OK, you're right. The church isn't a business and shouldn't be governed by secular business models. As a result, ideas about customer service don't apply to His church. It's His church, after all, and should be organized and administered to serve Him. All al of God's people said, GMAB! (Go here if you don't know GMAB)
Like it or not, however, shuttered churches often forgot who they had been commissioned to serve. Boarded windows and closed doors are testify to the rest of us the need to clarify service issues.
A number of years back I attended a customer service seminar led by some of the fine leaders at Chick-Fil-A. Say what you will about them, they know something about service. Their success as a company derives in part from strong corporate values that bleed into every aspect of their product of their delivery system. At the root is a deep desire to serve their customer base. They invest much in discovering how best to provide their unique products to the people who walk into their outlets.
Jesus set the tone for a serving church when he announced, "For even the Son of Man did not come to tbe served, but to serve, and to give His life---a ransom for many" (Mark 10:45). To many of the religious people it was a scandalous statement, a King or Messiah intent on serving. Yet, He further clarified the service ideal when He said, " Instead, go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel (Matthew 10:6), "He replied, I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel..." (Matthew 15:24), and "For the Son of Man has come to save the lost..." (Matthew 18:11).
Shuttered churches most often have forgotten the assignment Jesus gave His church, "As you are going, make disciples of all nations..." (paraphrase of Matthew 28:19). Clearly, Jesus meant the ministries of the church to be focused on people beyond the church doors and the property line. The customer service error happens when the congregation devotes it's energy and resources to internal maintenance issues.
Being internally focused is really the issue. So many churches are on life-support that survival becomes the mission. However, many congregations discover a new longing for life when they reach this triage stage, and they re-connect with the world around them. So, we can call it a customer service problem. Essentially, however, it's about mission. More than we'd like to admit they end up as shuttered churches because they chose to service the wrong group.
I'm thinking of one church in particular. I'll not name it. It's locale is predictable: a busy intersection; a declining urban industrial area; one of our three largest cities. For thirty years the congregation has aged and grown smaller. They could no longer maintain their facility and began to close parts of it. Then, one day, a couple of the ladies noticed the homeless so visible on the street corners and side-walks around them. So, they started feeding them. A new pastor with a call to urban people was assigned to the congregation. Today, even in this poor, continually declining area, they have found new life. They are touching lives and are growing. Vibrancy has returned. They have re-charted their future, now energized by faith and hope. All because they started serving the people around them.
Jesus honored the church at Philadelphia in the seven letters of revelation. They had "kept My word, have not denied My name" and performed good works. So, he "placed before you and open door that no one is able to close" (Rev. 3:8). He was directing these faithful saints outward. It is a profound glimpse into Christ's heart for the church. It challenges us to be sure we know the service area He sent us to serve.
Shuttered churches may have gotten this wrong. And the images of chained doors and boarded windows is testimony to that sad fact.
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