Fastbreak: Do You Like What You Do?

A pastor walks into a Trader Joe’s and is confronted with an existential question from the cashier. Yes, that sounds like the beginning of a joke…but this one’s true! The real question before that is simply, “Do you like what you do?”—and that’s instinctively followed by, “Why do you do what you do?” In this Fastbreak episode, Dave Workman explores the basic purpose of the local church and why it’s critical to God’s ultimate plans for the universe. Yeah, it gets cosmic in less than four minutes.

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Transcript

Welcome to the Elemental Leaders Fast Break Podcast, a quick download to jumpstart your leadership. Visit us at ElementalGroup.org for more resources and free downloads. 

Hey friends, this is Dave Workman with the Elemental Group. After pastoring at the same church for nearly 30 years and then launching a church consultancy company. Periodically, I run into folks who ask, "Do you like what you're doing now?" 

When we first started with the Elemental Inventory to measure church health and leadership development, there was really only one goal, to help as many churches possible be as healthy and effective as God intends. And here's why. A while back I was in a Trader Joe's buying a half case of cheap wine, and the 20-something at the cash register was a tall, chatty, overly friendly guy who seemed to be genuinely thrilled to serve the customers. And I was not in a particularly talkative mood and felt a little sensitive for the woman behind me who was holding a pile of groceries in her arms waiting for her turn. At the same time, I was internally processing how effective Trader Joe's employee training system must be. I mean, every cashier seems to enthusiastically greet shoppers. 

Well, this cashier said to me, "How are you doing this fine Friday evening, sir?" 

"I'm doing well." I smiled and I slipped my credit card into the reader there. He said, "It's a good day, isn't it?" And then he's pulling out each bottle and scanning them. And all of a sudden he looked up at me and said, "Let me ask you something. If you could do one thing to change the world, what would it be?"

 Well, I was totally caught off guard. I mean, I wasn't expecting an existential question from a trader Joe's cashier. And I said, "Seriously?" Kind of just to buy a little time to actually contemplate what I'd say. And he grinned and said, "Yeah." 

And here's what came out of my mouth before I really had time to think about it. "Well honestly, I wish I could figure out a great way to tell everyone in the world how good Jesus really is." This guy closed his eyes, he slid the last bottle into the carton, and then he walked around the counter toward me. He motioned me toward him and he said, "Bring it in." And we hugged. You know, not the half-bro handshake hug, but the full-bodied heads on shoulders patting on the back kind. An old white guy and an African-American millennial. The woman behind me with her arms full of grocery just stared. He said, "That's the answer, man." He smiled and handed me my half-case of wine and said, "Have a good day!" 

Which brings me to my point. The Big C Church is both the expression of the kingdom and the proclamer of the kingdom message. The Church is Plan A. There is no Plan B. It is THE way of telling the entire world how good Jesus really is. And the local church is the best representation in whatever corner of the world it's in of than now and not yet kingdom. So when a local church is healthy, everybody wins. The congregation, the city, and all those who don't yet know how good Jesus is. And if our elemental group team can play a small part in helping any church get a little healthier, a little more on point, and stronger organizationally and missionally, then my little life feels pretty full. 

So yeah, I pretty much like what I do. But how about you? 

Thanks for listening to this Fast Break podcast. Visit us at ElementalGroup.org for more resources and free downloads.