Through my years of Church leadership I have been a part of some really amazing ministries. I have also been a part of several ministries that struggled to survive. Honestly, there have been more struggles than successes.

My question is, “What does a Church member do when they see a ministry has problems?”

Here are the three biggest solutions I have seen:

1. Talk about the Problem. This can go one of two directions. First, this conversation can be constructive criticism that is helpful. You see a problem and offer a suggestion that might improve the ministry for the future. Be careful that this does not just end with a lot of talk and no one doing anything.

Second, this dialog can simply be a time of complaining. These people know something is wrong and have no idea how to improve it. They just want to vocalize their frustration in often negative ways.

2. Keep Quiet about the Problem. Usually everyone knows there is a problem and yet no one seems to say anything. I used to wonder why this happened but I have come to a simple conclusion. If we say there is a problem then we might be expected to help improve it. If we just keep quiet then no one will expect anything out of us.

Quite often this leads to people ending their involvement in a ministry. Even then people are hesitant to voice their concerns so they gloss it over with some nice phrase. They, “Need a break” or they are “Getting burned out” or they “Must focus on their family right now.” These are acceptable reasons for quitting and no one questions the real motives.

3. Pitch in and Help Fix the Problem. This is the one that scares most people. We would love to see the Church have high-powered, life changing ministry but we really do not want to make it happen ourselves. I love those people who see a problem, talk about it with a few people and then jump in and fix things.

The one drawback is that your way of doing things will have problems too. So we need more than one person willing to make a difference to really change a ministry.

Every Church has a lot of flaws and there are a number of really great ministries that are struggling. You see it. I see it. The real question is whether we are going to do to be a part of the solution. Which response are you going to choose? No wait, which one are you already choosing?