Setting the Right Goals: A Path for Christian Leaders
Every Christian leader faces the challenge of setting meaningful and achievable goals, both for their ministry leadership and personal life. Progress toward these goals can be incredibly rewarding.
Sometimes, ministry leaders find themselves stuck when it comes to defining the right goals. It can feel overwhelming to know where to start and what
are the proper targets for success. Residing in the shadow of the popular BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal) framework for goal setting has not always provided clarity. The BHAG concept encourages leaders and organizations to set a clear, compelling, and ambitious target that will push beyond the norm. This sounds motivating; however, it often results in leaders feeling like they are throwing darts and hoping something sticks. BHAGs can be too grandiose to offer immediate direction, eliciting confusion instead of progress.
The challenge increases for Christian leaders because of the added consideration: “Does this goal reflect faith in God, or is it something I can accomplish on my own?” Others will ask themselves, “Is God pleased with the goals I am setting?” Rather than encouraging leaders, these added layers of contemplation can sometimes lead to more frustration, stress, and confusion in the pastoral coaching process.
Through my leadership coaching, I found that answering three key questions can help align your goals with biblical faith, God's purposes, and a compelling vision. As you go through each question, sketch out a Venn Diagram. The overlap of the circles will highlight the 'sweet spot'—the place where your goal aligns with God’s purposes and creates momentum for advancement.
Here is the breakdown:
1. What would healthy growth look like in this area of goal setting?
Consider the area of your life or ministry in which you are setting a goal. Rather than aiming for what looks "impressive" on the outside, think about the sustainability, balance, and faithfulness needed for long-term growth. An example of healthy growth for a church would be annual congregational growth of 20 percent. At this rate, you can assimilate new leaders, care for people well and manage facilities. Certainly, a church can grow faster, but there may be unhealthy stress upon the leaders and membership.
2. What would be barrier-breaking growth in this area of goal setting?
A barrier-breaking goal is something that helps you get over a tipping point, moving you into a new level of opportunity. It is about finding the small, yet powerful, shift that would build momentum and create a ‘flywheel’ effect, generating more growth. Continuing with a church ministry example, a barrier-breaking goal for a church of 75 members would be growing past the 100-barrier, while proactively planning for such growth. This would be more than 20% health growth annually (by an additional 10 people) but breaking this barrier could catapult the church into new levels of sustainability.
3. What would walking by faith, not by sight, look like in this area of goal setting?
Finally, consider what it means to pursue this goal in faith. Faith is often the opposite of fear. Does the goal you are setting stretch you in a way that requires dependence on God? Does it make you uncomfortable, even afraid, because it is beyond what you can do on your own? God is often already at work in the areas that He wants to grow. Where is the momentum already in your ministry? What are people talking about? Where are resources already appearing? Ignoring the walk by faith question can result in goals that are too human-centered, missing the divine element. Neglecting the barrier-breaking question can leave a goal unbalanced, lacking the drive to push past limitations. And without addressing the healthy growth question, goals can either be overly ambitious or underwhelmingly realistic. Each question plays a crucial role, empowering leaders to aim for the right target, advancing ministry while deepening trust in God’s provision.
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