Purpose is important. Process is crucial. But what is it that keeps us pursuing our purpose according to the process we have defined? A vision of the future, a mental picture of what it looks like, is the inspiration for purpose and process. It is also what keeps us moving when things get tough.
Vision is a picture of what we believe can and must take place for our purpose to be fulfilled.
Walt Disney had a vision for his theme parks. It was that every customer would leave the park with just as big a smile on their face as when they entered it. That’s vision.
Horst Schulze had a vision for his Ritz-Carlton luxury hotels. It was summed up in their motto: “We are ladies and gentlemen serving ladies and gentlemen.” That’s vision.
Eugene Kranz, flight director of the ill-fated Apollo 13 space launch, had a vision for it. He saw the doomed Odyssey landing safely in the Pacific Ocean. That’s vision.
What’s our vision? What do we see?
It was 1922 and these two archeologists were excavating in an area where all others had given up on. Years later, they might have shared a laugh about the question. For on that fateful day in the Royal Valley, it was posed by his assistant to Dr. Howard Carter, whose head had entered the ancient tomb of King Tut, “Do you see anything?”
That’s the question God puts to us, “Do you see anything?”
What do we see? Can we see a different picture than the obvious one that is staring us right in the face? No tired, threadbare platitudes need apply for the lofty position of vision. We need a fresh picture, one that will marshal our cooperation and galvanize our resolve.
Ask God to touch your eyes, to lift up your head, give you a new vision, and paint a new picture of a preferred future in your mind’s eye. Without it, we probably won’t even start and we definitely won’t finish. Ask God for a new vision of what He wants done through you and through this church.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Process: The Bosses' Helper
There are two crucial questions for a church to answer. The first one is a “What” question, which allows the body of Christ to ask itself, “What is our mission?” The second one is a follow-up question to the first: “How will this mission be accomplished?” It is the “How” question.
In my last post, I wrote that purpose is boss. Our purpose and mission should decide everything. If we don’t pursue God’s purpose, we forfeit the right to even call ourselves the Church. It is the ultimate question. However, the process question runs a close second in importance. What do I mean by process?
There was a man who noticed a city work crew. It was a peculiar sight. The truck would pull up and one employee would get out and dig a hole. When finished, he returned to the truck and the other employee would get out. He would fill the hole. Eventually the man approached the truck and asked, “What are you guys doing?” One worker replied, “Our crew is responsible for planting trees in the city but the guy who puts the tree in the hole called in sick today.”
You see, process is important. The sequence of steps that leads to a fully developed follower of Christ is important. Every church must clearly define its process, the movement that takes a first-time guest, especially someone who is not a Christ follower, to the point of being a ministering member. It must be clear, simple, and strategic.
It must be clear and succinct enough to write on a business card. It must be simple enough for any person to understand. And it must be strategic, i.e., the process itself must be the means to fulfilling the purpose of the church.
This process should be made up of three parts. There is something about the number three that the human brain can remember. I have noticed that process statements which have four parts, not three, are harder to retain. Maybe God has built something into the number itself which is conducive to memory.
What's your process? How is it helping "boss" your church?
In my last post, I wrote that purpose is boss. Our purpose and mission should decide everything. If we don’t pursue God’s purpose, we forfeit the right to even call ourselves the Church. It is the ultimate question. However, the process question runs a close second in importance. What do I mean by process?
There was a man who noticed a city work crew. It was a peculiar sight. The truck would pull up and one employee would get out and dig a hole. When finished, he returned to the truck and the other employee would get out. He would fill the hole. Eventually the man approached the truck and asked, “What are you guys doing?” One worker replied, “Our crew is responsible for planting trees in the city but the guy who puts the tree in the hole called in sick today.”
You see, process is important. The sequence of steps that leads to a fully developed follower of Christ is important. Every church must clearly define its process, the movement that takes a first-time guest, especially someone who is not a Christ follower, to the point of being a ministering member. It must be clear, simple, and strategic.
It must be clear and succinct enough to write on a business card. It must be simple enough for any person to understand. And it must be strategic, i.e., the process itself must be the means to fulfilling the purpose of the church.
This process should be made up of three parts. There is something about the number three that the human brain can remember. I have noticed that process statements which have four parts, not three, are harder to retain. Maybe God has built something into the number itself which is conducive to memory.
What's your process? How is it helping "boss" your church?
Purpose Is Boss
It seems like in every organization people want to know who is in charge. “Who’s the boss?” is the perennial question. That’s not necessarily a bad question. There is value in knowing where the proverbial buck stops. It is important to have a means to reconcile value conflicts and to decide between competing demands. Bosses do that kind of thing.
The answers to the question are varied. Some will say, “The pastor is the boss.” (Pastors, of course, are fond of this answer.) Others will observe that the deacons are the boss while yet others will point to a governing body like a church council. And there will be some who will say, “Well, the church is the boss.” Though we use a congregational form of church government, it is hard to operate and administer a church by monthly business meetings
And let’s be honest: for many, tradition is boss. Some people take the Doxology and try to run the church with it: “As it was in the beginning, it is now and forever shall be.” Or maybe you’ve heard it like this: “We’ve never done it that way before.”
Of course, there will be at least one pious soul that will say that the Lord is the boss of the church. I can’t argue with that. However, when it comes to deciding on budget issues, He doesn’t typically write in the sky to tell us on what we should spend our money. We need something a little clearer.
Yet that last answer does get us closer to where we need to be. Jesus Christ is Lord of the church and He has given us our reason for existence, which is to make disciples. Here is the answer to the $64,000 question: purpose is boss.
Our purpose, which is making disciples as commanded in the Great Commission, should decide every question. Every potential step we consider should be prefaced by asking, “What does purpose have to say about this? How does this help us make disciples?” Every line in a budget, every event on a calendar, and every decision in a church business meeting should be decided by purpose, not precedent and not preferences. The buck should stop at purpose. Everything—the music, the building, the budget—everything should be determined, yea, even “bossed around,” by purpose.
I have to wonder how things would look different if purpose truly was boss. On jobs in the past, I’ve noticed that things changed when the boss showed up. I’ve noticed that surly attitudes suddenly became sweet in the presence of the boss. And I’ve noticed how questions that were once inscrutable became crystal clear when the boss walked into the room. Maybe the same could happen for us.
Probably the only real question is this. Are we listening to the boss? Are we doing what he commands?
The answers to the question are varied. Some will say, “The pastor is the boss.” (Pastors, of course, are fond of this answer.) Others will observe that the deacons are the boss while yet others will point to a governing body like a church council. And there will be some who will say, “Well, the church is the boss.” Though we use a congregational form of church government, it is hard to operate and administer a church by monthly business meetings
And let’s be honest: for many, tradition is boss. Some people take the Doxology and try to run the church with it: “As it was in the beginning, it is now and forever shall be.” Or maybe you’ve heard it like this: “We’ve never done it that way before.”
Of course, there will be at least one pious soul that will say that the Lord is the boss of the church. I can’t argue with that. However, when it comes to deciding on budget issues, He doesn’t typically write in the sky to tell us on what we should spend our money. We need something a little clearer.
Yet that last answer does get us closer to where we need to be. Jesus Christ is Lord of the church and He has given us our reason for existence, which is to make disciples. Here is the answer to the $64,000 question: purpose is boss.
Our purpose, which is making disciples as commanded in the Great Commission, should decide every question. Every potential step we consider should be prefaced by asking, “What does purpose have to say about this? How does this help us make disciples?” Every line in a budget, every event on a calendar, and every decision in a church business meeting should be decided by purpose, not precedent and not preferences. The buck should stop at purpose. Everything—the music, the building, the budget—everything should be determined, yea, even “bossed around,” by purpose.
I have to wonder how things would look different if purpose truly was boss. On jobs in the past, I’ve noticed that things changed when the boss showed up. I’ve noticed that surly attitudes suddenly became sweet in the presence of the boss. And I’ve noticed how questions that were once inscrutable became crystal clear when the boss walked into the room. Maybe the same could happen for us.
Probably the only real question is this. Are we listening to the boss? Are we doing what he commands?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
