The Berkey Water Filter and the Scarcity Mindset
Baked oatmeal is delicious
“Dad, aren’t you going to use filtered water to soak the oats?” Aspen scolded.
See, if you soak oats with chlorinated water you won’t benefit from the soaking. What benefit, you crazy granola man, you ask? Removing the phytic acid. And why do I care about removing phytic acid? Ah…digestibility and nutrient absorption improve! That is, your stomach doesn’t hurt after eating oats and they have the full benefit nature intended. By now, you may think I’m as crazy as I would’ve thought if you told me this before knowing about it. Hey, I’m no JP Sears. He is funny, though.
Back to my son’s scolding.
I’ll be honest. Even though I love drinking the delicious filtered water, I don’t like using it in cooking because, as a family of nine, we drink a lot of water. It’s not uncommon for us to run out. I often see a child tilting the Berkey to get the last drops out and then walking away without refilling the reservoir. Argh!
I regularly fill the reservoir up at night so we can enjoy a full tank in the morning. The night after Aspen’s rebuke, I came out in the morning to an overflowed filter. See, when you put too much water in the upper reservoir, once it filters to the bottom, it begins to run out where they meet in the middle.
I’ll admit. I have a scarcity mindset when it comes to our water filter. I always feel like we’re going to run out, and I’m going to try to get water out and be left high and dry. Sometimes, that mindset bites me.
The Scarcity Mindset
But what about in our worship ministries? Do we have a scarcity mindset?
What exactly is a scarcity mindset? It’s a way of thinking that reveals I believe resources are limited and finite. On the surface, it can sound wise. We ARE limited. We ARE finite.
Here’s how a scarcity mindset can show up in your worship ministry.
FOMO (Fear of missing out): If I don’t lead this new song or buy this new piece of gear, I’ll never have the chance to do it later!
Zero-sum thinking (for one person to win, another has to lose): If I share a musician with another church, they might steal them!
Short-term thinking: I would create this system so we can plan better, but Sunday is coming, and I’m under pressure to get ready.
Comparison: I wish I were at a bigger church so I could have all the budget in the world. (Which, by the way, is not true.)
Risk aversion: I could try, but… what if I fail?
Stress: A conference, retreat, or coaching would be nice, but I just need to survive this season.
The Abundance of God’s Mindset
The antidote to the scarcity mindset is the abundance mindset, and we can find some clues in Scripture:
But “You possess FORMIDABLE strength in Your arm. Your ACTIVITY is VIGOROUS, And Your RESOURCES are HUGE, They are IMMENSE…And happy are people who know the joyful sound, who have learned to acclaim You. They go about radiant with Your presence proceeding under the smile of Your face.” (from Psalm 89)
And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things, at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. (2 Corinthians 9:8)
Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. (Ephesians 3:20-21)
Starting from this abundance mindset, what could be possible in your worship ministry?
-Dave Helmuth
(purchase my book, "Worship Fertilizer: (the first hundred)" HERE)
The Berkey Water Filter and the Scarcity Mindset (Nº 438)
