This series of posts is from the SpiritualLead.com article, Correcting Ministry Performance.
So, what do you want from your work or ministry team? While compliance is fundamental its not enough. In the last post we said, "When we set our expectations at the lowest rung, that's what we get. Oh, we may talk about vision and excellence and striving for the best we can be but if, in the end, what we focus on and reward is merely compliance then compliance is merely what we get. Make no mistake, compliance is important but it is the beginning of great work, not the end point. Compliance isn't for dreamers."
Compliance is for managers and that's not bad, but is there more? Of course. What we want is achievement, right? Bigger, better, more excellent, more profitable, more impressive--these are the goals of achievement. Every ministry and every successful enterprise needs to find increasingly more excellent ways to deliver goods and services. It's good stewardship of resources and good discipleship of staff to increase skills, knowledge and insight and to keep ministry sharp and sensitive to the people it serves. Make no mistake, the obvious is true. Achievement is good. But is it all?
Libraries are full of inspiring examples of achievement. Perhaps one of the lesser known was Henry Knox. (Download The Little Known Achievement of Henry Knox ) Better known, perhaps, would be the 40 year trek of the Hebrews from Egypt to Canaan. The construction of the Egyptian pyramids and the Inca and Mayan temple grounds are certainly great examples of construction achievement. And the credibility and influence of the Billy Graham Association is certainly an example of ministry achievement.
However, is bigger and better always the best for a business or a ministry? It seems the answer is an obvious, "yes, of course!" But when staff are overextended, quality of touch time diminishes. Tension and conflict increases. Stovepipe ministries form and over focus on achievement can leave staff worn out, frustrated and unfulfilled in ministry. Business enterprises look very similar. Many are the businesses in the bone yard of failure because they overextended their success. They became over leveraged and under capitalized, provided poor service, produced poor quality product and failed to stay true to their vision and mission statements. Every ministry leader can recall high flying, high profile ministries that have crashed to the floor of failure. An internal implosion occurs when we fail to attend to the details beyond simply "more achievement." Doing well is good. Doing well and losing sight of why you were created brings disaster.
Getting staff to the level of compliance is doing the work of a manager and satisfies the transactional process role. But/and there is more. Challenging, inspiring and disciplining staff beyond that begins the work of leadership. A healthy functioning team has at its core a transformational process model and that model is essential to moving beyond compliance and into achievement.
The achievement of the rich young ruler in Luke 18 was, no doubt, impressive. A member of the ruling Herod family he had wealth, power and education. While not all of his achievements were due to his own work, the family certainly represented achievement and he could and should have been proud of his personal and family achievements even though history now reveals their dynasty to have been atrocious and cruel. Since the question he asked of Jesus had the look and feel of sincerity rather than mocking, we can probably assume this young man was a compliant Jew as well. This young man had achieved a lot in a few years. In today's culture of worshiping celebrities and celebrity lifestyle he would have the paparazzi following him and capturing his encounter with Jesus for the next edition of a Jerusalem tabloid or blog. Certainly, if this encounter would have happened in our culture somebody would have Twittered it! But in Jesus' eyes, all that achievement was not enough to inherit the Kingdom of God and eternal life. Not only was it not enough, it didn't count for anything. Given the choice between achievement and something more, the rich young ruler chose what was tangible and familiar--achievement.
Achievement is the methamphetamine of endeavor. In small doses meth energizes. But soon it becomes the focal point of experience and all of life now centers around the experience meth provides. Achievement, left as the end result of enterprise or ministry can do the same thing. And in the end what was an energizing experience of achievement becomes the very same substance that destroys.
So, what do you want from your staff? Compliance? Yes. Achievement? Yes, as long as it is contained and focused. But is there something more you want from your team when the perfect plan turns into the perfect storm? In the next post we'll look at innovation.
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