The Backwash

Most are sick to death of hearing the healthcare debate.  I have friends on both sides of this fence, and to be clear, I am quite opinionated on it; but will NOT share my opinion here. I will, rather, look at one significant fact about which we have heard little.

Forget the mandates.  Forget the abortion issue.  Forget the constitutionality or non-constitutionality.  Forget the debt or deficit-neutrality claims.  Let’s go Econ 101 for just a moment and talk supply and demand.

We are about to see a demand curve take a hockey-stick growth rate.  A market that has been treating X-number of insured and some uninsured, will now have millions of new insured individuals.  Here’s the problem – despite this legislation, there is still a significant shortage of doctors – and no plans for addressing that issue. 

Think about it this way.  You are accustomed to going to a restaurant.  You typically wait about an hour for a table.  The same crowd tends to be there.  Now imagine that a lot of individuals who previously never went there just got handed gift cards to that restaurant.  It is a simple Operations Management nightmare – same number of tables, same number of servers, same space in the building, same typical customer set, plus a spike of activity for which you are not equipped.  The results?  Longer wait times, the need to cycle your food deliveries faster, and everyone gets frustrated.

Apply the same here.  We have the same shortage of doctors today as we did yesterday before the bill was signed into law.  What result do I see?  Longer wait times, and physicians trying to find a way to quota-out their available appointments to those patients who have insurance that pays the best.  I don’t fault them.  It’s economics.

And what happens when you have a shortage of professionals?  Well, that has already happened – and we can apply the lessons learned here.  It has happened in the airline industry with pilot shortages.  Things that happened in that industry?

• Reduction of flights
• An increase in pilots hitting their maximum hours quicker resulting in more canceled flights
• In the push for additional pilots, airlines relaxed their requirements for new pilots – so the person flying your plane who may have had to previously have 400 hours in certain equipment may now only be required to have 200 hours. 

Do we really want that in healthcare?  How far off are we from the medical boards relaxing standards in an effort to get more doctors practicing and dealing with the overflow of patients? 

Regardless of where you stand on this issue, it will affect you because your doctor only has so many hours in a day – and the rate at which we are seeing doctors enter the workforce is not as high as 20-years ago.  Have all the rallys you want on the issue – until this unfortunate fact gets dealt with, everyone will hurt.

-MH

If you watch LOST, then you will easily remember what follows.  If you do not, let me give you the paragraph catch-up. 

Plane crashes.  Survivors on remote Island.  Island strange.  Secret communities.  Surprise “stations,” or evidence of high technology.  In the clip to follow, you will see two people -- Desmond, the love-forlorn hero desperately trying to get off the island to find his true love, Penny; and Charlie -- the musician turned semi-hero.  In this clip, Desmond and Charlie are in an underwater station they have discovered, and Charlie receives a desperate transmission from…who else…Penny.  The season ended with a haunting scene of Charlie sending a message despite the odds:

I am someone who appreciates creativity that sends a message when it comes to teaching teens about the Bible.  I want to give some serious props to the PV Youth Ministry team (Steve Hovater, Ryan Rampton and Sarah Smith) for using the clip above to frame the youth group’s minds around the notion of “Urgent Messages.”  If it were your last message, what would you send?  Below is a video of some of the result.  I think it is worth watching.

Yesterday I was in complete New York mode.  I was headed out, trying to get to LaGuardia on the hope of catching an earlier flight.  I was out the door of the hotel at the time I was hoping to be, and to my benefit, the stoplight at 8th and 40th was red.  Behold a line of cabs.  I grabbed the first one, and from the start of the ride I could tell this guy was different.

Now understand, I do this enough that I have my standard line…”La Guardia – and take the tunnel…stay off the FDR.”  This guy engaged me in conversation right away.  Good conversation.  Not the type that is hoping for a larger tip, but something substantial. 

I usually retreat into the screeen of my Blackberry as the cab driver is talking in some language I don’t understand into his phone.  This ride was different.  It was in the tunnel that this guy starts talking about his family, and what he thinks is important.  I can tell you that this random cab driver in New York City has his head screwed-on better than most of the people I interact with.  After a few questions of my own, I realized this is the kind of guy that will move things around in his life to have more time with his family.  He didn’t seem interested in posessions, but more interested in the things that stay with you longer than life.  Yeah…this guy gets it.

My ride came to an end quicker than I realized or wanted.  It wasn’t until the plane was taking off that the thought ran through my head that I might have just had a brush with an angel.  You can call me cheezy if you like, but yesterday I was reminded that there are a lot of people out there who value the REAL things.  How refreshing.  I sure hope all of us can keep all the real priorities in the right place!

-MH

There are those churches that seem to clip along at a nice pace.  They grow, they seem strong, and 10 or 15 years later they seem to crash and burn.  Often, we wonder what happened.  We use words like “split” or “disagreements.”  We wonder who got mad over what, who left and why.

I would submit that our typical reasoning is not always the case.  Sure, there are plenty of times when members disagree – otherwise they would not be human.  Disagreement and learning to love through it is part of what makes church such an interesting dynamic.  Forget worship styles, discussions of where to spend money, mission efforts to support or not support or any other splinter of record.  Today I want to position two thoughts outside of our typical understanding in an attempt to create more dynamic, adaptive and relevant churches.

ITEM ONE:  ELDERS SHOULD HAVE TERM LIMITS

Show me the scripture that defines the role of Elder as a lifelong appointment, and I’ll show you the scripture that says “never use an instrument in worship.”  Neither exist.

The lifetime appointment of Elders, I submit, has done more harm than good.  Too many churches end up with a host of power-brokers rather than shepherds.  Too many good men have not had the spiritual cahoonas to bow out, or have suffered from a myopia that blinds them to the wisdom of when they should step down.  And, if one does step down, it is not seen as natural.  It starts the undercurrent – “wonder what is going on?”  or “is it his health?”  or “he must disagree with something.  We put a lot of good men in a very bad situation when we appoint them as an elder and seemingly say “see you at your funeral.”  So what is the fix?

First, under no circumstance should someone not meeting scriptural qualifications be ordained as an Elder (Yes…I said “ordained” and not our created word of “installed.”  Deal with it.)  When someone is found qualified, and if they meet whatever muster the congregation puts out (isn’t it funny how much outside-of-scripture process we put in place for this part), then they should be an Elder….for five years.  After that?  Sabbatical.  Head back to other work.  How invaluable would it be to have an elder who has served well re-immerse themselves into the work of that congregation, and have it feel normal?  How healthy would it be for a congregation to be able to tell an Elder that their service is so valued, they will get a break?

I have known many great men who have been fantastic shepherds; and almost all of them have burned-out.  Why do this to them?  Why put that much pressure on them and their families?  It is hard work if done correctly – and any Elder who serves well should be worthy of not just double honor, but also a break.  Sure, they should be able to serve again in a few years, but there should be a limit.  This provides a natural progression for the leadership of the congregation to always reflect the cadence of what is going on.  I submit that any Eldership and congregation would benefit from such a radical departure from what has always been….at least what has always been from the 1930’s until now.

ITEM TWO:  TERM LIMITS FOR PREACHERS

This one will get several people stirred, but let me share my reasons.  First, I have been in the situations where a 20-plus year preacher decides to leave.  It is horrible – even if it is well past time for that person to be gone.  This is one of the most precipitating factors in a lot of church splits or church distress.  Churches that experience the departure of a long-time preacher typically go through the following pattern:

• Members wonder “what will we do?”
• A segment (appx. 10-15%) will not be happy with any replacement
• Approximately 5% of the members will leave if there are alternative congregations
• An average of two preachers will come and either be chased off or leave of their own accord before a preacher that will be there a while will land.  Body count – at least two preacher families and the few in that congregation that tried to make it work
• By choice number two, Elderships will start to make uninformed decisions regarding the “next guy”
• The church loses about 5-7 years of effectiveness, membership stagnates or declines, and wounds that will always be sore are formed between some members.

For the preacher, this approach does a few things:

• Preachers burn out, too.  Some churches have taken to giving their preacher a sabbatical to avoid this, but that approach typically just delays the burnout.
• No preacher, no matter how good, is at the top of his game every week – especially at a congregation with multiple services.
• “Preacher Atrophy” is very real.  How many of us hoped we would have the same teacher for 10+ years of our school life?  Apply that principle here.

My suggestion for churches is simple – inform the preacher going in that they have 5-7 years.  The reasons are for the good of the congregation.  First, the preacher does not have to be run out of town – they can move to another area of work.  Second, Elders (who are supposed to be able to teach, anyway) should be REQUIRED to preach at least once a year.  Third, churches should make more use of those in their congregations who can preach, anyway.  I find it comical that most churches simply will not utilize talent that sits in the pews for preaching.  Oh, I know all the arguments…including  that tired old “we need consistency in the pulpit.”  Let’s just call it what it is – too many Elderships are scared of what someone will say.

Please don’t hear what I am not saying.  I am NOT saying that preachers or Elders have no value.  On the contrary, I think we diminish their value by continuing to push these guys into pressure situations with no relief valve.  Plus, everything I am positioning here is just as scriptural as what we do today.  Just think about it.  We set-up our leadership to burn out and our preachers to fail.  Is it any wonder so many congregations see crises?

-MH