A Lesson from eBay®: A Little Change Goes a Long Way
I almost can’t believe it. My wife and I just sold a rug on eBay® after having tried twice before without success. Our first attempt happened about one year ago and the second a couple of months ago. On both occasions people watched the listing, but no one placed a bid. What a surprise when we checked our account this past week to find that the rug had sold at a price over twice the starting bid price!
Interestingly, we used the same sales approach the first two times, convinced that we had the right plan. Those efforts provided the same result—nothing. Desperate to sell the rug, we made two seemingly insignificant changes the third time. The big lesson for us lies in the fact that neither of us would have made those changes without being pressed to do so, yet they produced a sale far beyond anything we had hoped to achieve.
That’s the potential of change—a little can go along way. Tom Clegg and Warren Bird in their book, Lost in America: How You and Your Church Can Impact the World Next Door, say the following:
Churches are going out of business because they refuse to change.
Any church that doesn’t shift from “ministry as status quo” to
“ministry as mission outpost” will die or become hopelessly
irrelevant.[1]
I am not sure which is worse, dying or becoming hopelessly irrelevant, but I don’t know too many pastors who would choose to embrace either one. The point is that healthy churches must make needed changes, over time, in order to stay healthy, but those changes do not always have to be sweeping. Consider the small measures from the Bible listed below. God might use one of them to inspire a change in you and your church!
1) A small step of faith (Matthew 17:20)
There is no doubt that a little faith goes a long way. A simple deed of faith—a new commitment in some unique direction—might be just the change that God is looking for in your church.
2) A small project (Zechariah 4:10)
Maybe a fresh plan or idea that seems insignificant is just the right course. Remember, we are not to “despise the day of small things.” That day could be the start of something huge!
3) A small gift (Mark 12:42-44)
The widow’s two coins were more than all the rest. That’s how God saw it. The change for your church might be a small monthly pledge to a missionary or some other ministry gift. Your church’s future might be unlocked through the discipline of generosity.
4) A small act of kindness (Matthew 10:42)
God notices our compassion and kindness—even the little gestures made out of a pure heart are important. Could that be the change He desires for your church?
5) A small “reach” across the aisle (Luke 10:25-37)
The Good Samaritan taught us about being a good neighbor. Imagine what God can do as we build bridges to people of other ethnicities and cultures as well as those of different social and economic standings.
This month’s Momentum focuses on the change that is going on in the world and the issues surrounding change in the local church. I hope that you find the articles and resources helpful and remember that you will never know what God can do through a small change until you try it.
Have a great day!
Eric Schroeter
[1] Tom Clegg and Warren Bird, Lost in America: How You and Your Church Can Impact the World Next Door (Loveland, CO: Group Publishing, 2001), 14.