Ragamuffin: Into the new land

Where are we going?
Where are we headed?

T

hose are ominous questions for a church, organization or movement. Why? Because it implies that we may not know where we ARE going! It implies that some, if not a great majority, do not have a clue to the mission or to the direction of the group, corps, organization or movement.

In Joshua 1 a clear direction was given and under new leadership the people would enter the land of promise. The goal was the same under Moses’ and Joshua’s leadership. That is “Take the land!” Other questions then arise. Who has the power and authority to set the course? If the course is set then the leadership must ask – “Will those we lead follow?” Is our current leadership from top down on the same page? Should we be?

May I share a few thoughts in a corps/church setting …

1. Leadership can and must set direction, but not without the input of the people they lead.
2. The higher the leader the more general the direction.
3. Freedom for grass-roots expression of the mission is essential.
4. For leadership to take effect locally, length of stay is a plus. This applies to the corps officer but also to the local officers.
5. The more that micro-management occurs, the less risk is taken.
6. The less risk taken, the less progress made.
7. The less progress made, the comfort level rises.
8. The more comfort, the less possibility of something dynamic happening.
9. The opposite is true as well but with risk, localized leadership and less bureaucracy the more failure, chances of things “getting out-of-hand” and the unexpected being experienced.

In Joshua 1 a clear direction was given and under new leadership the people would enter the land of promise but not without battles. The goal was to take the land but it would not come easily. Different methods and strategies were applied. The movement was well on its way to seeing the “promise” become “possession”. (May I add, not without some risks and failures along the way.)

Where are we going? Where are we headed?

Those are ominous questions for a church today.

“Take the land!”

(See Joshua 1, Matthew 28:19-20 and Hebrews 4:1-11)

What say you?

Ragamuffin appears every Monday on theRubicon. Find past Ragamuffin posts and a bio of Capt. Jay Davis here.

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