You’re unlikely to see Gordon in your pulpit but is any of his wisdom transferrable to life in your church?
In a previous thought I reflected upon the encounter between Joseph and an unnamed man in Genesis 37. Although the man is not identified as a man of God in any way, God uses the words he speaks to redirect Joseph and keep him on the path that will eventually lead to Pharaoh and the means by which many, many people in the region will be saved from starvation during a seven year famine (Genesis 45 v. 4-8). Can God speak to us using the words of Gordon Ramsay?
Recently, I’ve been watching a lot of episodes of Gordon’s Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares TV series and I’ve noticed four common themes in the guidance Gordon gives to restauranteurs and their staff. The first three of those themes have to do with atmosphere, capacity and distinctiveness and we have considered those in previous thoughts. Today we are looking at the fourth of those themes – Teamwork.
How many roles do you think are involved in running a successful restaurant? There are many. There are obvious ones like the front of house staff – welcomers, servers, bartenders and the like – and the various roles associated with working in the kitchen. Then there are the ‘support’ roles such:
- Property – cleaners, maintenance staff etc.;
- Accounting;
- Purchasing;
- Overall management and oversight.
And so many more if we were to list them. It’s a big team that you’re looking at even if, in a smaller concern, some people may wear several hats. To operate successfully requires teamwork.
In the failing restaurants featured on Kitchen Nightmares, teamwork has often fallen apart. That is usually seen in a lack of leadership where direction or co-ordination is lacking or from a breakdown in communication between those in the kitchen and the front of house staff. It can also arise from lax purchasing or budgetary controls or simply from nobody talking to anyone else or listening to anyone else. Lack of direction and effective communication leads to chaos, frustration and apathy.
I wish I had a pound for every time I’ve heard people moan about a lack of communication in their church, usually arising from not being aware of a piece of information. It’s true that most, if not all churches, can probably improve their communicating but it works both ways. When I’ve asked people what it was they felt hadn’t been communicated to them, it’s often been the case that the information had gone out – sometimes in many different ways – but they hadn’t been listening with sufficient attention to take it in.
We need to recognise that teamwork requires time, effort, attention and effective communication from ALL of us. There are just as many roles necessary to make a church work as for a successful restaurant. Some of us are front of house; some of us are back of house. Some of us have roles that are seen as ‘frontline’; others perhaps think of our roles as being more of a support nature. Yet we all need each other and we all need to work together effectively if our churches are to flourish.
Prayer: Lord God, your Spirit speaks in so many different ways and in so many different voices. We want to live not by human wisdom but by your wisdom but sometimes the two can overlap. Help us to discern when your Spirit is speaking to us even when that comes from what might appear to be the unlikeliest of sources. Amen.