The great dancer of the mid twentieth century, Fred Astaire, is credited with the quote, "Rehearse until it's perfect; then cut two minutes."  This is advice I've tried to follow as a performer and speaker ever since I first read it.  Work on a routine until it's consistently excellent ('perfect' is a goal best reserved for the greats the likes of Astaire), then cut out the portions that are unnecessary or superfluous, leaving the routine strong from beginning to end.  Sometimes I come close to doing this, and when I do, it brings a performance to a whole new level.  In more recent months, I've been doing a lot more public speaking in the form of sermons for our home church, and again, it becomes a process of striving for excellence, then stripping down several minutes of what is excess.

The cutting two minutes is the hardest part.  Perhaps it's pride, perhaps it's wanting to get credit for all the work I have put  into the process, perhaps it's just that I think the audience is more interested in all that I can do than they really are, I don't know.  But I have found that, when willing to do less, the results are inevitably better.  What if the church at large applied Astaire's wisdom?  This is what author Shane Claibourne meant in his best selling devotional book the Irresistible Revolution when he talked about the church getting "smaller and smaller until it impacts the whole world."

(Shane Claibourne)

Imagine the Christian music industry renewing contracts for only those 'acts' who have rehearsed until it was perfect, and encouraged all others to serve God some other way.  Then, from those who were excellent, keep only 15  acts in the national spotlight (that's the cutting two minutes) and helped the others establish music ministries in their home regions. Perhaps they'd have to supplement their income by working at Wal Mart or the local mill, but churches, youth groups, hospitals, nursing homes and jails that couldn't afford to bring in these acts suddenly could.

Imagine churches immediately halting all programs that weren't outstanding.  Then, from those that remain, canceling another 10%.  Do you know how many bad youth groups, Sunday schools, VBS's and men's groups are out there?  If these exist only because they are sacred cows, they need to go to allow other areas to "rehearse until it's perfect, then cut two minutes." 

Imagine Christian Schools deciding they can not provide everything that publically funded schools can, so they cut the half hearted attempts to  be all things to all people and only keep what they do well.  Then they cut some of these programs to make the remaining programs outstanding.

Jesus spoke of the church being like yeast or salt in bread dough.  Yeast and salt are only a small part of a bread recipe, but they effect the whole thing in an absolutely essential way. Too much of either ruins the recipe.  It's time for the church world to simplify how much we do, and do what remains with excellence.  Like a well choreographed dance by Fred Astaire.

"Give me one man who says, 'This one thing I do' and not 'these fifty things I dabble in.'"  -D L Moody