Personal Goal Setting

I am not sure who first said this but it is profoundly true. “If you don’t know where you are going, you will never get there.”  This is true of leadership in the church as well as in your personal life.  For some reason, many people never take the time to establish personal goals and rather live life with either a tainted fatalism -“whatever will be will be,” or indolently “one day at time sweet Jesus…”  In light of your discussion last week on success, personal goal setting is crucial for finishing well.  Here are some of my thoughts on the matter.

 

1)     Figure out where you are going.  When determining goals, there are short term and long term goals.  Both are equally important and should have an influence on the decisions you make in both life and ministry.  In light of that you need to consider both.

a.      What are my lifetime goals: This pertains to the “big picture” goal of how I want to be remembered when I die.  You cannot get too specific here, because several times through your life, God will take you down a path you had no idea would come your way.

b.     Where do I want to be in 3 to 5 years:  This is where you need to dream. In other words you are asking yourself this question, if God gave me the desires of my heart, what would that look like?  What would I be doing?  Where would I be serving? 

EXERCISE:  In effort to help you determine where you are going, I encourage you to this exercise that I learned from Tom Lutz in Atlanta.  I would encourage you first to go “big picture” and look at all of your life.  Then come back and look short term.

·       Be sure to cover this time in prayer. Find a time and a place with as little distraction as possible and give yourself for at least one hour do this.

·       Then pick a point in time 3 to 5 years in the future.

·       Let yourself dream about it. What does it look like? Ask yourself:  who, what, where, when, why, how?  Try to sense it – what can you smell, taste, touch, see & hear?  Imagine the buildings, the people, the equipment, the successes, the failures, the sense of accomplishment, the lessons learned. 

·       Try not to think of why it won’t work (money, people will think I’m crazy, etc). Write each thought down on a different 3x5 card…. Yes, use the old fashioned ones.  High take notepad versions will not work as well.

·       For the next two weeks, keep the cards with you.  Each time a new idea comes to your head, write it down. 

·       Do not review what you have written.  Put it in the pile and move on.  Repetition is not a problem.            

·       At the end of two weeks gather the cards and organize them.  From what you have written on the cards, write out a description.  This will help you get a mental picture of where you would like to be.  This is your short term vision or goal.   

 

2)     Lay out a plan on how to get there.  Now that you have a picture of where you would like to be, you need to plan out the steps to get there.

a.      From this short term vision pick try and determine five central themes.  These could be called “the fine things you would die for.”   

b.     List out those five key areas and asses what you need to do to get to where you want to be. 

·       What could get in the way?

·       What steps do I need to take?

·       Who can help me?

c.      Now give yourself a timeline.

 

3)     Develop a structure to keep you on track. A key reason many people never attain their goals is due to implementation and accountability. 

a.      Implementation asks when and how I get started.

b.     Accountability asks who and what is going to keep me on track. I recommend that you have someone in your life to help you through this process.

c.      Strategic planner Tom Lutz, recommends that you develop a dashboard to assist in helping you getting started and keep going.  Like the dashboard in a car, it tells you how everything is running.  This can be a simply spreadsheet or the use of a program such as Microsoft Outlook.  Regardless it should include how each goal will be implemented and the progress being made, it is a tracking tool.  

d.     Depending on your personality, the role of the person who is keeping you accountable differs.  For some it will be someone who kicks you in the pants, to others it will be someone who keeps you from being too obsessed with your goals and you lose sight of the big picture.

4)     Evaluate and Adapt. Remember that very few things happen just as planned.  Therefore goals need to be adapted and changed.  Do not use challenges as an excuse to abandon your goals.

How do we Measure Success in Ministry?

 

"My memory is nearly gone; but I remember two things;

That I am a great sinner, and that Christ is a great Savior."

- John Newton (1725-1807)

 

“For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it;

you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;

a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise”

(Psalm 51:16-17)

As much as we use the word success, I was surprised at how vague the Webster Dictionary’s definition is.  Here it is:

            “a: degree or measure of succeeding.          

              b: favorable or desired outcome; also; the attainment of wealth, favor or eminence.”  

As I dug around looking for a clearer definitiaon, I had litte "success."  I was sure that at least Wiktionary would give me more.  This is how they define it:

1. (Obsolete) Something which happens as a consequece; the outcome or result. (16th - 18th c.)
2. The achievemnet of one's aim or goal. (from 16th c,)
3. (Business) financial profitablity.
4. One who, or that which, achieves assumed goals. 

If the linguists have difficulty in defining success, is there any wonder that we do too?  Nevertheless there is one common thread in the definitions. They seem to center on a desired outcome or goal.  I am convinced that pastors need to have clear defined goals, and we will be addressing that next week, the problem is not the goals themselves, but the deeper value behind the goal.  For example, it is appropriate to have a goal of numerical growth in your church.  That is an indicator of healthy church.  But it is not okay to find our value or worth in the number of people in our church. 

Our true motivation behind any goal is seen most clearly when either the goal is met, or is not.  My true motivation was revealed when someone would ask about my church with the standard question rooted in the number of “nickels and noses.”   In most cases there were not enough people in the church and I felt a sense of embarrassment or anger at the one who asked it.  When there was growth and I was feeling good about it, I was keenly aware of my pride.  Either way, what happened to my heart was not spiritually healthy and revealed who really mattered in my ministry.  In other words we struggle most with success when it is more about us, then God and His people.  To use the idol imagery, our goals are far too often tied to our idols.  Therefore, if we meet those goals that idols satisfies us, but if we don’t meet our goal we get angry and discouraged.

 Sadly, it is this tension that we feel from success that has lead many pastors to “crash and burn.” When you feel like a failure in ministry, you end up finding comfort in some addiction.  We think if God has failed me by not helping meet my goals, then I will look elsewhere for satisfaction.  For many pastors that is pornography.  On the other side, the high that comes from a booming ministry leads others to pride and self-reliance, which can lead to adultery, misuse of funds, the using of people, and most of all misuse of the Gospel. 

So how do we free ourselves from the success trap?  First we must understand that any success that we may get is not our success.  Our lives are rooted in grace from beginning to end!  Christ has been successful and we in turn get to share in His success!  There would be no true success if it weren’t for the finished work of Christ.  With that in mind, I would suggest that you pause and ask yourself what you want to be remembered for when they lay your body in a grave.  How will people remember you?  Did they see the grace of God in your life? Was it all about you, or all about the Gospel?

Living with the end in mind, my life should be considered a success when through God’s Grace I was faithful in the following areas.

1.     I was a sincere worshipper.   My life was marked by a love for God, and people saw me resting in the Gospel, rather than chasing after idols?

2.     I loved my wife well, and she a better person because of that.

3.     I loved my son and he saw his dad love Jesus more than anything else, including the church and ministry.

4.     I was a faithful preacher and teacher of God’s word and I never quit believing that it is God’s Word and a precious means of grace.

5.     I served Christ and His Church faithfully to end, and did not leave a trail of damaged people because of my selfish pursuits.

6.     People come to faith as result of my life and ministry, and I was a faithful evangelist.

“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness,

and all these things will be added to you.”

Matthew 6:33

The Pastor's Devotional Life

“We must remember that God will never drag us along the path of true-hearted discipleship. This would greatly lack the moral excellency which characterizes all the ways of God. He does not drag, but draws us along the path which leads to ineffable blessedness in Himself; and if we do see that it is for our real advantage to break through all the barriers of nature, in order to respond to Gods’ call, we forsake our own mercies. But alas! Our hearts little enter into this. We begin to calculate about the sacrifices, the hindrances, and the difficulties, instead of bounding along the path, in eagerness of soul, as knowing and loving the One whose call has sounded in our ears”  (C H Macintosh).

            Personal worship is often neglected in the pastor’s life.  There are many theories why that may be, the most common being that we are too busy and finding the time is difficult.  If you have any interaction with the average person in the business world, or a mom of young children, you will find that to be entirely false!  There are few professions that are more conducive for finding time for personal worship than the pastorate. In fact, I am convinced that the root of the problem is simply that we are not convinced we need it.  First, we are satisfied with the time spent in Scripture for preparation of sermons and Bible Studies. Indeed a perk of the job is that often during those times of study God speaks to us in ways that are very personal.  Going deeper many pastors struggle with a superiority problem where they believe the lie that our glorious calling and extensive education somehow make us more sanctified than others.  The truth is, the only difference between those called as pastors and anyone else is their unique calling.  We are not superior, we are not less sinful.  To quote Steve Brown, “we are pastors, because God could not trust us anywhere else.”  The pastor’s personal worship or devotional life is absolutely essential to a fruitful ministry!

            My personal devotions has been influenced by Tim Keller (Surprise, surprise!), therefore I have attached his “Devotional Plan.”  Here is my routine,

1)     Find a time the works - Blocking out a time on calendar is essential.  It needs to be a time where you are alert and not overly distracted.  Though David rose early in the morning, that doesn’t mean you need too.  Remember, he started his career as a shepherd, so he lived by the rising and the setting of the sun.

 

2)     Find a place that works – You need a place where you can be alone, and where distractions are kept to minimal.  Starbucks is not that place!  I do my best study in places where there is a lot going on around me, but it is a horrible place for a personal worship!  Getting beyond the distractions, I am not sure it would go over well if I started to sing, pace, or lay on the floor to pray!  You get my point!

3)     “Be Still and Know that I AM God.” – Take time to quiet your heart and mind.  Ask God to help you lay aside the many distractions and give you focus.  Confess any sins that are tugging at your heart.  Turn the sound off on your phone, I-Pad and computer, so you don’t hear texts or e-mails when they come in.  If you remember something important that needs to be done, make a record on a piece of paper and let it be.  Looking at an other device could distract you.

4)     Read Devotionally – This is not the time for academic study of Scripture.  Until you are fluent in Greek or Hebrew, just use your favorite translation.  Read slow and reflectively.  When your mind wanders, stop, go back and read again.  Let it sink in.  My pattern for Scripture reading for the last twenty years is that I read through the Psalms and Proverbs every month and then work through the rest of Scripture at a rate of 2 to 5 chapters a day.  I don’t recommend devotional books, but if you would like to use one, I would use Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening.  Any other devotionals can get us preacher types distracted by whether we agree with the author, or tempted to think we could right it better!

5)     Reflect – Once you are done reading, take time to reflect on what you have read.  Let the verses sink deep and be a means of grace for you.  Remember, don’t rush through this!

6)     Pray – There is no magical formula for a fruitful prayer life… it is hard work!  I like to prayer through the Lord’s Prayer as it keeps balance to my prayer life.  When I pray through the Lord’s Prayer, at “Our Father” I start with a season of praise and thanksgiving.  In addition, I make it a point to not skim through “forgive us our sins.” Confessing to God what He already knows, and basking in His grace is always refreshing.   I have also made it a habit to be sure to pray both morning and evening. 

Below is another suggestion from Tim Keller. This version comes from a transcribed version of an interview of Tim, by Bryan Chapel. [1]

“I try to do petition in the morning. I try to do repentance in the evening. So I try to pray in the morning and in the evening. In the evening I look back on what I did wrong and repent. But in the middle of the day I try to catch myself and I look for four kinds of emotions.

I always pray in the morning, “Lord make me happy enough in the grace of Jesus to avoid being proud, cold, scared, and hooked.” Now, by Proud I mean what you think, too self-congratulatory. And maybe disdainful of people who I don’t think have it together. Cold means I’m just too absorbed in my concerns to really be compassionate and gracious and warm and joyful to the people around me. Scared means I’m just obviously too anxious and worried. Hooked means…when you’re overworked, it means for me…eating. Eating things I shouldn’t eat just because it’s a way of keeping my energy up, and also because it’s a way of rewarding myself. Or looking at women more than once. So: proud, cold, scared, hooked.

Now, in the middle of the day I get it out and say, “Have I been proud, scared, cold, or hooked in the last 3-4 hours. And the answer usually is “Yeah.” And then I say, “How do I bring the Gospel to bear on that? How does the grace of God deal with it?” And you try to catch yourself in those feelings. So basically finding problem feelings and inordinate desires, catch them when they’re happening, try to deal with them with the Gospel right there.

I call that “Quick Strike” on my idols around noon, if I can remember it. And repentance at night and petition in the morning. So I try to get into God’s presence three times a day.”

 

 

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[1] An audio version of the interview can be found at http://worldwidefreeresources.com/upload//4d11202c8b841.mp3

Ok, I'm Back.... REALLY!

Considering that one of my pet peeves is when a church does not keep it's web page current, I am far past due on a post!  No, excuses, I have simply let it is slip to the back of my priority list.  Nevertheless, it is time to get back to it! 

As I do, I am going to adding a new resource that I trust will be helpful to you.  This comes out of a weekly gather that Don Sweeting, president of RTS Orlando, and I do each Monday.  The two of us have almost 50 years of combined experience in the church and are trying to take that experience and use it to supplement what our students get in the classroom.   No need to be impressed as this is just an opportunity to share what I did wrong, and how God was gracious anyway!  The goal is to post a new one each week!  I trust they will be helpful.