Why your motivation impacts your mission.

Motivation Matters!
Have you ever noticed that God doesn’t care as much aboutWHAT we do as much as He cares about WHY we do it?

That’s right, the Bible doesn’t teach that God loves “givers”, it says that He loves a “cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:7).

In the same way the Old Testament teaches us that to obey is better than sacrifice (1 Samuel 15:22), Jesus teaches in the New Testament that loving God is what leads to obedience to God and ultimately Friendship with God (John 15).

That’s why WHAT you do needs to be motivated by WHY you do it.

Each of us needs to ask, what is the underlying motivation forWHY we do what we do?

TRAINING LEADERS to EQUIP PEOPLE . . . 

During our training on the road last summer, we were challenged with that question at Engaged Churches. Since 1999, we had always said we were about training leaders to equip people to be the church, but as more and more people got excited about what they were learning in our training solutions, people began asking if they could take the material to their places of ministry, business and families.

It caused us to really reflect on WHY we were doing what we do.

We existed to Train Leaders.

The reason why is because we believe that many church leaders are trained to exegete the text of scripture, but are lacking in the skills needed to lead engaged churches and teams. In addition, our conversations with pastors around the world have taught us that many of our church leaders are leading anecdotally and need to be encouraged to discover their unique God given talents to become the leaders God uniquely designed them to be.

That’s why our training for pastors is led by pastors who have been in the ministry, know the struggles and can speak the language.

We existed to Train Leaders to Equip People. 

Experience also tells us that many of our church leaders are “doing” too much of the ministry and have not learned what it means to equip or how to implement an equipping pipeline that engages people to steward their unique talents in teams that build the church. That’s one of the reasons 85% of our churches are led by one person (with a board to “oversee” their progress). We believe that Ephesians teaches us that a leader needs to Equip people, not simply fill ministry slots if we are to become the church God intends.

We existed to Equip People to Be the Church. 

Statistics show us that the high majority (between 80-90%) of our churches lack a clearly defined definition for spiritual maturity. It’s been said that a new employee at 7-eleven has a better chance of knowing what is expected of them at work, than the average member of a local church.

We exist to change that. To equip people to identify, define and progress along the Christ-centered, Biblically-based pathway toward personal and corporate spiritual maturity.

That’s WHY we existed.

This summer we were challenged to expand that vision to meet the needs of the whole church.

For example, those who are serving in Missions and Ministries: Last week we were on a conference call with some coaches who were trained through our Level I and Level II coaches training and heard the update on how our training is impacting leaders in Eastern and Southern Africa, Ethiopia, Eurasia, Kenya, Indonesia, Nairobi, Panama and with requests from other countries.

Those who are serving in business: God has strategically placed leaders in businesses both here and abroad where they have opportunities to literally “shepherd” their employees.

Families: We are having more and more requests to meet the needs of families and parents who desire to apply the principles to their marriages, families and as they raise their children. Literally training the leaders of our homes to equip their families.

Schools: There is a huge need within our schools to connect our     students with their identity in Christ and disconnect them   from systems that lead to moralistic and legalistic views   of God, Christ and the Church. Statistics are  overwhelming on our failure to equip our next generation of disciples and disciplemakers. That’s why we’ve been working with schools the past few years to implement the principles of Following the Path Christ modeled for equipping disciples and why we are expanding this area of our ministry as well.

The bottom line is that we exist to ministry to the Body of Christ and Train Leaders to Equip People to Reflect Christ within their circles of influence. 

 

That is why over the past few months we have expanded our staff, begun building  out our websites, expanded our strategic partnerships as we  prepare to equip you with more opportunities to equip those in your circles of influence to reflect Christ.

It’s also why as of January 1, 2012 we will officially become EngagedSolutions.com and you will have the opportunity to choose from resources, coaching, training and consulting specifically designed by subject matter experts in your area of influence.

Our mission hasn’t changed. 

Our capacity to deliver on that mission has expanded!

Over the next several weeks we’ll tell you more about coaching opportunities, training opportunities and even opportunities to earn college credit beginning in 2012.

Until then, blessings on you in your continued service to Christ in your circles of influence. 

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