Is the glass half empty or half full?
Posted on July 9, 2009 · 2 Comments
Phil Tom, associate for the Small Church and Community Ministry Office of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), recently asked the question on his blog, “So what kind of mindset does your congregation and leaders operate out of – a spirit of scarcity or abundance?”
He asked this question as a spiritual version of the famous idiom referenced in the title of this post. Usually the question is seen as a way to judge whether an individual is an optimistic individual or a more pessimistic individual (research also shows it can help gauge the right language to use in explaining a situation). But, Phil meant it more generally than a single individual. He means how we operate as a church, or as leaders of our church, and what our spirit is in making decisions.
Too often church congregations make decisions that are based on a pessimistic, scarcity frame. Jan has preached on how the traditional model of placing importance on “Attendance, Building, and Cash” (an ABC church) has got to end. Churches operating out of this frame are struggling and dying all across this country. There is never enough of either A, B, or C. We could always have a few more people in worship, or improve our physical space for kids, or have more money for ministry. It leads to a pessimistic spirit – the glass is always half empty. In its place she has hoped that we would move to a “Neighbors, Organizational Structure, and Paradigm Shift” focus (an NOP church).
Churches operating out of a NOP frame would see themselves as filled with the Holy Spirit (a church on fire, perhaps?), looking for ways to use what they have to bring others to Christ. If we operated out of this frame, we would be less worried with the numbers of people attending service than with how those in attendance are finding Christ. We would be less worried with the deficiencies of our physical space and instead with how to use the space we do have for supporting our common ministry. And we would be less worried whether we had the money to do things and instead be searching for ideas that would be transformational or a paradigm shift for the community. We would see the glass not only as half full but as was overflowing with the Holy Spirit and with our love of Christ.
As we think about the rest of the summer and as we prepare for Session-led Congregational Forums in early August on our building and grounds and on Christian education, I plan to reflect on the question posed by Phil this past week. I will be asking whether we are practicing our faith with a spirit of abundance or scarcity, whether the glass is half full or empty, and whether we operate out of an ABC or NOP model. And I ask that you consider it too. What we choose to accomplish from our future shared ministry at Fairlington Presbyterian Church depends on it.
I never put much stock in this old idiom. There’s more to it than a simple matter of optimism or pessimism.
Sometimes, people who talk like the glass is half-full are really thinking, “I’m willing to settle for this. Let’s not try working for anything more.”
Sometimes, people who talk like the glass is half-empty are really saying, “You know, this is okay, but I think we can do better. Let’s not settle for less than the best.”
For example, Jan (and others) very frequently come off as glass-half-empty when blogging about FPC. These people are by and large talking about “NOP” things, not “ABC” things, yet their tone is not automatically more optimistic. In reality, they’re trying to shake us up to do better things, and not just settle for what we have now. But sometimes people hear “okay-folks-here-are-all-of-your-deficits-now-do-something-about-it-already,” and the tone is perceived as pessimistic by those who have not been deeply involved in the discussions.
If this all seems contradictory or confusing, it’s because the idiom itself is flawed: one may be both hopeful and downcast at the same time. The old idiom assumes you must be either/or when, again, there is room for both/and.
As for me, my glass at FPC is half full, but I won’t settle for that. We can’t spend all our time merely looking at what we already have: If we are truly working to bring about the Kingdom of Heaven on earth, we shouldn’t be satisfied until our cup (or glass) runneth over.
Michael, well stated. Great points on the famous idiom. Clearly not as helpful as I thought it might be…
Did you get a chance to read Phil’s article? I think it does a good job of describing decisions needing to be made in a different way – even if I surrounded it with unhelpful fluff above.
As for me, based on your addendum, I am also glass is half full (we do so many things really well and other things, well…). But I truly desire that we find ways for it to be overflowing. Hence my desire for certain efforts. Does that make sense or help?