People Spots
Online
Produced by James W.
Moss, Sr., and Church Consultants
Provided as a service by New Life Ministries
Striving to Do Better
by James W. Moss, Sr.Christian leaders are alert. They are paying attention to what is going on around them. They are in tune with the vibes that people in their various circles are sending their way. They are alert to changes in the climate in the church, community, and in their world.
Joe Harrison went to pastor Zion Church. Zion was principally older people. Joe went around the neighborhood and gathered up children like the Pied Piper. The older people wondered where the children came from. They were coming from the homes right around the church. The community had changed. Joe was alert to what was happening and responded by touching a need. The people in the church didn’t even know the need existed.
Christian leaders are persistent. They don’t look back when they place their hand to the plow. They stay at the task. The stay focused on the goal even though it may take years to reach.
I have been working with renewal projects for years. The two key words are persistence and patience. Stay at the task and allow time for it to work. I tell pastors who go to a renewal project to go there for 10 years. If they have seen a significant turn around in a church in 10 years, they have participated in a miracle of God. It frequently takes 5 years before progress of any sort takes place. Stay at it and keep working. Patiently guide your people through the long-term journey.
Christian leaders finish tasks. Jesus talked about the man who began to build a tower but it remained unfinished because he hadn’t properly calculated the costs. Do you know people who start many things and never finish what they started. It doesn’t matter how many things leaders start. How many do they finish? That is the important question.
A baseball player may hit .450 in April. That is really nice. But what is his average on October 1. How did he finish the year? Do you have the stamina and determination to finish a project, especially when it takes longer and costs more than you had originally projected. Or is your life littered with unfinished towers because you had failed to count the cost and finish the effort.
Christian leaders have the capacity to pick the right issues. Major on the majors. Don’t waste time, energy, and resources on minor issues. Does this issue have the potential to make a difference in the life of this church 5 years from now? If not, why fight the battle.
I served the Jackson-Bethel Church of God when I was very young. We painted the building white. It had not been painted for many years. I wanted it to have green trim. In my youth I battled for the color of the trim. Why? It was a minor issue that had no impact in the life of the church. But it cost leadership points because I had been so obstinate on a minor issue.
Christian leaders accept personal responsibility for what they have done. This is important. Have you ever talked with someone who could never accept responsibility for his/her actions? It was always someone else’s fault. A proud mother watched as an army unit marched past. Everyone was in perfect step except for her son. The mother observed, “Everyone is out of step except my Bobby.” Don’t be afraid to admit when you have made a mistake. Honest confession may even gain you points.
Don’t make promises you can’t keep. If you make a promise to someone, write it down so you will remember. If you promise, then you have to deliver. Especially, don’t make promises when a board has the responsibility for the decision. You may not be able to convince the board to do as you want. People have long memories when it comes to broken promises.
Be very careful to explain when you do something different than what has been authorized. There are times when this is necessary. Conditions may change from the point of decision to the point of action necessitating adjustments. That is okay, but be certain you explain the why to those who are responsible.
It is not what you have but what you do with what you have that counts. I have been acquainted with some pastors with average abilities who overachieved greatly. They pushed their gifts to the limit and accomplished much for the king. Conversely, I have been acquainted with pastors who had great ability but achieved little because they didn’t apply their gifts effectively.
Christian leaders are constantly evaluating. Why did this work? Why didn’t this work? What good was accomplished? What good did we fail to accomplish? How could we have done this project better? What obstacles hindered our achieving what we set out to do? Was I the right person for the task? Did I give the job to the right person? Who could have done this job better?
Christian leaders are constantly striving to do better.
_____________________
Read about Jim's seminars and books.
_____________________
July 26, 2002. Volume 5, Issue 9. People Spots Online is prepared by James W. Moss, Sr., and Church Consultants. It is provided as a service by New Life Ministries, www.NewLifeMinistries-NLM.org. Articles may be duplicated and reproduced in any way with proper credit. A new article is produced about every two weeks. To be added to a list to receive these messages directly by e-mail, send a request to churchconsultants@yahoo.com.