We had a crazy meeting the other day.
We met yet another time about a problem we have been trying to solve for 15 years.
Around the table were people of varying background and experience. All of them brilliant and all of them very capable. We needed to figure out why our strategy for something wasn’t working as well as we wanted it to.
We started our meeting in prayer. Not your normal-beginning-of-a-church-meeting-run-of-the-mill prayer…This one was serious and focused. This one was different. We were tired, frustrated, at needing help. We prayed specifically for insight and wisdom. We had been struggling with this issue for 15 years…we are tired.
The cool part is that I feel like God answered our prayers in that meeting. The surprising part is that we discovered something we didn’t expect.
Check this out.
We started by putting all the things we do and have done to solve this problem up on a creative board. Once we did that, we spent the next hour or so digging into the bigger solutions on those cards we have tried. We discussed our different processes and experiences. Nothing really popped out yet.
At the end of the meeting…as we were trying to “put a bow” on the meeting we realized this as we looked at all those cards.
This, I would say, was our answer to prayer.
We realized we didn’t have a strategy.
Yup….that’s right….in the midst of a meeting about our strategies…we realized we didn’t have one.
We had a long list of things we did.
We had a long list of things we responded to.
We had a long list of our processes.
We had no strategy.
We have been operating like a football team that has a few tricks up their sleeves but never really planned beyond that. We’ve been trying one thing here and another here. We’ve been huddling up and responding to opportunities and getting back together between plays and asking…so what next. We’ve had some successes and some failures.
We had never sat down and really thought about how to attack the whole game.
Here’s what I learned.
Just because you’re busy…Doesn’t mean you have a strategy.
Just because you can tell people your plan…doesn’t mean you have a strategy.
Just because you’ve been doing things a long time a certain way…guess what…it doesn’t mean you have a strategy.
So…what is it for you? I’m betting there’s plenty out there that we do that isn’t strategic.
Why is it that I feel like this is something 95% of churches are failing at doing, having a strategy. Funny, looking back at my college classes on Pastoral Leadership, I don’t ever remember learning about “Operating with a Strategy” Shame.
I think you have a point we all should consider…considering the point I really learned that day was “just because you think you have a strategy…doesn’t mean you have a strategy.”
Thanks Ben