Jan
24
2012

It’s All About Me, or Closing the Barn Door

An article by Matt

I had an interesting phone call the other day. Go Daddy wanted to make sure that everything was ok with me. Five years ago I registered my first domain name, resilientemergence.com (don’t bother, it redirects you here). I have since shuttered that blog, but have a soft spot for the domain so each year I renew it after thinking about whether I REALLY need it or not.

I renewed again this year and for the first time ever, I received a call from Go Daddy. They just wanted to check in with me, see how they could help, and make sure that everything is satisfactory on my end. I was so surprised by the phone call that in an instant of unfiltered honesty I said “man, you guys must REALLY be taking a beating off of all the negative press you have been getting lately!”

Yeah, I said that.

I then apologized for my snarkiness.

In case you aren’t aware, Go Daddy initially came out in support of the Stop Online Piracy Act, a highly unpopular bill being debated by congress. The public relations hit that Go Daddy took from their stance was immediate. Overnight 30,000 people changed their domain registration service, and heavy weights like Wikipedia took their business elsewhere. Eventually the company changed their stance, but by then the damage had been done… and now they are making check in phone calls hoping to lessen the damage.

We do this in the church world all the time. Don’t we?

For years, everything is going smooth and we neglect to check in with people and see how they are doing. Our intentions are always good, we always mean to invest in the relationship… yet something comes up, and we just don’t get to make the phone call, write the note, or grab lunch. When something happens where we have to connect with them, our relational credibility is undermined… and people wonder if you are really interested in them… or just need them to get your job done.

I know that Go Daddy really doesn’t care about me, or the domain name that I keep forgetting to change to another service. I realize that the only reason they are calling me is because they are in damage control mode, not because I matter to them.

When YOU connect with YOUR congregation, is it about YOUR needs… or theirs?

http://reconciled.me/ Matt Smith

Uh, yikes. Didn’t see that one coming. I’m definitely guilty of that. Matter of fact, I looked down at me phone today and debated whether or not I should text a guy who just got out of prison to see how he was doing. I’m almost glad I didn’t otherwise I’d have read this and thought I had no worries. I could use a lot of improvement here and texting him today wouldn’t have changed it. Could be that I will text him tomorrow though:)

http://www.churchthought.com Matt Steen

Thanks for being honest, Matt!

I struggle with this all the time… which is probably why I had to write it.

http://imattchell.tumblr.com/ Matt

Totally agree, Matt. Churches all to often assume that their congregations are on board with everything and then wonder why people leave in flocks. They believe that the those who express discontent are “isolated few” and that, overall, because things are still more or less smooth, everything’s okay. Then something might be said or done and suddenly those few become many. It’s SO important that churches, and all organizations really, maintain contact and conversation with their customers/patrons/etc and keep everyone and everything on board and informed.
Keep up the good work!