Pastors and church leaders are currently making a critical mistake. This mistake is limiting their ability to fulfill their mission and vision in the next year. And what’s worse is many pastors do not even know they are making it.
To help illustrate what pastors and church leaders are unknowingly doing, let’s watch the 1:07 minute clip from NBC’s Fear Factor shown below. This episode features a series of very successful business leaders participating in death-defying situations. In this particular exercise, contestants are required to jump into the arms of a man suspended 300-foot above a canyon. If the man is unable to catch them, the contestant plunges 300-feet down only to be caught by their attached bungee cord near the canyon’s base.
The contestant being profiled is Sarah Blakely, founder of Spanx. See what happens when she jumps and we will then discuss its implications for pastors and church leaders.
Sarah is one of the faculty for the magnificent online leadership training tool Masterclass. I cannot recommend this resource enough as well as her 16-part course. During one of her classes, Sarah explains the leadership lesson she learned from her jump.
Each of the previous contestants aimed at the man’s waste when jumping. They all came up short arriving at his knees and ankles and were unable to be caught. The result was a 300-foot fall into the canyon. As you saw, this made for some compelling television to say the least. Therefore, thinking she would come up short as well, Sarah aimed at the latch just above his head. She also came up short because she aimed above his head, she arrived at his chest and was caught.
The lesson – Always Aim High
When you strive for perfection and come up short, excellence is what you will get.
The #1 critical mistake pastors and church leaders are currently making is their vision is only one to two months out. They are simply trying to reopen. I am sympathetic to pastors as they have never experienced anything like this before. They have never experienced a global pandemic, then this level of racial unrest, then the delicate communication of it to their congregations, and then the reopening of churches. This is mentally and emotionally exhausting. They have my utmost respect and sympathy.
That being said, many pastors and church leaders do not have a post-COVID vision.
Like Sarah Blakely, it is time to aim high again. It is once again time to begin leading at a 30,000 foot level. Delegate reopening to your staff or key volunteers. Begin casting vision again for a post-COVID ministry environment.
Post-COVID ministry is going require a leadership and resource strategy unlike anything before. It is going to require courageous and visionary leadership. Pastors and church leaders need to aim high and lead at that level. And it will also need to be well-funded.
It is time for leaders to aim high in terms of evangelism and discipleship. If you come up short in your plans, that’s OK. Remember, if you aim high you will achieve excellence and hit the target right in the chest. If you aim for the chest (just surviving, figuring it as you go, staying safe, and just doing a good job), you will hit the target in the knees and ankles. Aiming high gives you success. Aiming in the middle results in the proverbial fall into the ministry canyon. Your ministry cannot afford this. Your church’s mission and vision are too important.
Pastors and church leaders, it’s time for a post-COVID vision and a BIG, GRAND vision at that. It’s time to aim high again!!!
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