The Ikea Effect

A recent BBC article spoke of “the Ikea effect.” To sum the article up, people value things more if they put some effort into the items. In fact, research seems to indicate that many people will pay more for furniture they must assemble than for a similar item already assembled. That into which we put little or no effort will normally be dissatisfying to us. That into which we have put significant effort, we will value.

It is also true that, when we put significant effort into something, other people are more interested in it.

Last Thursday a man named Dean Oliver came by my office. I had not seen Dean in forty-four years. As we talked the clock on my desk chimed the hour, which led to a question and to a walk across to the house so that Dean could see the first clock that I ever built. He was not interested in seeing a clock purchased at Walmart, but something I had worked on with my own hands interested him.

How valuable is the church to you? How interested are your friends in knowing about the church? There may not be a simple and direct correlation, but the answer to those two questions will relate closely to the question of how much effort we put into the church.

Araunah the Jebusite offered to give King David a piece of land, and some animals for sacrifice, but David replied, “I will not offer burnt offerings to the LORD my God that cost me nothing” (2 Sam 24:24). What are we offering to the Lord? Do we have any “sweat equity” in the church? If we are not satisfied with the church, could it be because we have put little effort into it?