Beukema—1

Spotting the Gorilla and other Church Leadership Challenges

My oldest daughter and I watched a segment on the NBC program Dateline. While
viewing a 30-second clip of two teams playing basketball, we were asked to count the
number of times one of the teams passed the ball. We participated individually, and when
it was over both of us came up with a different number. While my daughter and I were
good-naturedly arguing over who was right, we found out both of us were wrong. We
missed what most of the volunteers in the experiment also missed—the gorilla. Halfway
through the video, a man dressed in a gorilla costume ran onto the court, stood in front of
the camera, and beat his chest. We were so intent on counting passes that we completely
missed the gorilla. The experiment, originally conducted by Richard Wiseman concluded
that most people go through life so focused on the immediate task at hand they
completely miss gorilla opportunities.

Recently, our church leadership gathered for a retreat, crucial to the future life our
ministry. Two years after completing a building program, we now discussed a
reconfiguration of staff responsibilities, a complete organizational restructuring, and a
new strategy for ministry. Before presenting those proposals, I cautioned our Board not to
be so fixated on the mundane that we miss God-given opportunities of significance. I
encouraged the Board to be leaders to ask Where are our gorillas in this ministry? Where
is that opportunity that is right there, unique to us, that God has put us here to make the
most of? There are so many good ideas and obvious needs all around us, but which one
is our gorilla? I presented four leadership challenges to help us spot our gorilla.

# 1—Spotting our Gorilla Requires Releasing Our “Tiny” Vision

As Richard Foster said, “God has to help us let go of our tiny vision in order to release
the greater good he has in store for us.” It is only in recent years that I realize I’ve been
afflicted with tiny vision for most of my ministry. My risky steps of faith have often been
nothing more than baby steps toward what God wanted. At times, I’ve been so enamored
with my grand dream for effective ministry, I haven’t been able to see the far grander
plan of God.

One glaring example happened early in my ministry. The small church I pastored was
growing and needed space. There were no suitable properties in the surrounding
communities. A mile away was a sister church with similar problems. That church
proposed we merge with it and its daughter church. Along with the leadership, I
embraced the idea. It had the potential of creating a church three times our present size.
For 18 months we poured time, energy, and resources into this possibility. In the end, all
three churches overwhelmingly defeated the vote for merger. God brought good from
that, even the 18-month discovery process proved valuable. Still, my tenacious focus on
my “tiny” vision obscured God’s superior vision.
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We cannot embrace the greater good God has if we insist on clutching our smaller good.
We’ve got to be willing to let go of the little dreams we imagine, stop grasping our small
ideas and limited visions. Until we do that, we aren’t open to receiving bigger gorillas.

# 2—Spotting Our Gorilla Involves Challenging Accepted Norms

Rolling Stone magazine recently named the greatest rock 'n' roll song of all time. Their
selection, Bob Dylan’s “Like a Rolling Stone,” was not a huge surprise. Dylan’s opus is
at the top of several such lists. It was recorded on June 15, 1965, in Studio A at the
headquarters of Columbia Records. Shaun Considine was there. He recounted the story
for a December 3rd article in the New York Times.

A few days after recording the demo, Dylan and his manager listened to the edited tape
and were convinced it would be a hit. They expected their record company to release it
immediately. Most of the people at Columbia who heard “Like a Rolling Stone,” loved it.
Unfortunately, Columbia’s sales and marketing people had a different opinion. And their
view mattered. Sales and marketing had made Columbia a winner by selling mainstream
American music. In the 1960s, mainstream meant pop, jazz, country, gospel, the best of
Broadway and Hollywood. Columbia’s main artists were Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand,
and Tony Bennett.

This tune by Dylan was a rasping, driving, noisy rock song. Columbia had a track record
to consider. Two years earlier they had rejected the first American album of some British
band called the Beatles. Ten years earlier they had turned down a musician by the name
of Elvis. Sales and marketing had no interest in changing course now. None of them
actually put that objection into words. Instead they expressed concern over the length of
the song. Most singles that got radio play were about 3 minutes long. Dylan’s piece came
in at 5 minutes and 59 seconds.

To try and make everybody happy, Columbia proposed cutting “Like a Rolling Stone” in
half. Bob Dylan refused. So the single was put into the category of “unassigned release.”
It might never again have seen the light of day, were it not for Shaun Considine. Months
later, Considine was sorting through a stack of demos to be junked and found the song he
remembered liking. After playing it numerous times himself, he took it to the hottest new
disco in Manhattan and asked the DJ to spin it. “Like a Rolling Stone” played for an hour
straight, until the needle tore through the flimsy demo vinyl. A music programmer in
attendance called Columbia the next morning demanding to know where his copy of the
new Dylan song was. The single was immediately released in red vinyl, signifying its
“hot” status. But a look at the label showed a flaw. It read: "Like a Rolling Stone (Part 1)
Timing 3:02." The flip side read: "(Part 2) Timing 3:02." The song had been cut down the
middle. Sales and marketing had struck again, doing to the song what King Solomon
threatened to do to the baby. But they didn't win. Some DJs simply recorded both sides of
the disc on tape and spliced the whole thing together. The single took off, remaining on
the charts for three months.
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After telling our leaders that story, I shared how easily we can limit our impact by
sticking with decisions that are safe, predictable, and fit our preconceptions. We can
become finance-driven, or tradition-driven, or popularity-driven, rather than be driven by
a vision from God. When that happens, Dylan’s chorus rings true:
How does it feel
To be on your own
With no direction home
Like a complete unknown
Like a rolling stone?

What we actually see and what we actually accomplish is quite dependent upon our initial
approach. Lyle Schaller has identified two different ways church leaders approach
planning.

Approach A:
• What did we do last year?
• Will that be asking too much of our people?
• How much will it cost?
• What will our older members think?
• It didn’t work the last time we tried it, why do you think it will
work now?
• Can we get a majority to support this?
• Is it consistent with our traditions?
Approach B:
• How will that improve the quality of our ministry?
• Will that really challenge the commitment level of our people?
• Twenty years from now, how will church leaders evaluate our
response?
• How will that expand our ability to reach younger generations?
• How would a first-time visitor respond to this?
• How will that enrich our spiritual journey?
• How does that address our vision statement?
• How will this glorify God?

The B approach contains the questions to ask. Approach A locks you into the past, the
tiny dream, the limits and confines of the doable and acceptable. At that meeting, I was
presenting an idea for expanding the responsibilities of two staff members, as well as a
complete organizational restructuring that would require constitutional change. I wanted
my leaders to see that if we asked A questions, we would get nowhere, and end up
looking in the wrong direction while the gorilla beat its chest.

# 3—Spotting Our Gorilla Involves Saying NO or GO

When we ask, where is our gorilla? We do need to be careful. It is to make a mistake.
Anxious for a gorilla we may mistakenly identify a groundhog. Every church is unique,
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and so when it comes to successful ministry, one size never fits all. Guard against
spotting gorillas that don’t appear in our picture.

I was fascinated by this statistic from the state of Missouri. In 2002, the state awarded a
grant to their police department's Youth Outreach Unit. The purpose of the $273,000
grant was to battle Goth culture. In short, modern Goths are those who have a fascination
with death and the supernatural. The Goth look includes dressing in black, wearing white
face makeup, painting fingernails and lips black.

Funded by the state grant, the Youth Outreach Unit attempted to tackle the problem of
"saving" young people from that subculture. The initial cost of setting up the program
was $141,000. In the course of their efforts, the unit made a discovery that necessitated
returning the remainder of the grant to the state. A total of $132,000 was given back after
the Youth Outreach Unit was unable to find any Missouri youth who were influenced by
Goth culture.

In the effort to spot our ministry gorilla, someone needs to ask the tough questions so we
don’t end up trying to minister to non-existent needs. But that’s not the biggest task for
church leadership. Personally, I’d almost rather do a good thing that isn’t the right thing
than to do nothing. I’d rather start a ministry to imaginary Goths than no ministry at all.
The challenge for leaders is in saying GO. In most churches, everybody has the right to
say no, but only a few can say go and have it mean something. Churches flounder when
leaders are unwilling or unable to say go. Without that, churches naturally plateau and
comfortably drift into decline. Leaders have a responsibility to stave off nostalgia over
gorillas discovered in the past, and keep searching for greater things—new gorillas.
Prayerfully, boldly, and judiciously we must say no or go and chart a course that will
propel us forward into a future that is greater than today.

We need to spend some time—not simply thinking of more good things to do—but
deciding what are the better things to do and how can we do them best? Gorillas emerge
as we embrace who God made us to be, and identify our unique contribution to the
community we’re in. Identify the gorillas in our neighborhood, and strategize a way to
match our specific, unique strengths to those needs.

# 4—Spotting Our Gorilla Demands Wholehearted Commitment

Larry Crabb says, “The core problem is not that we are too passionate about bad things,
but that we are not passionate enough about good things.” What is our true passion? What
is actually motivating us? What do we want to see happen? And then, are we willing to
give what it takes to bring it about? Am I willing to invest myself to give it birth?

One member of our church saw hungry families, the working poor in downtown Chicago.
He thought I can do something about that. Gathering support for his idea, this man began
a ministry that purchases and delivers 4 to 5 tons of food every two weeks. That was
more than 20 years ago. The ministry continues today with other leaders and other
helpers who agreed this was one of our gorillas. Retired men and women take turns as
 Beukema—5

drivers and assistants. Younger suburbanites regularly take a day off work to help out.
Drivers donate the cost of the truck rental. Virtually every dollar given goes directly to
feeding the hungry. That ministry began and continues to live because of the absolute
commitment of those who spotted the gorilla.

Martin Marty tells of the Olympic equestrian champion who was asked, "How does your
horse know when it has to leap the hedges and hurdles, and why do some horses turn
away or stumble?" The woman answered, "That's simple. You tear your heart out of your
body and throw it over the hedge. The horse knows how desperate you are to catch up to
your heart. So it leaps."

I looked around the conference room at this gathering our church’s leaders. I said, “This
may well be the leadership team God uses to help power our church to the next level. If
that is God’s will, I know you are up to the task. It only requires that you take your heart
out of your body and throw it over the hedge so the rest of the church will leap after it.”