What can the church learn from Microsoft?

I read this week that Microsoft was cutting its prices for Windows 8 installs by 70 percent to makers of low end tablets and other devices.  The article said this was an attempt to recapture the market being lost to their competitors.  One would think if Windows 8 was everything Microsoft claimed it was when it was released their competitors would be scrambling to find ways to compete with Microsoft.  Of course, as those of us who purchased computers with Windows 8 learned, it is not a user-friendly system at all.  When one installs the newest version of Microsoft Office on Windows 8 the problems are compounded as many of the features we were used to using are no longer available or hidden so deeply in the program that only a computer tech can find them.

My laptop had XP installed, which I continue to believe was one of the best systems Microsoft offered.  I knew I needed to replace it before Microsoft stopped supporting XP.  My desktop was developing some issues and needed replaced.  After going through the Vista fiasco and never being comfortable with Windows 7 I had almost convinced myself it was time to join the Apple crowd.  I am comfortable with my I-Phone, my I-Pod, and my I-Pad so I felt I would probably make the switch to Macs with minimal difficulty.  My biggest concerns was that my co-workers all use PCs and I wasn't sure how much difficulty we would have exchanging files and I have all my books, presentations, and hundreds and hundreds of files in Office, and I was concerned that it would take a great deal of time to make them accessible on a Mac.  I was afraid of the time it would take to overcome my learning curve.  I'm now convinced it would have probably have been quicker than learning how to use Windows 8 and Office.  Unless Microsoft makes major, and I mean major improvements in their products, by the time I replace these computers they will have lost me as a customer.

What does all this have to do with churches?  In my opinion, Microsoft's problems stem from being completely disconnected from what their customers want.  When one does a Google search on the problems people have with Windows 8 and with the newer versions of Office one finds hundreds of complaints about the same issues, none of which Microsoft addresses.  I was looking for a solution to a problem I was having with Word, and I found hundreds of people asking for the same solution I was, and some of these dated back two and three years ago.  The problems have never been corrected.  Microsoft seems to take the attitude that their customers can just learn to deal with their disappointment in their products.  If we don't like their product they will just lower the cost to keep their products cheaper and attract new customers on price alone.

I find too many churches also disconnected from what people are seeking from church today.  I meet with many churches that claim they want to reach young people and families, and yet they do nothing that would be appealing to young people.  They do nothing with social media in an effort to connect with people who spend vast numbers of hours each week texting and tweeting.  When a church's worship service is exactly the same as it was 40 years ago it is not going to reach the 20-year-old of the 21st century.  I recently asked one church why they thought they could reach young people when they were not able to keep the ones they had.  No one had an answer.

The flip side is true also.  I have visited several churches that decided if they only installed a video system and sang contemporary music their problems would be resolved.  The problem is, everyone in the congregation was over 50 years of age.  They didn't know these songs, didn't want to sing these songs, and no one was able to effectively lead them in worship.  Worship is all about enabling people to connect with God in a way that is meaningful to them.  Singing words on a screen that is unfamiliar to a soundtrack that was designed to be a performance track is not likely to be effective in these churches.

If people cannot receive what they need from a church, they will seek out another one.  Or, if they can't find what they need they will stop looking.  This is why we see so many house churches appearing on the scene today.  Several well-known Christian writers and speakers have recently admitted they have left the traditional church scene and are connecting with other Christians in small groups to have their spiritual needs met.  Barna wrote a book in 2005 called Revolution in which he stated that "Eight out of every ten believers do not feel they have entered into the presence of God, or experienced a connection with Him, during the worship service."  As a result, Barna noted, growing numbers of people are looking elsewhere than the church to have their spiritual needs met.  What he wrote nine years ago is even more true today, and yet many churches are still not listening.

For years Microsoft has insisted on giving people what it wanted to provide and not listen to what people wanted.  Now, they are reducing their prices in an effort to compete in the marketplace.  Many of our churches have followed the same mindset, insisting on offering people what it believed people wanted without really listening and adapting to what people was seeking from the church.  For Microsoft and the local church, this is an attitude that will not be effective in the 21st century.