COACHING STRATEGIC CHURCH LEADERS
Strategy is Essential in Bringing God’s Purpose To Pass
In many ways, the story that God is writing in your life is a mystery. He is God, which means He is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all we ask or think, and He is able to accomplish these things in a sequence all on His own. This means there will be seasons when things fall into place without your help. It will seem like everything is working out on its own. You will look around and realize that God is enacting His strategy and moving the pieces as He sees fit. In these seasons, it is apparent that He has an agenda and timeline, and He is in the mood to get things done.
“The Lord was with Joseph, and he was a successful man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian. And his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord made all he did to prosper in his hand.”
– Genesis 39:2-3
But That is Just a Season – It Doesn’t Always Work That Way
God gave us logical minds and the ability to extrapolate, plan, set things in order and walk out goals and conditions. Scripture tells us to run our races well:
“Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it.”
-1 Corinthians 9:24
“Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.”
-Hebrews 12:1
Apart from God commandeering our efforts and taking us in a vastly different direction, it is always wise to have a plan with goals and objectives in mind.
Unfortunately, one reason the Church has been limited in its effectiveness in our frequent inability to set clear goals and achieve those goals within intended timeframes.
The Difference Between Goals and Objectives
Goals are large outcomes–the end result, the distant target. Objectives, meanwhile, are sub-goals that allow you to achieve outcomes in a carefully executed manner. In football terms, the primary “goal” is winning the game. The objectives are a series of points scored through touchdowns and field goals.
Corporately speaking, many goals and objectives are practical considerations: “What kind of resources do we need? How much money? What kind of facility?” Obtaining those resources could be a set of objectives as part of your strategy. Another set of objectives is uncovered as we answer these questions: “What kind of team do we need to accomplish our goals? How long will it take to build that team, and how are we going to build it? What are the different steps and stages of building?”
Each of your goals needs to be broken down into large-to-small sequences that can be prioritized and implemented. If your vision is to secure a building, for example, a set of reasonable factors comes into play: First, you need to start looking for a building and contract a realtor. You need to figure out the necessary square footage ad how much money you have available to finish out the building. Those are reasonable steps that enable you to move forward.
Define the things you want to accomplish: Win the game. Lead at halftime. Have great team dynamics. Grow the church. Raise up leaders. Reach the lost. Pay the bills. Once you understand where you’re going and the commitment it will take to get there, it becomes relatively simple to set things in order.
The Kingdom Plan
Every prophetic environment has five general Kingdom goals that should be part of your strategy:
1. Receive vision from the Lord and communicate it to your congregation.
2. Build the vision, your leaders and your congregations.
3. Reach the lost.
4. Create connection and community.
5. Communicate truth in a transformational way.
Those are our primary goals, and from these goals, each church builds a set of objectives that are more specific to it’s calling and region.
