Dear Missionary: are you longing for fresh vision? Do you experience a lack of appreciation for your ministry, loneliness, cultural frustrations and sickness can make your original missionary call seem like it came in a different lifetime. Several times during our lifetime we need to rekindle our original vision, our ultimate purpose for existence and for ministry. But in praying for a fresh faith vision should we not strive to try to predict and control future outcomes with measurable objectives.
I have found that much of the popular teaching on goal-setting can be discouraging rather than inspiring. As a mission executive I once wrote an evaluation for a missionary couple. Their home church wanted to know their measurable goals for the year and wanted to know whether the missionaries had achieved these goals. The same couple told me that last year the church had cut their support by $600.00 because they didn’t produce hard numbers of the people saved through their ministry.
Why is the missionary world so far behind the word of secular business? Tom Peters, famous for the book In Search of Excellence, writes in a recent article:
"Plans? Goals? Yes, I admit that I plan and set goals. After I’ve accomplished something, I declare it to have been my goal all along. One must keep up appearances: In our society “having goals” and “making plans” are two of the most important pretenses. Unfortunately, they are dangerous pretenses -- which repeatedly cause us to delay immersion in the real world of happy surprises, unhappy detours, and unexpected byways."
"Meanwhile, the laurels keep going to those mildly purposeful stumblers who hang out, try stuff with reckless abandon-- and occasionally bump into something big and bountiful, often barely related to the initial pursuit. (The Bookstore Journal, Feb. 1991)"
If secular managers are rejecting the old management-by-objectives movement, why are we still trying to do missions-by-objectives?
People with a passion for measurable objectives have a passion to control the details of the future. They have little tolerance for ambiguity, for the unfolding serendipitous opportunities the Lord may bring. Missionaries who are forced to write measurable objectives are tempted to “think small” so that they will be quite sure they will be able to be accomplished. Here are some problems with trying to control the future by precisely predicting outcomes.
• Measurable objectives are often not outcomes but activities. An example of a measurable objective might be to hand out 100 tracts per day. Such an activity is measurable, but we don’t know the outcome. Do the tracts make people angry, cause a litter problem, or actually are used by the Spirit to bring conviction of sin. Measurable objectives are often pseudo-aims and are merely a to-do-list activity and not real goals.
• Measurable objectives often reflect bad theology. Eternal outcomes for our ministry are in the hands of the Lord Jesus. For example, it reflects bad theology for us to set a measurable objective of saving ten people per week. When we say that our goal is to plant one church per year, we may get trapped into thinking about a mere building and forget about the inner qualities and true nature of the church. The church is a body of the people of God, whether meeting in a building or under a tree. Healthy churches are measured by the inner quality of faith rather than by the external quantity of numbers or buildings. It is heretical to attempt replace God so as to precisely predict and control inner spiritual qualities.
• Measurable objectives grow out of anti-Christian philosophy. Dangerous philosophies are often below the level of our awareness. The Western world is strongly influenced by logical positivism which argues that all meaning must be verifiable by empirical data. Behaviorism claims that observable behavior is all that matters. The secular world tells us that what we can see and count is the only reality. But Paul commands us to “fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (2 Cor 4: 18).
• Measurable objectives stifle vision. If we know our support might be cut because we don’t meet predetermined objectives, we will aim at goals that are easy to attain. We will set goals that will make us look good at the end of the year rather than goals that grow from faith in a God of hope. Such goal-setting is a dreary guilt-producing exercise. People often produce measurable objectives out of fear and a desire to look good, or at least not look too bad in front of others.
• Measurable goals encourage us to control and manipulate people. If all our energies are focused on a predetermined quantifiable goal, we tend to use people as mere objects to help us accomplish our goals. Leadership style becomes controlling when the task requires us to treat people as objects. Measurable objectives require leaders to control people and coerce them into accomplishing our goals.
While measurable objectives are often mere activities, heretical, and discouraging, faith goals help us to focus on the eternal. Faith goals are visionary and can become a driving force for our ministry. Faith goals give us pictures of how the Lord God Almighty might use us to make an eternal difference in the hearts of people. We set faith goals by spending time on our knees in prayer. I often ask, “If God were to pour out his blessing on my ministry, what might it look like in the lives and hearts of other people?” What inner qualities of faith, hope and love might I see in others or in the church I am helping to plant. What qualities of the fruit of the Spirit might I see in my students?
• Visionary Faith Goals grow out of good theology. Faith goals begin with a fresh vision of the God of hope. We are convinced that the promises of God are true and trustworthy. Because we believe in a God of hope, we must think big goals even if we are in the midst of difficulty. Faith goals grow out of a fresh vision of the Lord who loves us and wants to use us for his glory. Only God can predict and control the future.
• Visionary Faith Goals seek eternal results. Missionaries with great faith goals live with a healthy tolerance for ambiguity. We are not in control of eternal results in the hearts and souls of people. Faith goals are difficult to predict with precision, because we may not see the results of our ministry until we reach heaven. But if the results of our ministry are only for this world, we are missing out on the most important goals.
• Visionary Faith Goals grow out of prayer. There is no simple formula for deciding faith goals. Computer projections do not establish faith goals. Faith goals come from spending time on our knees. We need to be open to the mystery of the powerful hand of the Lord in our lives. Wait patiently for him. Ask the Lord for his vision for the future.
• Visionary Faith Goals describe inner qualities rather than external quantities. I would encourage you to describe your goals as qualities. Don’t merely record how many people you wish to contact with the gospel, but describe what could happen in the lives of people when they give their lives to the Lord. Describe godly qualities in the lives of students you are teaching. Describe loving relationships between missionaries if the Lord would send a revival to your station. Describe a healthy church in your town rather than merely projecting numbers of believers. Then get on your knees and pray for this vision of blessing on your ministry.
• Visionary Faith Goals grow out of team ministry. Faith goals are not individualistic but depend on the Body of Christ. Individuals are stimulated by the faith goals of others in the team. And because no one missionary has all the spiritual gifts needed to help the Body to function, we absolutely must work as a team. This team includes national believers and first-term missionaries as well as experienced veterans.
Suggested action steps:
• Begin with yourself. Spend time in prayer asking the Lord to give you a fresh vision of Himself. Ask the God of hope to rekindle hopes and dreams, and faith goals for ministry. Picture with eyes of faith how your ministry might develop if the Lord would wonderfully bless your efforts.
• Dialogue with national church leaders and other missionaries. Be ready to enlarge your faith goals as you listen to the vision of co-workers. Share your faith goals with the team.
• Continue wider discussions in your district or country. What is the Lord showing you as a family? Be willing for many faith goals. Don’t make this a mechanical exercise, but an exercise of the family of God catching a fresh vision of his glory and our task.
When the Lord has given us faith goals, we are then ready to begin planning strategy. May the Lord rekindle enthusiasm for the his vision, renewed excitement for your ministry, and fresh appreciation for the Body of Christ.
Adapted an Evangelical Missions Quarterly article 1994
No comments:
Post a Comment