Written by Bryan Moak, Converge MSC, VP of Church Strengthening
We have a terrible way of greeting one another. Here’s how it goes. I ask, “Hey Bill, how are you doing?” Bill replies, “I’m good. I’m really busy. How about you?” And I reply, “I’m good, I’m really busy too.” And we both leave that greeting thinking that somehow being busy is a good thing. I disagree. I would go so far as to say that it is bad theology. Although hard work is a good thing, being busy for the sake of being busy is never a good thing. It creates overload in our personal lives and in our churches as well.
Pastor, how busy are you, and how busy is your church? If statistics play out, you and your church are too busy. If we’re not careful, we create a mentality that the more that is happening, the healthier we are. That’s wrong. More is simply more. Too often, we communicate what we are doing without understanding why we are even doing it anymore. If we simply try and manage the myriad of activities happening in our church without asking the why question, we will never look towards the future at what God wants for us and our churches.
I heard someone once say, “Every true leader needs to operate with a microscope of things up close, and a telescope of things far off.” Simply put, as leaders, we need to make time for things that are immediately at hand, but not to the detriment of taking out the telescope to peer into the future so that we might share what could be with our people. If I don’t take time at least twice a year to purposely step back and take out the telescope, I will always default to being a microscope leader.
As we at Converge MSC serve our pastors and churches, we want to provide opportunities for you to take out the telescope. One such example is our annual ministry intensive for pastors and wives called Compass. Compass is a great way to take out your telescope and look at your future personally, relationally and within your ministry. You can learn more about Compass here.
We have resources for your church to take out the telescope as well. Two in particular are called Vision Framing and Vision Planning. The Vision Framing process is a several months look into your church’s Mission, Values, Strategy and Outcomes. It helps answer the question of why you do what you do. The Vision Planning process is a two full-day leadership retreat that builds both an inspirational and practical picture of what the future could be. Learn more about both of these resources here.
If you are interested in any of these resources, other resources, or simply need someone to process what it means for you to look through the telescope, please feel free to contact me at bryan@convergemidamerica.org.
My prayer is that we would have the mindset of the Apostle Paul when he said to the Philippians, “One thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 3:14b-14). May we all continue together to strive toward the goal!