Thinking About the Return on My Investment

I’m getting old enough to realize I should have started investing a long time ago.   Money-wise, I mean.   Thankfully I’ve been investing in people my whole adult life.  I’ll be honest, though.  I have wondered at times if spending thousands of ministry dollars on a seasonal production is my wisest eternal-investment option.  I know there’s great community-building and interpersonal growth in preparation.  I know there’s the delight in an entire worship ministries department giving its absolute best to the Lord  three, five, nine nights in a row in excellent presentation.  But I have to admit, those times I sum up the results and see how many came to Christ as a result of the effort and expense I sometimes ask myself if that was the BEST use of our resources.  Jesus told about servants who invested the resources trusted to them while the master was away, and I want to invest my skills and abilities wisely.

I’m not jumping to any conclusions  (though jumping to conclusions is great exercize 🙂  some are experts at it!)  but I am thinking things through again.  I may come to the same conclusions I have before, and it’s OK if I do,  I need to review it though.

I saw a video clip this morning:  It features one male lead, skilled in improv and ad-lib, one camera, five extras, $30 or so in props, plus production costs.  Honestly, it occured to me as I watched the ending, from an eternal perspective the results of this event may have been more effective than some of the larger venues I’ve written and directed.    This organization is new to me, so this isn’t an endorsement, but it’s worth looking into.  I know this much, I like the approach I see here – the winsome way, the effective engagement of a small audience, the “close” — clear but non-threatening.   I think a lot of Christians could benefit from this approach.  Playing to “small audiences” can be very effective once a person gets over that initial fear and has the proper know-how,  but isn’t life filled with those?   Overcoming the hesitance, and learning something new and doing it well? 

I’m thinking –

What do you think?