Friday, August 17, 2007

Cheap, Fast, and Good

I used to think this only applied to the marketing world when I worked in the business realm as a graphic designer, but I've come to see how true it is even in the world of ministry...

Cheap, Fast, and Good - you can't have all three. On any project or endeavor, you will only be able to achieve two of these. Either it will be cheap and fast, but not good - cheap and good, but not fast - fast and good, but not cheap.

Here's the deal. I saw this all the time as a graphic designer. A client or boss would come to me and want something really good and really fast (and of course, they were paying me really cheap) - but things just don't happen that way.

Now I see the same expectations in the church. Not so much with others demanding these things of me, but in others expecting the three to be possible in the preparations they are making. Most often, I see well-meaning people trying to to make an event or project really good at a low cost without planning.

Unfortunately in the church, cheap and fast often win out. Which in turn, means that everyone loses. God is not honored by a lack of excellence. Those for whom the event, ministry, or project is for are not well served and not really shown the grandness of Christ. And finally, those who are ministering are not really achieving their goals.

My encouragement next time is to consider the three - cheap, fast, and good - and decide beforehand which will suffer. My prayer is that any endeavor we do for the Lord is "good" and worthy of Him.