A Communion of Purpose

by Evertt W. Huffard

 

Paul’s vision was clear—to increase thanksgiving to the honor of God by extending grace to more people. His strategy involved daily spiritual renewal because he focused on things that were unseen and eternal (2 Cor 4:15-18). Once God extended Paul’s horizon beyond Asia Minor, his vision was stretched to Macedonia and then all the way to Spain.

He lived that vision out step by step, with small wins, with every visit to a synagogue, a mentoring relationship with young evangelists, an imprisonment, an appearance before a Roman official, and a move on to the next city in his missionary journey. Imagine following Paul on a Roman road toward the end of his last journey. He stops, turns around, and the only thing he says to us is— “Be imitators of me as I am of Christ.”

Capture the Imagination

Strategic thinking, not planning, captures the imagination and commitment. According to Kouzes and Posner, the most successful strategies are visions, not plans. A shared purpose unifies. They also noted that a “communion of purpose” binds people together and reminds them of what it means to be a part of a collective effort (The Leadership Challenge, 2002:153). A shared vision makes us a church, a “communion of purpose.” Every church needs leaders who can imagine and communicate a shared purpose.

My interaction with church leaders constantly reminds me that most churches are over-managed and under-led. By that I mean, there is very little imagination. When I ask what is being done to intentionally develop emerging leaders, I usually hear a confessional statement like, “we know we need to be doing more.”

Reality consumes most of the limited energy of church leaders in putting out fires, managing a budget, and caring for the many needs of the church family. Planning may occur once a year to set a budget. When leaders meet once a month their agenda will focus on the urgent practical needs of managing the business of the church with little time for reflection on the Word, prayer, or imagining what God could do. This pattern perpetuates a mindset of survival or maintenance of the status quo, inoculating the group to any change or imagination. What about this mindset that would attract new or younger leaders? Very little.

Imagine God at work among us

Churches throughout our nation experience a decline in membership, fewer men willing to serve as elders, a shortage of preachers, increasing costs to maintain facilities, changes in the neighborhood around the church building, tighter budgets, a decline in volunteers, a spike in consumerism, decreasing involvement in global missions, and a surprising resistance to church planting. It is easy to blame these negative factors on many things. However, the fact that the church has thrived in situations far worse than anything we might list for our woes today sends me elsewhere for an answer.  All these discouraging factors can be traced to lack of imagination and vision ten years ago for what God could be doing among us now. So, unless leaders today capture the imagination of what God can do, it will only get worse in the next ten years.

Constant change cries out for courageous choices by both the leaders and followers in every church to see what God sees—to take steps today that will increase thanksgiving to the honor of God tomorrow.

Generate a vision, take a step

We know that ministry consumes a lot of energy, while vision generates energy. Check it out. Call a meeting for strategic planning and see if participation meets expectations. Not likely. Time constraints and mere pragmatism forces us to focus on WHAT needs to be done before we reflect on WHY we do what we do and WHO God will raise up among us to lead us.

As an alternative, may I suggest starting with a meeting to pray for an imagination for what God can do? Then, schedule a follow-up meeting devoted to a conversation of what God can do through the church in the next 5-10 years to equip leaders, to serve the community, and to make more disciples. Before the meeting ends, identify the next 2-3 steps each participant will take. Note I said “steps” not “leaps.” Take realistic steps based on maximizing the resources God has already given you that will create small wins, which will in turn lead to more momentum and involvement of the church.

Be prepared to be surprised by God. Expect something equivalent to Paul’s vision beyond Asia Minor, as the Lord leads the church beyond its own walls into the community and the world. As leaders and followers are transformed, they will experience the joys of a communion of purpose for the honor of God.