on the organization you're leading. Since this blog is for church leaders I wondered if this idea would work in a church, and there is no question in my mind that it will.The rationale is this. If you are on a dance floor you are aware of the things that are going on around you, and it may seem that everything is great. The music is good, people are dancing and having a good time, and it seems the dance is a hit. However, if you are in an area where people are waiting for someone to dance with them or if a couple at the next table is having a disagreement your opinion of the dance might be quite a bit different. It's only when you leave the dance floor and go up on the balcony can you see everything that is going on below you. From there you can see the people enjoying themselves as well as those who wish they were anywhere but there. From the balcony you have a much better idea of how successful the dance is.
As bivocational church leaders we can be overcome by all the things that are demanding our attention. There are days when it seems all we do is put out fires. We go through times when we feel that nothing we are doing makes a difference. The real discouragement comes when we try to look ahead and really can't see where anything is ever going to change no matter what we do. That's why it's important that we get on the balcony and look down at all the things going on at the church.
When we do that we will see the disgruntled deacons and the matriarchs that are still mad that someone sat in their pew last Sunday, but we will see other things as well. We'll see that couple whose marriage was having problems, and we were able to help them work through some things. We'll see the teenager who was about to walk away from the church until we talked to him one day about some of the problems he was having at home. We'll see the senior saint who came to us with a theological question about her relationship with God, and who left that conversation finally convinced that God had indeed forgiven her for that thing many years ago. We'll see many things from the balcony that we couldn't see on the dance floor, and we'll see that our ministry in this place is making a difference.
From the balcony we can also see some things that might need changed. I was in a church recently that is experimenting with changes to their worship service. This is a traditional church with over a 150 year history. Two years ago they called a new pastor who has slowly helped them see things from the balcony about their worship service, and they are now willing to try some new things to make the worship experience in their church more meaningful to those who attend. Another church had a pastor who could see that their current leadership structure could not take their church forward into the 21st century. At first, the members couldn't see the need to make any changes. Slowly, he began to take leaders up on the balcony with him so they could see what he was seeing. It took a few years to get enough of the leaders on board to make it happen, but the church eventually made drastic changes in their leadership structure that are already creating positive changes in the church.
I would encourage you to spend some time on the balcony
during December taking a bird's-eye view of your church. Write down some of the things you see from the balcony. What are some things that need to be addressed in 2011? What are some positive things that are happening in your church that you want to preserve? Make a list of the people you have seen make positive changes in their lives since you've served this church, and think about what your role was in those changes. You will probably find your church and your personal ministry looks much different from the balcony than they do in the midst of the day-to-day challenges you face.
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