WHO are you focused on leading?

 Scott Hodge 

One of the most empowering moments in The Orchard's journey of transition & change occurred a few years ago when someone said to us:

"Until you get your focus OFF of the people who are disgruntled, unhappy, unsupportive, and resistant to the direction God has called you to go, and ONTO those who are excited, supportive and on board, you will NEVER gain momentum and see a new culture created in your church." 

That statement set us free. 

It really did.  In fact, I can remember our team making several tough, but GOOD decisions that day that literally sped up our momentum by leaps and bounds. 

Some of those decisions had to do with things we were going to STOP doing.  Decisions that:

> We were NO LONGER going to try and get people to stay at our church who weren't happy.  

> We were going to stop spending time and energy trying to get the naysayers "on board" when it was very evident that most of them were not going to support the new direction.

> We were going to stop allowing some of the "small things" to continue just to keep a few people happy (You know those programs and committees that are OPPOSITE of where you're headed, but you're keeping in place just to keep 12 people happy?  Yeah, those...) 

We also made some decisions about what we going to START doing or focus on being more intentional about.  Decisions that:

> We would stay focused on God's mission for The Orchard NO MATTER WHAT.  Even if it were just the three of us in the end!

> The focus of our leading and teaching would be turned towards the people we were reaching and those who were excited about where we were headed.

> We would only engage in ministries, programs, and events that aligned with our mission - regardless as to whether or not every other church in town was doing it or not.  The mission would dictate everything - not what was "popular" with other churches or even what programs or events might have seemed "successful" in the past.

It wasn't easy, and yes, we lost a lot of people.  But....it eventually created a momentum that led towards reaching the people that God had called us to reach.  By 400% since 2003.

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Yes But

Submitted by John Sweetman (not verified) on Thu, 2008-07-10 23:03.

Sounds good and there's a lot of truth in it. Complainers and consumers divert us away from God's mission.

But I'm glad Jesus didn't do that with the disciples when they didn't really get it and whined all the time. And I'm glad Barnabas didn't do that when Paul urged him to cut John Mark loose and get on with the mission. And I'm glad Paul persevered with those stupid Corinthians.

There's still some significant difference between church and parachurch and I think its got something to do with task versus relationship.

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Yes But II

Submitted by Bruce Gowlett (not verified) on Tue, 2008-07-15 23:03.

I'm with you John... it is a fine line somewhere between creating momentum for a whole new paradigm/movement, and failing to be the Body of Christ, made up of members of all shapes, sizes and persuasions.

Could part of the solution being what our attitudes are towards those "complainers and consumers"? Jesus didn't cut them off and walk away... but he also didn't allow them to dictate His journey and mission! He loved them enough to challenge them... and persevere with them even when they didn't get it.

It also appears that God, and His Kingdom, is big enough to allow for a Paul to ditch Mark, for the sake of "the mission"; but to include Barnabus, for whom Mark (and Paul himself, previously) seems to have BEEN the mission?! His favour appears to rest with both! Maybe it's not an either/or, but a both/and...??

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What is it about this strategy that makes me uncomfortable?

Submitted by paul on Sat, 2008-07-19 01:28.

Mark Driscoll is big on this as well, and on the face of it it seems very effective and efficient, but there's something about it that really troubles me each time i hear it, and i still haven't quite put my finger on what that is.

My initial thoughts are:

  1. Following this approach requires an absolute confidence in God's call on you to your ministry, and in your ability to hear God's will for that ministry. Personally, i'm still struggling with getting comfortable in my own skin, let alone having 100% confidence in God's call to a particular ministry.
  2. Dissenters have an important role to play in any organisation (church or not): testing that the vision and mission are valid and that the implementation of them is accurate and resilient. Dissent is an opportunity to re-evaluate - if you haven't got good answers for the dissenters, you need to do a rethink.
  3. Before dismissing the dissenters and disciplining the "dogs" (as Driscoll calls them), we need to bring the dissenters and their dissent before God in prayer and seek his assurance that we really are on the right track in each instance. (Wow - i did that alliteration without even trying! :-)

Perhaps Hodge, Driscoll, and others who believe in this approach have implemented the above and figure it goes without saying. I figure it needs restating over and over again to ensure that we don't lose sight of our other mandate to care for "the least of these".

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