You probably can recite the scene if you’ve watched the movie, UP. It’s a classic scene where the dog is easily distracted by none other than . . . a squirrel. If you’re like me, you can be fully engaged in a conversation when someone says, “squirrel!” We all know what it means — someone has been easily distracted.

I was reminded of this scene recently when I was on a video coaching call with a church discussing their inability to focus on the project we were working on. Someone on the team identified the problem as chasing the “bright, shiny object.” This church was easily distracted by the latest and greatest and made a decision to chase that object; they were chasing the proverbial squirrel.

In my experience, this church isn’t all that unique. It’s a common problem that I’ve seen from the churches I have coached as well as the ones I have worked at. We are notoriously known for being open to the bright and shiny new object. However, we aren’t quite as open to stopping something else in return. The reality is that staff, volunteers, and congregation members only have a limited amount of personal bandwidth while adding more and more programs can easily lead to frustration and ultimately burnout.

Here are a few suggestions when tempted to chase the latest bright and shiny object.

1. Seek God about any new ventures. This may seem like a no-brainer, but you may be surprised how many things started by church leaders were initiated as a result of personal inspiration and not divine revelation.
2. When considering adding something new, ask yourself and your team, “What is it that we will stop doing as a result?”
3. Once a year, I recommend sitting down with your staff and putting all of the church’s programs on the table. The discussion that follows will be one in which the staff collectively determines if there are programs that should be terminated. This is where metrics and stories of life change can be helpful in objectively assessing success. Without this approach, it’s very easy for churches to continue doing the same thing(s) they have been doing for years without assessing whether or not ministry areas are still effective.

What has your church started in the last year? At the same time, what are the things your church has stopped doing?

And, by the way, here is a clip of that classic scene from UP!