Motivating People

The average, lifelong church member has been “incentive-d” to death. He’s watched countless attendance thermometers rise to the top as he invited friends to Sunday school rallies. Pins, Bibles, trips, titles, and strokes have been dangled before him, and he has pulled the sled like the lead husky. But if the pressure is released or the campaign is less slick, will the performance continue?

The Right Rewards

A creative environment where guilt-free, confident Christians pursue a few activities wholeheartedly is the ideal. The way to create this enriching environment is not a mystery. It requires applying genuine biblical motivation.

In Genesis, people were created with something to do. From the beginning, we were given the capacity to “rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air,” to subdue the earth and fill it, and to work the garden. The imago Dei is expressed in dominion and work.

This affects our view of motivation and reward. Work really matters! Our strivings do not have to relate exclusively to the sweet by-and-by. To stay motivated is to find reward in one’s work. The Scriptures do not argue this; they assume it. The greatest reward is seeing progress and achieving something you perceive as eternally significant. Though we discourage people from asking, “What’s in it for me?” we do well, whenever we begin a new program, to ask, “Can my people find legitimate and significant reward in participating?”

The Right Relationships

Without shared excitement, any discipline can become lifeless plodding. Without a sense of teamwork and support, we risk burnout or latent bitterness. Thus, the Creation account provides us with a second essential quality of humankind. We are uniquely relational. Men and women were created to be in continuing relationships with God and each other.

This dual aspect of human nature helps us understand why we do not live by incentive alone. To simply move from one achievement to another—without intimate personal partnership with God—is meaningless. Solomon, a world-class achiever, came to that very conclusion.

The mysterious internal combustion called motivation is sustained, even in the absence of extrinsic rewards, when people know they are sharing the enterprise in a quality relationship. When discernable reinforcements have long since disappeared, the motivation remains.

The Right Purpose

William James said, “Habit is the flywheel of society.” Habits carry us through lives that are constantly under change and stress. Good habits, such as giving, serving, teaching, or ushering often thrive in people who have no elaborate or discernible reward system. Apparently, they find meaning and joy in the enterprise itself. Such behaviors are the bedrock of church programs. We all value this kind of consistency.

However, even among our most faithful people, purpose must be evaluated. The repetition of behavior without purpose can sour the attitudes of even the most faithful. Scripture repeatedly warns us of the dangers of performance without purpose, sacrifice without love. It is the essence of Pharisaism. Giving is to be cheerful work “as unto the Lord”; service is to be “in love”; and correction, “in gentleness.” Workers can easily lose the connection to the whole enterprise, which not only stalls personal motivation but also hinders others who want to participate.

The longer a behavior is perpetuated, the more important its constant realignment is to God’s purpose. Means too easily become ends, thereby stifling freshness, growth, and teachability in the people of the church. Constantly renewing our purpose helps us avoid complacency, and it averts demotivating battles over the status quo.

Roger Thompson; Leadership Handbooks of Practical Theology, Volume 3, Leadership and Administration; Motivating People; pp 180-181. Used by permission of Baker Books, a division of Baker Book House Company, copyright © 1994.