in my ministry, which is also an exercise in listening to the Holy Spirit.  Oh boy, here we go…

The second demand of the Link Economy is “you must open up so Google and the world can find your content. (If you’re not searchable, you won’t be found.)”

In my last post, I already discussed the importance of Googlejuice and the importance of creating content that isn’t simply a commodity.  But now that quality content is created, what do we do now?

First, I realize that Jarvis is mostly blasting journalist and media companies such as the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal for putting their content behind a pay wall.  If you prevent Google from indexing your content, they won’t send traffic your way (should Google be paid a commission for that service?).

But, this principle applies to churches and non-profits the same way.  Consider this: the church’s entire paradigm hinges on constant content production.  Every Sunday, the Pastor gives us a sermon, the Praise Team gives us music to worship by, Sunday School teachers… well you get the idea.  We are constantly producing something.  It’s stupid (and further, I believe it’s pure ignorant) not to share this content, especially when that’s the whole mission of the church!

But unless you digitize the content in a form that can be easily consumed (i.e. put it on the internet), all of that quality content is going to waste.  Open it up! Put it on the internet!  It’s not that difficult!  In fact, the technology that we have today is making it easier and cheaper than ever to share our content all over the world.  But unless we open up–put it on the net–Google will never index it and send us traffic.

The church’s entire mission is to share the Gospel.  People are searching the internet everyday for that Gospel (even if they don’t know it). Churches complain when our attendance is off.  But people are actively trying to get into our church–just through a different door.  Open those doors up! Put it out there.  People will find it!  It may not be by the buss-load, but it will be found.

The third demand of the Link Economy is “when you get links and audience, it is up to you to exploit them, usually through advertising.”  That one is going to be fun!

So, in my last article, I quoted from What Would Google Do by Jeff Jarvis the Five Demands of the Link Economy.  And I would like to go through each of those and how the church can possibly learn from them.

The first demand is “First, you must produce unique content with clear value; commodity content will get you no links or Googlejuice.”

Before we discuss how the church can learn from this demand, it’s important to understand what Googlejuice is, and what Jarvis means by commodity content.  When someone says they’re going to “google” something, that means they’re going to go to Google.com and search for it.  Googlejuice is basically where you, your company, or your brand, shows up in those results.  If you have good Googlejuice, you’ll show up on the first page of search results, or maybe even the top 5.

The importance of Googlejuice is sometimes overlooked by non-profit organizations–especially those like the church who spend so much time, energy, and sometimes money (We pay more than $300/month for our AT&T Yellow Page ad)  on marketing.  The craziest part is that in monetary terms, Googlejuice doesn’t cost a thing!  My generation and younger (30 and below) doesn’t look in the phonebook for a church.  They google it.  And if you can’t be found by Google, you might as well not exist.  But to get Googlejuice, an organization or website must produce quality content.  Quality content is linked to and shared.  And that’s what gets you a decent search return at Google (or Bing, or Yahoo!).  That’s Googlejuice.

Commodity Content is a little more icky.  I say that because this concept can really hit the church right between the eyes.  A commodity is basically a product (not a service) used by consumers.  But as Jarvis uses the word, a commodity basically equates to mass production–a redundancy of the same thing, if you will.  Content creation and consumption on the internet these days is pretty cheap.  And that means there is so much, that it takes quality to really stand out.  But, the reason this is icky for the church is because so much of what we do is the same thing: cookie cutter Christmas pageants, the same worship songs (or the fact that there’s no original worship songs in most churches), the same ole presentation.  We bring a message of life that is the same yesterday, today, and forever.  But the lackluster way we go about it has become dull and crusty–a commodity.

If the church (or, perhaps more specifically, a church) wants better Googlejuice, we must focus on quality.  Gone are the days for overlooking the church’s online presence.  Gone are the days of “cattle-call choirs” (if you don’t know what that is, consider yourself lucky).  Gone are the days where hand-written signs on the church door is acceptable (yeah, that may be a little specific, but I hate those…).

We serve a God who will be returning for His bride very soon–and we are getting lost in all the rest of the noise.   It’s time to step-up our game.  It’s time to focus on quality instead of quantity.  It’s time to allow the talents God has given us to truly shine so that He may get the glory for it.  It’s time to create something of value.

Man, I’ve really got to step-up my own stuff if I plan to meet the standard I just called for…

The Second Demand of the Link Economy is “you must open up so Google and the world can find your content.”

Stay tuned…

About half-way through the book, Jeff explains to us how “the content economy made money by controlling and selling content.  In the link economy, it no longer pays to sell copies of content when the original is just a link and a click away.”  He further explains that this “link economy” makes five demands.  In the next few posts, I would like to consider these demands, how they can be applied to the church and its mission, and get some conversation going around them (mostly because I know that I’m not smart enough to figure all this out on my own).

In the next post, the first demand:  ”First, you must produce unique content with clear value; commodity content will get you no links or Googlejuice.”

Stay tuned…

This is the 3rd part in a series.  If you missed the first two,

Well, this has been fun!  I have to say I’ve learned much in the past few days while composing this article and arguing my point.

I must apologize to those who I promised to have this out sooner.  I’ve had to take a step back and get some council–mostly because I intended this post to actually use my church as an example.  But it occurred to me that I may want to discuss this with my Pastor, my boss, and my wise council, before I do that.  After discussing it with him, we decided that I should tread very softly, because these posts do not necessarily represent the opinions of those of The Rock Church.

So this is me treading softly.  If my Pastor takes any issues with my statements, they may be removed.  Just so you know.

Our church does not have Sunday Night Services.  As I mentioned in the previous post, the morning/evening service model simply does not work for us.  That’s not to say that there aren’t some in our church that would love to have it.  But after much deliberation, polling, and prayer, the leadership decided that Sunday Nights weren’t going to be part of our regular service line-up.

Now, there are many who may ask, “Why doesn’t it work?  Aren’t your people hungry for God?”

And that’s not easy to answer.  Again, as formerly stated, our members’ devotion to Christ can’t be measured by their attendance and participation.  Our membership consists of Chief Financial Officers, small business owners, firm-partners, single-mothers, and the homeless (I had intended to be more specific, but it was decided that was a little invasive).  For most of our families, there is no stay-at-home-mom/dad in the mix.  The kids are extremely involved in school and other civic activities, such as band, gymnastics, and football (you can’t forget football in Valdosta…).  With both parents getting home at 5, 6, or even 7 p.m., and many of the kids not getting home till then or later, getting homework done, baths taken, room cleaned, and other household responsibilities, cramming church in there is difficult at best.  So not just Sunday nights, but Wednesday nights (or any other night of the week for that matter) are suffering.  And there is no one to blame for it.  It’s simply a fact.

Furthermore, they found (this was before I arrived) that many (certainly not all) of the folks that attended Sunday nights were those that were committed enough to come, and even be able to worship and receive the Word.  But when they were asked to be honest, they expressed that they would prefer to be at home, trying to squeeze in a few moments with their families, since they really don’t have any relaxing time to spend with family during the week.  Again, I find that understandable.  And it is a symptom of the society that we have created.

So, it should be underscored that the decision not to have Sunday Nights, though one that I would have supported, were made before I got here.

Ultimately, here is my gripe: churches that hang on to things that don’t work.  Can we please get rid of dumb traditions, mindsets, and goals, that in no way are prescribed in the Bible.  There should be–and this is important–an effort made by the church to find new ways to minister to its people, and to bring them together for the glory of God (let’s not forget that the other mission of the church, besides ministering to people, is to glorify God).  I suggest home groups.  If we can’t get the people to the church, let’s bring the church to them!

Lastly, while discussing this with my Pastor, he said something that struck me between the eyes (which he often does–the guy has incredible wisdom).  If people (not necessarily our church, but in general) are truly on fire for God, burning with a passion for His presence and and outpouring of His Spirit, then Sunday Mornings simply won’t be enough for them.

I’ll leave you with that.

Today the Sunday night church service has become a tradition.  Just one of many that holds the church in a stranglehold.  The two-service model was originally just something that some folks figured out as what worked for their situation, but it has become an expected model for the rest of us.

But let’s face it: circumstances have changed.  And even if they hadn’t, not every situation is the same.  Churches are different from each other for a variety of reasons, and to try and have a one-size-fits-all model for every church is counter-productive, and rather silly.

And it took me moving 400 miles away from the circles I used to move in to figure that out.  You see, I’m a church geek.  Always have been.  For the past 15 or so years I have been at church every time the door was open.  Yes, I’m a Youth Pastor, but I wasn’t always.  And even when I wasn’t, I was always there.  It’s just how I work.  I love working at church; it gives me fulfillment.

But after I moved away from home and all things familiar, I was exposed to, well, non-churchy people.  I had surrounded myself with people who lived and breathed church just like I did.  But when I moved and had to make new friends, I began to realize that I had been living in a world that was great for “church geeks,” but not so much for the real world.  Not everyone lives and breathes church like I did (and still do, for those that think I’m bitter).  That is not to say that they don’t devote their lives to Christ and Him crucified, but they also have other things going on in their lives.

Now, I’ve also had the argument that “Jesus gave up everything for our salvation, can’t we do the same for Him.”  So you mean to tell me that every person that is sold-out to Christ needs to leave their careers, their children, and their family for Jesus?  And yes, I hear the “rich, young ruler” story resounding in my head as I type this.  But I don’t believe that Jesus wanted us all to literally give up everything to follow Him.  I do believe that we should be willing to give it all up at a moment’s notice should He ask us to, and I know plenty of people who have, or will.  But if we all did that, nothing would function.  No business would have any employees left (unless you count the unsaved, but of course it’s our job to convert them all, and who would that leave…), and life as we know it would come to a halt.  I don’t believe that’s what Jesus was asking.  I believe He would prefer us to give up our idols, but to continue to be a missionary right where He has us in our everyday lives.

What does this have to do with Sunday nights?  Well what if a person has children who play sports?  And those practices are on Wednesday night?  Should they give up the sport because they’re going to miss church?  Absolutely not!  That’s ridiculous!  What if God used them to reach out to their teammates and win them to Christ, and then bring them to church when the season is over?

I think I’m rambling.  Sorry about that.  My point is that, here in America, people don’t wrap their lives around church.  It’s a shame really.  In foreign countries, places that we would call third-world, the church is thriving.  And I’ve had multiple missionaries give the same explanation: lack of distraction.  There’s nothing else to do in town, so every day, if people aren’t working, they’re at church.  And because of that, discipleship is flourishing and the church is thriving. But, to expect that in America is absurd. There are too many distractions.

So, I submit, that instead of the church’s obsession with being counter-cultural, creating programs that people don’t want, and answering questions people aren’t asking (again, for the sick, not the well), why don’t we adapt?  Throw out stale traditions that weren’t intended for us. Remove restrictions that are simply unbiblical.  And for heaven’s sake, meet real needs right in your own front yard, using methods that work for you, instead of hanging on to what used to.

Tomorrow, I’ll finish up with the last part of this series, using real examples of real people in our very own church (don’t worry, I won’t use names).

So, what am I talking about?  Well, by the title of the post, you’ve probably already figured it out:  Why Sunday Nights–why have another church service a few hours after you just had one.

For as long as anyone still alive can remember, churches typically have had two services (excluding churches who have reached their capacity and have had to add a few in the mornings).  They have one in the morning and one at night.  Considering this isn’t found anywhere in the Bible, one might ask why churches do that.  The answer is pretty straightforward, and not as stupid as many folks of my generation tend to think.

Back in the day, church used to start sometime in the morning, and they would just go till they were done.  Now, for some people, usually of the evangelical/pentecostal variety, that could be a long, long time.  Sometimes all day long and into the evening.  Well needless to say, folks tended to get a bit hungry after a while.  So they decided to start taking a lunch break.  Lunch break turned into lunch and a nap (cutting this short), and eventually it became just two separate services, one in the morning, and one in the evening.

I have a lot of respect for that history.  It makes sense.  It’s straightforward and practical.  At least it was back in its day.

Now, here’s the caveat:  for the folks that I was “debating” with (over Facebook of all places…I’m such a geek…) the Sunday Night Service model works for them.  And I was too quick to interject my opinion on that, an action that I regret.  As usual, my mouth (or thumbs, because I typed it on my Blackberry) was ahead of my brain.  So to those folks, I apologize for attacking what works for you.

Thus endeth part 1.  In part 2 I’ll discuss why I disagree with the Sunday Night tradition, and in part 3, I’ll conclude with a real world example: my very own church.

Most churches don’t really help people like that directly anymore–at least not to my knowledge.  Indirectly, they help by contributing time, money, and other resources to other organizations whose sole purpose is to help the needy, like food banks and so forth.  But the days where folks would call the church and ask for a handout are mostly gone.

And that’s sad.

But is it necessarily bad?

My first thoughts were “of course it is!”  And I’m sure most people would feel that way.  I can think of several people who don’t go to church who would say “that’s because the church is full of self-serving hypocrites who aren’t interested at all in helping people.”  Sadly, they are not wrong, for the most part.  And to think that I myself, or my church, are any different, would fall in the realm of arrogance, or ignorance–one of the two.

But stop and think about it for a second.  Putting yourselves in the shoes of the person answering the phones all day long or the person whose decision it is whether or not to help, might give you a different perspective.

I ask you this: is it possible that churches, or other charitable organizations, have limited their handouts because there is so much fraud?  I mean, you can’t be so blind or so immersed in the sadness of the situation that you can’t see the abuse.  We (churches) have been taken advantage of so many times, or find ourselves in a situation where we don’t have the resources available to make an informed decision of the person’s real need, that we have pulled back a little–or a lot.  We’re gun-shy when it comes to helping people because we see so much abuse of our charity, day-in, and day-out.  I’ve had the same person call 3 times in a row because they were simply going down a list of churches in a phone book.  I’ve brought food to people’s houses that were nicer than mine with a new car and shiny rims in the front yard, but they can’t make their bills.  You can’t help but get a little bitter about it.

What do you think?  Have you seen the abuse?  Have you been burned by fraud?

Of course, I can’t end this without thinking about what Jesus would say about the situation.  I think He would say: “Suck it up, boy.  Don’t be a punk.  I didn’t call you to help people who didn’t need it, or didn’t deserve it.  Did you deserve my grace?  Quit your whining and get out there and be my hands and feet.”

I’m not saying it’s OK to quit helping the needy.  It’s pretty clear that the early church in the Book of Acts spent much time and energy helping the needy.  I am, however, offering this as an explanation to the perceived inability of the church to help people.  It’s really not fair to expect us to help everyone, in every way.  But we have to at least try.  We have to continue helping, because Jesus would.

Because Jesus would.