By now, you probably realize that I’m a bit of a reader. I review books for Thomas Nelson, for Waterbrook-Multnomah, and occasionally for New Leaf Publishing. And in my spare time, I often read other books which I’ll review here as well.
Most of these books are ministry-related, as can be seen in my current reading: Bible Doctrine by Grudem, Total Church by Chester and Timmis, and Bonhoeffer by Metaxas. The exception to that norm is that I’m also re-reading Good to Great by Jim Collins.
In the chapter that I read today, Collins mentions George Rathmann and his belief about making plans and setting goals in the corporate world:
When you set your objectives for the year, you record them in concrete. You can change your plans through the year, but you never change what you measure yourself against.
As I look forward to entering my second year as the pastor at Crossroads Friends Church, this statement caught me a little off-guard because, to be quite frank, I’ve always been a little hesitant to make goals for the church.
Should we set targets to aim toward? Sure. But, should we set up anything to measure ourselves against and seek to achieve at all costs other than obedience?
I guess that’s just something I’m wrestling with.
I’d love to hear your thoughts as well. Jump in with your comments.
