Congregations Who Soar with Faith Have Exceptional Clarity
A Post in the Congregations Who Soar with Faith Series
Rundown:
FTI Blog Post 102 is an article in a new periodic series called Soaring with Faith: The Difference Maker for Congregations. This post includes—the Article, personal Reflections from George, and questions for your Reaction.
Background: Who Are Congregations Who Soar with Faith
Congregations who Soar with Faith have exceptional clarity about their mission, purpose, and core values. Of great importance, they are captured by God’s empowering vision for their full Kingdom potential. Clearly present are substantive vitality and vibrancy, leadership competency and trust, an external local and global missional focus, effective disciplemaking processes, and creative ministry innovations.
Congregations Who Soar with Faith Have Exceptional Clarity
By George Bullard
I Doubt Your Congregation is One of Them!
Few congregations are soaring with faith. Way less than 20 percent. I doubt your congregation is one of them. The percentages are against it.
Yet, I believe God is calling more congregations—perhaps yours—to soar with faith than even understand the concept. The Kingdom of God needs more congregations to soar with faith for God’s Great Commission and Commandment to be fulfilled.
Could yours be one of them? If so, a key understanding by which you must be captivated is God’s clarity for your congregation.
Clarity
Congregations who Soar with Faith are captured by and continually freshen their exceptional clarity around their core ideology of mission, purpose, core values, and vision. They use timely hinge points in their spiritual and strategic journey to allow God to speak anew into their clarity and the depth of ownership of their core ideology. God’s empowering vision always inspires these congregations to soar farther in the direction where God’s leadership is pulling them.
Introduction
Two decades ago, my wife and I moved to Columbia, SC for the second time. As we looked for a house, we heard a friend was downsizing. We knew the house. Loved the neighborhood. Approached the owner and bought the house.
The house had an inground swimming pool. We were not looking for a house with a pool, but it came with the house. We thought it might be an attraction for our grandchildren. Initially the pool was a good thing. The maintenance that came with a pool, however, did not excite us. We heard stories of families who filled in their pools because of maintenance headaches and long-term costs. Soon we understood why.
During swimming season, the weekly goal was to get the water clear. Yet, that was not enough. We discovered the difference between pool water that was clear and swimming water that had clarity. We tested the water regularly to be sure it was chemically balanced. Our goal was clarity.
Clear water is free from darkness, transparent, and could be called crystal clear. Clarity involves purity and an unmistakable brightness.
Congregational Clarity
In the same way congregations often develop well-crafted statements that talk about their identity and direction. These statements seem crystal clear to those who crafted them. But they are false clarity. No true clarity exists.
Ownership among the congregation is low. They have a motto they believe says much when it really says nothing. Three-word statements are exceedingly popular and shallow. They may imply a general mission but supply little overall clarity.
To leaders their statements of mission, purpose, core values, and vision seem crystal clear. Followers have mixed reactions. Some like the enthusiasm around casting a clear direction. They respond emotionally. They feel good without necessarily understanding what it means for the congregation, and what depth of discipleship it requires of them.
Like the chemicals that dissolve in a pool, congregations need to feel, discern, understand, and know with assurance that when they dive in, they can expect a great swimming experience. Infection caused by imbalanced spiritual and strategic chemicals is not an acceptable situation. What congregations need is clarity.
What Clarity Do Congregations Who Soar with Faith Need?
They need contextual missional clarity.
First, they need clarity about their context. Who lives around them, what are the life situations of the people, and what approaches and language about the Good News best connects with them. Their context may be geographically defined, an affinity group of people, or a combination of both. The congregation must have clarity about the people to whom God is sending them who need to receive and be embraced by the Good News of Jesus.
Second, they need clarity about the mission of God as a congregation. They are not just present to interact socially or engage in secular community development. They are present in response the God’s mission for the Church and for their congregation. Two often used words – gathered and scattered – must characterize their understand of the mission of God. They gather for worship, community, and discipleship development. They scatter into their context to express their calling to a life of disciplemaking in ways that are intentional rather than haphazard.
Third, they need clarity about the strategies, tactics, and ministry style of their contextual missional engagement.
What methods do they use as a scattered congregation?
What approaches to sharing the Good News of Jesus connect with their context or affinity group?
What are the gifts, skills, and life preferences of disciples within their congregation?
Which disciples need to lead out or serve in which missional engagement activities?
To embrace their contextual missional clarity, congregations need deep ownership of their core ideology, and inspiration to soar farther in the direction of God’s leadership.
Reflections from George:
From my earliest research on 100 congregations in 15 metropolitan areas conducted 50 years ago the strong, undeniable finding was that the strategic difference maker that divided congregations who were soaring from those who were falling, was the presence of God’s empowering vision and an intentional practice of seeking to live into that vision.
This principle has been reconfirmed many times. I entitled this principle—Vision Plus Intentionality.
In this material I talk about it as Clarity Plus Alignment. Congregations need clarity about their core ideology of mission, purpose, core values, and vision. Plus they need a commitment to intentionally align everything they do to fulfill their vision within their overall understanding of God’s core ideology for their congregation.
Another post in the near future will talk about the concept of alignment.
Reactions:
You are invited to share some reactions (comments)—using the link below—to this article and my reflections. Here are three questions to guide your reaction:
Is your congregation soaring with faith? If so, what is the evidence you would offer?
Does you congregation have clarity about its core ideology which includes God’s empowering vision for your future? If so, how would you describe this clarity?
Or do you see clarity for your congregation in a different way and would be willing to share it below as a comment?
George always appreciate YOUR clarity, and the standards you call us to.
George, thank you for this excellent article! I would love for you to take a look at First Baptist Church of Jefferson City, MO. If you want more info about this church and our ongoing ministry both in our city and around the world, I would be happy to tell you more.