Council Meetings

I hate the dentist.
It's nothing personal, it's just every time I get into the old dentist chair, pain is sure to follow.
It's oddly enough the same feeling I get at council meetings sometimes.
It's not the people on the board, they are all good people.
It's the content.
At some moment in church history, I'm not sure when it happened, the church became a business.
I know I know, you HAVE to take care of the business, pay the bills, hear the reports. Or do we? In my church we have pastors, elders, deacons, trustees, clerk, treasurer, and an advisory member from our women's group on our board. They are all elected by the congregation to do a job. So what's the problem?
Well I know I'm going to take some heat for this but I don't need to hear a report from any of them.
What?!?
Let me explain, the elders are responsible for the worship and spiritual health (along with the pastors) of the church. Do your job.
The deacons take care of the needs of the church in a financial sense, budgets etc. and help with the ordinances. Do your job.
The trustees take care of the building and grounds. Do your job.
The pastor shepherds the flock. Do your job.
I don't need to know what toilet got fixed, the budgetary numbers for the worship team, what the pastor did every waking moment of his week. I'm sorry I don't.
If we are truly a team, I trust the deacons to do what is best for the church. I don't need to know all the details. If we don't trust them, why have we elected them?
This may sound extreme, but I remember looking at carpet samples for what seemed like an eternity. I'm color blind. I don't care. Get some people together who do care and do it! Want more? In our last building project, we couldn't decide what kind of cover plate to put over the light switches. I wish I was kidding.
Look, like I said, I love my church and the brothers and sisters I serve with. This is in no way a slam on them. It's just the culture they have been brought up in. They compare the church board with a county or business board. We think were doing the right thing by talking about profit & losses, and what color to paint the men's bathroom. I'm not so sure.
I dream of a day when the leaders of our churches get together and talk about vision, and brainstorm about ways we can make the church more like the way Christ would want it, not about wallpaper and paint, profit and losses.
But for now...