What is the Secret Sauce the Church is Missing?

My BBQ ribs are kind of famous in our family. They love it when I grill either ribs or chicken and put on my secret sauce that makes it irresistible. We would like to believe that there is a secret sauce that if we could just crack the code would fill up all our churches and money would never be an issue and life would be wonderful.

But unfortunately, we live in a real world with real problems and people seem less inclined to come to church or volunteer to serve than ever before. A recent Gallop poll found that just 30% of U.S. adults attend religious services weekly or nearly weekly—down from 42% in the early 2000s. Some of us can remember a time when if the parents came to church you were pretty much guaranteed that their children, when they became adults, would join a church somewhere too.

Many experts believe that people are generally considered less loyal today, particularly in areas of brand loyalty or workplace loyalty. But into this world comes Costco, a wholesale store that has an unusual level of customer loyalty. According to UBS analyst Michael Lasser, Costco has the most loyal customers of any retailer. Their membership renewal rate is 92.9%. Do they have anything to teach the Church?

Exceptional Service & Value

Costco excels in delivering a customer experience substantially different from that of other retailers. Loss leaders like the $1.50 hot dog and $4.99 rotisserie chicken are more than just bargains—they are symbols of Costco’s commitment to low prices and customer satisfaction. Costco went as far as to open their own hot dog factory to avoid having to raise the long-standing price.

Customers can clearly see a value-added element as they move through the store. Do we, in the church, have a clear sense of the value we are adding to folks that attend our churches?

Tidy stores make shopping easier and more pleasant. As the shopping day progresses, at many stores displays like apparel tables can become a jumbled mess. In contrast, Fortune found that a sweater carelessly tossed back onto a table was almost always neatly restored by a Costco employee within two minutes.

Contrast that with the out-of-date stuff on the bulletin boards and clutter you so often see as you casually walk through our churches. Lack of signage often makes it hard to find where you are going and no one seems to care that you are lost in the maze of a building with a bunch of people you do not know.

Kirkland Signature – Only at Costco

For many retailers, store brands are money-saving but more or less generic alternatives to major brands. They are frequently of slightly less quality than name brands [you get what you pay for idea]. In contrast, Kirkland Signature, Costco’s private label, is generally perceived by customers as being of high quality or even premium level.

Kirkland has been called “The King of Private Brands,” driving $56 billion in revenue and comprising a quarter of Costco’s sales. From a loyalty standpoint, once a consumer prefers a Kirkland product, they must return to Costco to buy more. My wife and I have several items with Kirkland labels that we prefer over any of the name brands. Now I must go back.

There is, of course, a danger in comparing the church to any business, much less a warehouse. Certainly, we do not want to become so enthralled with the latest business trends that we lose sight of our values and calling. It has happened before. During the Victorian era, Anthony Trollop was one of the best-known novelists and one of his books, Barchester Towers, gained great acclaim because of his often-hilarious portrayal of 19^th Century Church of England. He was able to reveal how foolish the clergy were in their attempt to be accepted as members of the English aristocracy/upper classes.

So, are there some things we might learn from Costco that we could implement or improve so that we can reach more people for Jesus?

We can certainly raise the level of our hospitality and remove the clutter in our buildings. But the “secret sauce” lies in what the “added value” is that the church offers that cannot be found elsewhere. What is our Kirkland brand item that makes people want to come back again and again?

I think “the secret sauce” many of our churches is missing was a critical part of the early church’s success. The early church was often referred to as “oikos” or family. The Apostle Paul used the word to describe the early church’s context and location. For example, in Acts 2:2, believers were filled with the Holy Spirit in a house. In Acts 16:15, Lydia was baptized along with her entire household. That word oikos, which refers to “household” or “family,” is the description for the church in the New Testament. And if we were to dig into the annals of church history, we would find that every time we see a missional movement of God, we also see a missional vehicle being used about the size of an extended family. Coincidence? I am not sure.

Having been raised Baptist we threw around words like brother or sister when talking to our fellow followers in the church. We used the language of family but what if we worked on creating the feel of being in a safe, loving environment where we are all part of the same family? What if we were to create a family of God united on a mission to make the family ever larger and transform our communities in the process?

Many men can build a fortune but few men can build a family.
J.S. Bryan

Perhaps the “secret sauce” we are looking for really is not so secret after all. Just like my secret BBQ sauce is just Baby Ray’s not some secret recipe handed down from the great pitmaster in the sky. Perhaps the best thing we can do in our churches is raise the love quotient amongst our people and slather it generously on everyone we meet inside and outside the church.

I know what you are thinking. Our church is a family. We just love each other. Ok…what are you doing to expand the family? How are the new people (visitors) at your family gathering (services) made to feel a part of the family? We just recently added a grandchild to our family and we are “over the moon” about it. The extended family is asking the new parents what they need and how they can help them in their transition to parenting. How are you helping the visitor? What is the “added value” you are giving them?

I look around and it sure looks like there is a shortage of love in the world right now. If we can give people a taste of genuine, unconditional love (agape) I suspect they will want to come back and get more of it. If we can find creative ways to get into the community and draw a circle of love around the people, I think they will want to be a part of that family, and the family of God will keep growing.

Ron is a personal coach and the Michigan Conference Simplified Accountable Structure Coordinator.  Check out the Leadership Development video “Belongship” available on his website www.mylevelupcoaching.com for a deeper dive into this topic and to subscribe to this FREE LEADERSHIP BLOG.