The New Reality In Motivation
October 1, 1999
Pastors and key
leaders scratch their heads and wonder, How will I motivate my
congregation? In the coming decade, the motivations of compassion and
community will stir the grassroots to action and generosity. However, pastors and leaders who continue to approach the congregation with
the motivations of challenge, reasonability, and commitment will be disappointed.
They will simply see an increasing motivational gap between themselves and
the grassroots. In meeting after meeting, leaders say to one another, "If people were only
more committed … " "If they would just rise to the challenge … " The leaders are broadcasting on the frequencies of challenge and commitment,
but few in the grassroots are tuned in. The appeal goes unheard, so the same
few people end up receptive and responding year after year. Most people today
are tuned elsewhere: to compassion and community. You've lost that lovin' feelin'
While all five motivations on my list are at work, in most people two will
dominate. The key in the next decade is which two to employ. I ask the people I counsel to share what made their congregation attractive
years earlier. I often hear how they felt at home and discovered "family"
there. But over time, weighed down keeping the venture afloat, they've
grown more concerned about commitment than community Commitment remains on my list because of its profound effect on people. It
is, however, last on the list. Commitment is the motivation that most people
develop later in their Christian pilgrimage. ... Today, with extended family scattered, their longings for community have
become desperately and profoundly urgent. They want to hear about belonging
and caring. Discovering these, they will become involved ...
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