CUSTOMER OR OWNER?

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I've been a pastor for almost 33 years.  I've had the opportunity to pastor thousands of people over that period of time.  After seeing all shapes and sizes and personality types, I've realized their are basically two types of church members: OWNERS & CUSTOMERS.

What's the difference?  Simple...

               CUSTOMERS                                                                           OWNERS
*Are there to be served by the owners                             *Are there to serve the customers
*Are concerned that their experience is good                   *Are concerned that the customers' experience
                                                                                            is good
*Have no loyalty to this place                                           *Have total loyalty to this place
*Tied to quality of the product                                          *Tied to quality of the relationships
*Tendency to voice complaints                                         *Tendency to fix problems
*Refers to church as "They"                                             *Refers to church as "We"
*Main concern is what "I want"                                       * Main concern is what "they need"
*Consumer                                                                       *Producer
*Asks "What do you have for me/mine?"                        *Asks "What can we do for them/theirs?"
*Taker                                                                              *Giver
*If absent, would not be missed                                       *If absent, would leave a void
*Important part of the crowd                                            *Imperative part of the team

All in all, where do you see yourself?  Are you a CUSTOMER or a OWNER?  The answer to that question is more important than you think and says volumes about your maturity and value to the Kingdom of God.

Comments

  1. UnknownJuly 1, 2013 at 10:45 AM

    I am definitely a customer and slowly trying to become an owner. I know it should be something that I can just "Boom," turn on, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't making up excuses or leaning on certain insecurities as a crutch. Well said, Pastor Tom.

    ReplyDelete

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