“How much does it cost and how do we get people to change?” What are the right questions?

Again, these are the wrong questions and should be replaced by, “What price am I willing to pay?” and “What is my contribution to the problem?” So instead we are called to look inward versus trying to change the circumstances around us.

In this economy there is no secret that everything is changing, including the rules about how things change. Ministries face funding challenges on a scale not seen in decades. The “cost” in dollars of ministry and the desire to make others change to fit our demands are tempting subjects to occupy our thoughts.

But, as Block proposes, the real questions of “price” and “contribution” confront our willingness to be the change, not simple make changes. In Group Life, this means asking. “What do we really value?” and “How do I bring the best of who I am to the ministry?” Acting on what we believe in – training leaders, praying for people to connect to Christ and community, serving the poor together – costs us something, and thereby creates value.

What do you value in your group ministry these days? What are the non-negotiable beliefs and values you must be willing to sacrifice for? And are you willing to stop changing others and instead acknowledge your role in creating the problem—and you role in solving it? That is the choice we face today.