Jump directly to the Content

Toss the Old Sweater

Ministry, like a closet, can be too full.
Toss the Old Sweater

One of the first rules recommended by de-cluttering experts is this: before you add a new item, toss an old one. Take your closet for example. We all have clothes that make their way to the back of the closet—and stay there. They haven't been worn in years, but they take up valuable space. To declutter, say the experts, toss that old sweater or faded blue jeans before your next shopping trip.

We need to do the same with ministries. Some programs in our churches are thriving. They're the ones you love to tell others about, the ones with vitality. But we also have ministries that aren't working well. Yet they still take precious time and energy.

Healthy churches relentlessly monitor what they're doing to reduce ministry clutter. They start reducing clutter not after they find a great new idea, but before. I call it The Closet Rule.

Several years ago we realized that too many of our ministries were inwardly focused. We had a few ideas about outwardly-focused ...

March
Support Our Work

Subscribe to CT for less than $4.25/month

Homepage Subscription Panel

Read These Next

Related
The Gift You're Already Giving
The Gift You're Already Giving
Parenting, it's been said, is the only profession where the goal is to work yourself out of a job.
From the Magazine
I Hated ‘Church People.’ But I Knew I Needed Them.
I Hated ‘Church People.’ But I Knew I Needed Them.
As I attended my second funeral in three weeks, two Christians showed me a kindness I couldn’t explain.
Editor's Pick
What Christians Miss When They Dismiss Imagination
What Christians Miss When They Dismiss Imagination
Understanding God and our world needs more than bare reason and experience.
close