IN PRAISE OF THE INEFFICIENT CHURCH!

Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto, observed in 1906 that 80% of the land in Italy was owned by 20% of the population; he developed the Pareto Principle by observing that 20% of the pea pods in his garden contained 80% of the peas.[2]

Pareto principle when applied to the world of business…reveals the following -

• 80% of your profits come from 20% of your customers
• 80% of your complaints come from 20% of your customers
• 80% of your profits come from 20% of the time you spend
• 80% of your sales come from 20% of your products
• 80% of your sales are made by 20% of your sales staff[9]

Therefore, many businesses have an easy access to “dramatic improvements in profitability by focusing on the most effective areas and eliminating, ignoring, automating, delegating or re-training the rest, as appropriate.”

• Time and motion…became a whole new discipline…
• SMART GOALS became the standard…
• RUTHLESS EFFICIENCY the watchwords…

The Pareto principle was a prominent part of the 2007 bestseller The 4-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss. Ferriss recommended
focusing one’s attention on those 20% that contribute to 80% of the income. More notably, he also recommends– refusing to do business with – those 20% of customers who take up the majority of one’s time and cause the most trouble.[14]

With God - it seems to be different…he seems less interested in efficiency than we might expect…
We just need to consider…

• Creation and its profligacy – how many wonderful animals and creatures do we really need…how many types of flower, bird or insect are required for a creation.  How many undersea species are really necessary? A superabundance of everything…a cornucopia of beauty and fecundity…more than enough to go around…more than enough…

• Then his revelation to and through the people of Israel…how inefficient and time consuming is that??

He could hardly have chosen more tiresome…demanding…frustratingly disobedient…exhausting people…
They see it…they don’t see it..
They are with him…they are off whoring with false Gods….
They trust….they complain…
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Why bother….why not find someone more amenable…obedient…insightful?
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And if the general direction of his thinking and strategy emerges through his dealings with the people of Israel…in the New Testament the appalling inefficiencies are writ large in the life, teaching and ministry of Jesus…

Parables where 99 sheep are left - in order to go hunting for one lost sheep…

Stories where the good son has to complain because of the extravagant generosity shown by the Father to the wanton wastrel son…

Illustrations where seeds are scattered in profusion - and many, many are fruitless…though some do bear fruit…

What’s he telling us in all this…??
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The choices he makes of the people he wants to head up his church…

The loser, the loudmouth…the harlots and the tax dodgers…
The broken and the frail and the needy and the lost…

The lepers and the children

These are the people he places at the centre of the way he does things…the way he wants his church to do things…

And it makes no sense…
“Find the strong…the intellectual giants…the success stories…the achievers. The certainties - build your church on them…

Make sure you concentrate on the ones who will have winning ways…the good looking, the powerful…the influential…and let them be the leading lights of your church…

This will bring success far more readily than ill-educated artisans, and women, and slaves…

Cut back on the wastage…forget the 80% and concentrate on the productive 20% - You know it makes sense!! :Leave the lost sheep and focus your time and attention on the 99 biddable ones who are smart enough not to get themselves lost!!
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But from the start…
it’s avoid the king - and concentrate on the shepherds…

It’s recrruit blustering Peter…flawed Judas…volatile James and John…

Spend your time not with the high and mighty of the land…who might have done some good for your cause…but with the people no one else wants…
heal ten lepers though you know only one of them will come back and say thank you…

Feed the multitude - though most of them won’t have a clue what you are doing - or who you are….

“Big up” the hated Samaritans in your famous story - even though you know doing that will simply aggravate the animosity you face from the religious establishment…

Say the un-sayable…when it would be more efficient to sweet talk the Pharisees and schmooze with the Sadducees…and keep your nose clean…because if you annoy enough people something bad is going to happen…the whole thing could grind to a halt…

Keep the momentum going by keeping your head down...and, for goodness sake, stay clear of Jerusalem….no good will come from going there…and it would just be stupid to put your head in the noose…”
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And he encouraged this church to see things his way.

To seek out the poor and the broken and the demanding and the feckless and those who cannot believe they are loved, or matter – and tell them…show them that - in spite of what the world might say…they are loved, and precious and unique in the eyes and heart of God…

He invites his Church to spend its time and love, profligately, on those who need it…not those who will bring the best returns…

To wash feet – not strut in the robes of rank and the trappings of power. To realise that people matter more than power…
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And in the Presbyterian church …in the Church of Scotland we are happy to do that…to continue that inefficient ministry….
because we do spend hours with people who may never come to church…who may never really understand why we are there for them with unconditional love…
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We are not a gathered congregation of the like-minded…interested only in our personal salvation and our private spiritual journey….we are the inefficient church …prepared to exhaust ourselves by

• sharing the pain,
• responding to the needs…
• reaching out to people who are wounded and troubled…

and we ask for nothing back…expect no quid pro quo…
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And people smile at the folly of it….

Why are you giving so much time to this family…they will never come to the church…?? There’s nothing in this for you but to be used!!

Why do you give stuff to people whose names you do not know and never will…?? Winter warmth from the Giving Tree……Christian Aid funds…Water Aid support…famine and disaster responses…?
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Why do you welcome everybody and anybody into the life of your church family and surround them with love….even if they are poor, or troubled or difficult…why not seek out the top people and get them on board…then your message will fly!!
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The pastoral role of the Church of Scotland makes no sense.

You pay for me to minister to people who need a minister…in all kinds of situations…many of whom will simply take that help - …move on… and bring nothing back …give nothing back to the life of the church…
But that is not important to us…what is important is that we serve the call of Jesus to show unconditional love to whoever needs it…our neighbour is whoever needs us to show kindness and compassion…

In a gathered congregation ...the responsibilities largely stay within the group….
For us…we scatter love to the winds….we sow seeds in profusion…some falls on stony ground…and some bears fruit…
But we do it with Gospel inefficiency….seeking no returns…simply responding to need where we encounter it…with the love Christ puts in our heart……not calculating possible outcomes…just doing what we do…being who we are called to be…
Prayer of Saint Ignatius Loyola

Teach us, Good Lord,
To Serve Thee as Thou deservest;
To give and not to count the cost;
To fight and not to heed the wounds;
To labor and not to ask for any reward,
save that of knowing that we do Thy will.
Through Jesus Christ Our Lord, Amen.

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I suppose he started it….when he gave his life for us all…for people who don’t even know his name…for people who demean  his name - and turn a deaf ear to his call..

He died for them…not just the good ones…or the ones who “get it”…but for all…all the children he loves with his big expansive, ridiculous love…

And I suppose it started even before that – when, with loving purpose, God brought his creation into being…knowing the paths we would take…the cul de sacs we would go up…the stout resistance to his love we would put up…
Why bother…it’s crazy…insane…so much effort - for so little return…!!

We are the inefficient church of the inefficient God …
who thank goodness puts love above efficiency…

AMEN