Micro-Sleeping Through Ministry

Ministry should be dynamic and exciting; it is too important to approach casually or passively.  Ministry should always be changing because culture constantly evolves. It is imperative that we be anchored firmly in our Biblical Principles while assessing and changing our methods.

I recently read While You Were Micro-Sleeping, Fresh Insights on the Changing Face of North American Missions by Steve Moore and was challenged by his insights. The book is about leadership, change and innovation.

He uses the illustration of driving seventy miles an hour and closing your eyes for three seconds. At that speed, you will travel one-hundred yards before re-engaging in your surroundings. He parallels this with what happens in Christianity and missions. Things are changing and moving so fast that it seems like every time we blink there is major ministry “make over.”

Here are some of the outstanding quotes that caused me to pause and do some personal and ministry evaluation:

• To remain relevant and effective, leaders need to constantly be asking two fundamental questions: What’s happening now? and What’s happening next? P. 7
• Leaders intuitively understand the relationship between ideas and innovation, and between innovation and increased effectiveness. P. 15
• “Speed to market” is a phrase few ministry leaders would use in a brainstorming or planning session, but the fact of the matter is the rapid pace of change means the shelf life of your very best idea is constantly decreasing. P. 17
• Far too many mission organizations are operating with a download paradigm in an upload world. P. 24
• If you insist on operating with a download paradigm in an upload world, you are going to marginalize yourself as a leader and render your organization irrelevant. P. 27
• The key words in the Institutional Paradigm are exclusivity and entitlement; the key works in the Relational Paradigm of loyalty are diversity and engagement. P. 40
• …the Great Commission is too big for any one organization to do alone and too important for us not to try to do it together. P. 59

Too often when we hear the word “change” in the same sentence with ministry, we think of contradiction. Some ministries refuse to change anything, while others change everything. Balance, humanly speaking, will always be in the eye of the beholder, but it need not be so for believers.

We must hold to the anchor of God’s absolute truth while refusing to elevate “personal preference” to the level of “principle.” Jesus warned the religious leaders against this in Mark 7:7, And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.

Are you committed to change? Are you founded on the truth? How do you think the two relate?