Friday, September 07, 2007

Missional Churches Demonstrate a Bias to Action

Coaches and business leaders have noticed that high achievers have a bias to action. They can't wait to get started and want to take action now.

People who have a record of successful achievement in sports, business or any other field display a can-do attitude. Their motto is, “Strike while the iron is hot!” While some people have a need to plan out all the details before acting, high achievers tend to jump into projects, making adjustments along the way.

This same attitude can transfer into ministry. When encountering a man born blind (John 9), Jesus’ disciples wanted to discuss the circumstances of the situation, Jesus demonstrated a bias to action by healing the man. Jesus taught to act whenever confronted by an opportunity, whether it is feeding a crowd or healing one person.

Peter also demonstrated this bias to action. When confronted by a crowd that gathered on the Day of Pentecost, Peter preached the gospel (Acts 2). When a lame beggar asked for money, Peter healed him (Acts 3).

A missional church should be able to take quick action when a ministry opportunity presents itself. If you need to wait for the next business or board meeting, the opportunity will disappear. If you are afraid about what a few of the more critical members will think, little will ever get done.

When church leaders see a ministry opportunity and ask, “What would Jesus Do?” instead of what will Mr. X think, things happen. In one church a family called and asked if the church had a nursery. Although the nursery had not been used for some time, the pastor said yes and made sure it was cleaned and staffed that Sunday. That was the beginning of a growing nursery ministry.

People in a missional church
- see a need and fill it
- anticipate a problem and head it off
- make adjustments to improve ministries
- are not afraid of failure

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