July 2006 

Clarify the Win  

“Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations …” (Matthew 28:19)

The staff and Board of Ministry at Saving Grace are reading through a book called The Seven Practices of Effective Ministry by Andy Stanley. In this book, the authors use the metaphor of a baseball game to help churches visualize what they can do to be more effective in ministry. First and foremost among the practices is to "clarify the win." It is clear that in baseball everyone wants to be part of a winning team (no reference to the Saving Grace coed softball team intended J). We must admit that whether it's baseball or church, people tend to show up, be enthusiastic and work hard when the organization is winning.

But the question for the church is, "how do we know when we are winning?" In baseball is easy to tell-there's a big scoreboard that counts the number of runners across the plate. But what is the "scoreboard" for our church? We are told to “go and make disciples” – but what does that look like? That is one of the questions that we will seek to answer in the Strategic Ministry Planning process that the church will undertake in this month of July (I hope you will plan to participate). It is important that we all agree on what our win is. In baseball it wouldn't work if the players didn't all agree on their goal and purpose. Nor does it work in the Church.

When we all agree on the win, then we can all be on the same page and working together. That is in fact what God intends for the body of Christ – that we work together. Furthermore, we should be working together on goals that bring God glory and expand His kingdom. It might be tempting to think that the Church should not have to worry about these things, and simply preach the Word. However, given that the Church is concerned with something as serious as the eternal salvation of souls, it is perhaps more important that we be clear on exactly what we are trying to do, and how we are intending to do it - otherwise ministry becomes frustrating guesswork. Please be in prayer about this. Ask God to reveal to our congregation what the “win” is for our ministry and to guide us in preparing a process to accomplish that win – all for His glory!
In His name,

Pastor Augie