When I want to lead into the future, I usually look into the past to see what I can learn from any patterns.
Sensing it was time to make some changes in our church culture, I prayerfully reflected over the different seasons of our church.I noticed a distinct pattern that repeated itself at least seven times. I’m not claiming this will be true for everyone, but might be true for many ministries.
- We create something new (new ministry or new innovation).
- We recruit and train leaders for the new initiative.
- We build systems to support the new effort.
Once the ministry system or leadership structure is in place, the ministry runs somewhat effortlessly for a while. It could be months or even years that God seems to bless this season of ministry.
Eventually, it seems that God removes His blessings from what we “we’re doing” forcing us to seek Him for something new.
What we've learned:
The thing about novel ideas is they often become novelties. We often stick with great ideas long past their expiration dates because we are proud of what they once accomplished. Don’t rejoice in the results of a system. Instead, rejoice in God’s blessings and find new ways to use them.
