Article by Dimitri Warren
What are the functions and impact of a ministry in optimal church health? What is the role of church leaders in such an environment?
I am a mature, educated, public sector professional who desires God’s perfect will in my life above all else, knowing that therein is my greatest fulfillment. However, my work life and career history are filled with many pursuits and accomplishments in areas in which I have excelled, but that inevitably left me wanting because none seemed to originate fully from a place of passion, calling, purpose or destiny. Over the years I have received bits and pieces of the proverbial “puzzle.” Nevertheless, up to now the complete picture of my calling and purpose and how to attain it had eluded me, resulting in great disappointment.
I learned about and came to BSSM after expressing to the Lord an unbearable dissatisfaction with an outlook of doing “typical” life (education, career, marriage, family, retirement and death) all coming painfully short of experiencing His kingdom on earth. Yet, surprisingly, I went through the first three terms of 1st Year feeling just as removed as ever from knowing my calling or destiny. Then, at 10:35 a.m. on Tuesday, February 21, 2017, just five minutes into my fourth term Destiny Finder AMT with Michael Brodeur, everything shifted.
“There are many functions of the local church,” he said, “but its primary role is to be a destiny incubator for the Body of Christ! An incubator accelerates growth from birth to maturity As a destiny incubator, the local church must help people discover their destiny and develop into the fullness of their calling according to their God-given design, gifts, calling, passions and dreams.” He then went on to talk about the “priesthood of every believer” and that “every single member of the Body of Christ matters—that they’re important, that they have a role to play, that they’re all members of one great body, and that God’s purposes on the earth will not be fulfilled and Christ will not be fully expressed until every member is functioning in the fullness of who God called them to be.”
I felt like my mouth had fallen uncontrollably open while my mind screamed, “Wait a minute …. What did he just say?!?!” I had never heard such a thing. But, every fiber in my being was electrified with life, coming to attention as if in formal salute as I struggled to remain my normally reserved, composed self and keep from yelling at the top of my lungs the loudest “YES! AMEN! THAT’S IT! THAT’S IT!” I could muster. “The senior pastor’s responsibility is to be an activator, mobilizer, and a destiny-coach. The senior pastor is one who helps people discover and fulfill that for which they’re created, releasing them into greater and greater levels of ministry. So that as they thrive personally, the church thrives, and the community thrives as all mountains of society are impacted within that region.”
This was absolutely profound! I had never before heard anything like this in church. It clearly described and gave expression to some of the deepest desires of my heart that up until then I had no idea how to articulate: 1) to assist individuals to discover, pursue and maximize their God-given potential and to nurture their personal and professional development; and 2) to devise and facilitate ways to maximize organizational potential, efficiency, effectiveness and excellence. I now have a tangible assurance that such a calling exists, and it’s all Kingdom. I now know personally what it is to have the experience of “coming fully alive”; and I want to grab hold with everything I have to pursue it.
