Expert advice

A couple my wife and I know from church invited us to dinner last night. There was one other couple invited and the six of us had a nice evening. At some point we got to talking about experts and consultants. It reminded me of a saying I heard years ago that anyone coming from ten miles or more away was an authority and coming from fifty miles or more away made them an expert. We all had a good laugh. The conversation was started when one of our hosts brought in a book she was thinking about reading and my wife commented that I was skeptical about books. She's right. I am skeptical when it comes to books that tell you how to do things "right", or propose some new concept. Ironically, I've often thought about writing just such a book. That's what makes me skeptical.

I've been an "expert" before. The guy who's flown in and presents a workshop or series of workshops. I have writings that have reached a national audience. I've received the phone calls from across the country asking for my advice. It can be very intoxicating. And I'm happy to share my insights and experiences. Unfortunately, people aren't looking for insights and experiences. Often consultants are called in because an organization is struggling and the cry is, "please save us!" An expert is no savior. Usually an expert is just a good communicator who, in many cases, has written a book or an article that gained some attention. Harry Beckwith is a marketing expert who has written several books and in one of them he openly admits that it was an article that became a book that launched his career as a consultant. One of his tips for promoting a company or organization is to have someone write a book. That makes them an expert and gets your company noticed.

There is a whole industry of consultants for churches. I ran across an announcement in an e-mail just this morning about a man who will be speaking in Illinois. He works for a Church Consulting company. A whole company dedicated to helping churches do church better. There's a wonderful Dilbert cartoon with Dogbert announcing that he's becoming a consultant because it appears to be the combination of con and insult, two things he loves to do. I don't mean to besmirch consultants, necessarily, but to point out that the church might do better with a lot fewer consultants and a lot more surrender to God's calling. In my experience, churches that are struggling and in need of a new direction are often led by people who can't or won't make the difficult decisions that change requires. They call in an expert as leverage to get people to do something they can't convince the congregation or it's leadership of on their own. Trouble is, after the expert gets back on a plane the effect of that expert fades and the leader who brought the expert in continues to lack sufficient influence to make any substantial changes. That's okay, though, because in a couple of years another expert will be hired and there are plenty to choose from.

There will always be people who are willing to tell you how to do your job. Doubly happy if you pay them to tell you. In the end, no amount of consultants and advisors can make the tough decisions for a church. Effective ministry involves risks. It will offend some and will cause others to actively come against you. Far too often churches work hard to see that no one is offended and that everyone is comfortable. (Read Mark Buchanan's book for a really good commentary on this.) When comfort and lack of offense doesn't work the experts are called in. Maybe it's time to stop taking men so seriously and start taking God more seriously.

That's my expert opinion.