By the time you read this, I’ll be in Colorado preparing to fulfill a lifelong goal of harvesting a bull elk. Growing up in my father’s taxidermy shop introduced me to a variety of wild game including western species as well as Alaskan and Canadian animals. In addition to the large antlers, elk provide some of the best meat in the animal kingdom. I’m hoping to have something to put on my plate and on my wall.
To put the elk head on my wall, however, will require a skilled taxidermist. Although I could do the work myself, the quality of the mount would be inferior. Thankfully there are gifted artists around who can do that work.
Unlike burger chains, pizza parlors, and clothing outlets, most taxidermy shops are independently owned and operated. Hunters need to do their homework to verify the quality of the work performed.
Perhaps one reason taxidermy is not franchised is the difficulty of ensuring quality and consistency. That is a common challenge for every business that expands to additional locations.
Albert Singer, the sewing machine inventor, is credited with developing the idea of franchising in the 1850s.If he had franchised his idea of franchising so that his heirs today had a cut of every local business that is a franchise of a larger company, they’d be doing very well.
Franchises are sold with the purpose of expanding a successful idea or product to generate additional income. Although there are many modern examples, McDonalds has the most locations at over 38,000 restaurants in more than 100 countries. It’s much easier to replicate a Big Mac than a big elk.
I would suggest, however, there’s an even larger franchise in even more countries than McDonalds. Although not established to earn money, but rather to glorify Him and serve their local communities, God’s Kingdom has an estimated 37 million local outlets worldwide with over 400,000 in the US alone.
All of these local worship centers, aka churches, are commissioned by our Groom and Owner not to make Him money, but to make Him disciples and to bear spiritual fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, and more. In addition, we are to further expand His footprint by sharing the Good News of Jesus with others.
If we think how a large franchise sells its name to the local enterprise, we can appreciate that Jesus provides His identity freely with the expectation that we will represent Him well. His reputation hangs on each local church and more specifically on each Christian. We give Him a good or bad name depending on how we live and treat others.
Individual stores that are successful for their parent franchise receive additional resources to not only maintain profits, but to expand and grow. Those that squander their resources and are unprofitable will likely be scaled back or closed.
In a similar fashion, each local church should use what the Owner has provided to accomplish His purposes. For those that do so, He will provide more resources while those who fail will receive less. Jesus highlighted this principle in the parable of the talents in Matthew 25.
Each church is a franchise of God’s Kingdom and we each have the privilege and responsibility of doing the Master’s work in our local community by maximizing whatever resources He has entrusted to us to glorify Him through our worship, obedience, and service. If we loaf, get distracted, or use what He has provided to glorify ourselves or line our own pockets, He can easily pull our franchise. We may never know it’s gone, but it usually becomes obvious over time.
As we consider the franchising of everything from tacos to taxidermy, let’s allow this illustration to motivate us to use all that God’s entrusted to us to accomplish His purposes, to make Jesus known, and to represent Him well. Blessings, George