After all the fun I had yesterday writing about what if McDonald’s took not he church model, I think it will be fun to write the opposite. What if church really did run like a McDonald’s? We throw around the McChurch thing with the perspective of a church going person being at the drivethru, but really a believer is more like an employee, doing the work of ministry. And I think running like a McDonald’s could be a significant improvement for churches everywhere!
First let me do this dream I had about my son because it was amazing to me! My son and I and a man I didn’t know were sitting on 3 couches in a living room of a house. My son was angry and raging which is often how he behaves in real life. The guy on the couch did something that angered him and he threw something down the hall. It broke everything back there, the whole wall came off the house and there was just brokenness everywhere! So I went back there to look at the damage and see what I could do. But when I got there it had already been repaired. And it wasn’t just back to the way it used to be. It had been upgraded in every way, marble floors, new beautiful paint, new furniture and everything was much better than what it had been to start with. Then I looked and not only was it that way in the broken bedroom, but the kitchen was also completely remodeled and the other bedroom. I started to go upstairs and see what else would had been redone.
Now my sons each get angry from time to time but this one son gets angry like this several times a day. It’s the things we work on with him the most and the thing we pray about the most. I believe the Lord is saying in this dream that He is going to fix all of this and make it better than it was before! He is moving in a big way to renew the broken hearts. So if you have a broken heart in your life, in your self, or in your family BE RENEWED! May the Lord completely restore all that was lost and may He make it better than before! Because He is so good He is promising to do that all over this country and this planet. As the broken hearted rage in the streets even, He is going to fix many of them.
Ok now what if church actually did run like a McDonald’s. Anyone who got saved would have a job right away. We would always be looking to bring people in and put them to work. There would be a constant training process for those individuals which would start with finding a good fit for their skill set. We would know the biblical positions that each person filters into and start showing them one that we think fits. But if it isn’t a fit we would not get rid of them, we would figure out where they fit and get them into a place where they can succeed.
We would have a system for reaching the world. Each position would know that the ultimate goal is to serve the world our product. We would work to build up every process in each biblical gifting to better reach the world. There would be a continuous improvement mindset. Pastors and leaders would be training people every day hoping to make them leaders too. The more experienced assistant managers you have the more people you can ultimately train.
We would have several people working in each spiritual gift and each leadership office. The 5 fold ministry would operate in teams with a diversity of gifting on each team so that each team could reach the world in all the unique niche ways that are needed. We would help people get educated in both ministry and marketplace gifts. Working everyday to both serve the world outside and raise up new experienced, well trained individuals who can climb into leadership.
There would be help at the regional, national and international levels. Leaders who had particular skill at serving the world and raising up leaders would regularly inspect the churches to ensure that we were focusing on loving God and loving each other within the organization. That’s the franchise after all. Sin issues, and personal problems between church members would be dealt with quickly reminding everyone that these things are not the ways of the Bride.
We would also work from prime real estate. I’m not sure if the Bible has anything to say about that but if the church ran like McDonald’s we would be on the highest traffic intersections and streets on earth. Everyone in every city no matter how large or how small would know right where to find the church. We would find our competitors and set up shop right next door. The bars, strip clubs, covens, masonic lodges….maybe banks??? Any place that is drawing people from God we would be right where they are reaching out to the same group of people.
We would advertise and make sure that everyone on earth knows the name of Jesus. You wouldn’t be able to watch a show, a YouTube video, a food documentary, drive past a billboard or listen to your pandora without hearing the name of Jesus and knowing right where the nearest church is. And that church would be open and ready to serve you at all times, not just once or twice a week. There would be signs no the freeway telling you which exit has a church and which way to go to find it. We would have signs higher and bigger than any other sign on the street and everyone would know what they were getting no matter which on that show up to. From town to town you would find loving people who want to help you to know God through Jesus and receive His Holy Spirit.
God bless you guys. I’ll get back to bible study next week unless the Lord just keeps making this fun for me. I pray that you would catch the vision and spread it. May the Lord bless your family with renewal and restoration! May your children be raised up from trouble and transformed into the armies of God! May you know Jesus and see Him and visit with Him. May you interact with God today, all day and when you wake up at night may you pray to Him. I pray that you would hear His voice and learn His ways and may God bless all y’all.
Practice Outlaw 