SWOT (Twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost)
Sermons on YouTube…
Early on in my ministry – during one of my first continuing education opportunities – I was introduced to the concept of “SWOT”. That’s S W O T (not special weapons and tactics)! It stands for Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities and Threats.
This is actually a business strategy concept, but it was taught to Pastors because the dynamics for congregations are the same. The idea is that when you face any new situation (as a business, a congregation or even as an individual), you always have four dynamics at work, and it’s important to recognize all of them at the same time. And these four dynamics are:
- Strengths – everyone – and every organization – even if times seem incredibly difficult, has strengths to help them meet the moment. Those strengths may or may not seem to be enough, but we all have them and we shouldn’t minimize or ignore them;
- Weaknesses – these are often easier to note – we don’t have enough time, energy, money, people or experience to do something. Weaknesses don’t necessarily sink you, but you need to be honest about them, because denying them may sink you..!
- Opportunities – of course, it’s easy to see opportunities when things are going great and something new and exciting comes along. But opportunities also exist even in difficult and horrible situations, so it’s especially important to look for them, especially when you feel overwhelmed with the final aspect –
- Threats – just as it’s often easy to recognize weaknesses, it’s also often easy to see threats – real or perceived – that a new situation brings. And it’s important to do two things with threats. First, don’t ignore the threats, because many of them are real. But secondly, don’t simply duck and cover and allow the threats to become the only motivator in your organization…
I learned this stuff a long time ago, and often got refreshers in other continuing events I went to. But we really got a chance to live this here at Prince of Peace when we went through the Covid experience.
And as with many bad experiences, it was immediately obvious – and it became even clearer as the time went on – how this was a threat to our whole society as well as our congregation, not only because of the health risks but because of the ways in which our community was disrupted, people were kept apart and support for many institutions – including churches – began to diminish.
There were also obvious weaknesses. For example, although we had been making videos of sermons for years, we didn’t have the equipment or the knowledge of how to livestream anything. None of us had ever worshipped online with each other, and I remember wondering whether anyone would actually do this. And honestly, if you had asked me a year before whether I’d be one of the pastors who wanted to experiment with online worship, I would not have volunteered!
But part of the reason we were able to manage – and even thrive in spite of the threats and the weaknesses – was not only that we were willing to address threats and learn new skills to deal with our weaknesses – but that we were able to play to our many significant strengths and especially to see opportunities.
And that’s most evident in some of the things we’re still doing today, long after the threat had passed. Those opportunities often became part of our normal pattern. So for example, we found opportunities in:
- Online worship – we discovered that not only shut-in members benefitted, but new people began to join us because they could start out (or even remain!) online. Members who are away on the weekend still tune in! And because we really do live in a podcast culture, people who aren’t around ever on Sunday morning still view our livestreams later, stay connected and participate in our events. Even today, our online “reach” is about 100 people per week…
- Meeting by Zoom – and to be sure, there are lots of downsides to Zoom! But, the ability to meet by Zoom – and the “normalization” of it – has vastly increased the number of people who can and do participate in our ministry teams and decision-making processes. Often, it means people who are out of town can still be part of the discussion, and members who don’t drive at night can still be part of the decision-making process. And the fact that meetings happen (at least partly) by Zoom can make it easier to find folks willing to serve…!
- Helping our community – it’s not all the online stuff. As Covid began, the needs of people in our local community increased exponentially. Gaithersburg HELP was overwhelmed and asked us if we’d be a collection site for food where people could drop off food 24 hours a day. We had always collected food, but you always needed to drop it off inside when somebody was here. So, that’s when we began putting the bins outside both doors, and we’ve never stopped that. People from outside our congregation still know they can bring things here to help, and virtually every time one of us gets here in the morning, food has been dropped off after hours. Of course, there is still the threat of “squirrelization” – that’s where somebody drops off a big bag of flour and the squirrels find it before we do, and “poof” – we see flour everywhere! Sometimes, the opportunities make you aware of the threats, just as the threats can point you to the opportunities!
And that’s actually part of the point. I’ve told you all this about SWOT, because really this is what Jesus is getting at in today’s Gospel reading. He begins by throwing cold water on the disciples’ excited impressions of the big stones of the Temple (and they’re right, they are impressive!) Instead, Jesus begins to talk about devastation and wars and plagues – you know, threats and weaknesses! And it can be easy to read this stuff and walk away scared and depressed.
But in the midst of all this stuff, Jesus points not to despair but rather to:
- Opportunities – “this will give you an opportunity to testify.” Thanks, Jesus, but I really don’t want that kind of opportunity – just like I didn’t want the “opportunity” of Covid. But, the reality is that sometimes the threats point out opportunities you may always have had but didn’t see, or didn’t take advantage of. Just as with the SWOT concept, Jesus calls us to always be looking for the opportunities God gives us, especially when we feel surrounded by threats…
- Strengths – “I will give you words and wisdom”; the disciples heard all of this, and must have realized they didn’t have the strength to rise to such occasions. And Jesus frankly tells them they’re correct! But all is not lost, because they’ll still have Jesus with them. And Jesus is their strength. So they shouldn’t despair, or try to pretend they can find some “inner strength” in an of themselves. Instead, just as we were willing to look outside of ourselves for training and resources during Covid, Jesus calls us always to seem him not as memory or just a model, but as a living presence and force in our lives who will give us strength and wisdom to meet the moment…
Now it’s also important to realize that Jesus isn’t giving his first disciples – or us – a recipe for “success” as the world around us defines that term. In spite of the opportunities and strengths, many of Jesus’ disciples are still going to be betrayed, beaten up and even killed. And yet, even that isn’t the end for them. “Not a hair of your head will perish” because God’s strength and opportunities are greater than any weakness or threat you face in this life.
And so the real message of Jesus’ words isn’t that there’s a good business model for avoiding threats and weaknesses. Even secular business models don’t say that! But Jesus’ words to us in every moment – whether the situation we’re going through seems good or bad – always remind us to seek Jesus’ help and strength instead of relying on our own. Jesus’ words to us in every moment – whether the situation we’re going through seems good or bad – always call us to look for the opportunities God gives us, especially when things seem threatening. And most of all, Jesus’ words to us in every moment – especially when we feel overwhelmed by threats and weaknesses – always promise us that in the end God’s power to give and restore life always wins out not matter what situation we face.
Amen.