LEADERSHIP REQUIRES HONESTY!
I shared last week, at Mars Hill, we have been trying to get our minds
and hearts around some of the data that points to unmet expectations.
What do you do when not as many people are inviting their
friends…not as many are growing in Christ…not as many are
tithing…not as many are reading their Bible…not as many are
attending…and not as many are being baptized?
questions are very real for us right now, and over the next few days I
will share some of the stages of unmet expectations I have recently
experienced…
WHEN WE EXPERIENCE UNMET EXPECTATIONS, WE TEND TO REDEFINE SUCCESS
We say things like: "Well, it's not attendance that really matters anyway. We'd rather have 100 mature believers than 1,000 in a crowd. It doesn't matter how many are coming in our doors–what really matters is how many we are sending out our doors."
MY RESPONSE: Instead of figuring out why we keep missing the target, we just move the target to the location where our arrows are landing. Rather than adopting a "both/and" mentality — we say that it is "either/or." We are tempted to say, "Either we are growing in numbers or we are growing in our faith. It can't be both. Either we are having an impact on the community or we are helping believers mature. It can't be both. Either we are attractional or we are missional. It can't be both." Really? Why not? I think it is dangerous to redefine success just because we are missing the mark.
What do you think?
