Romans 12:2
2 Do not be conformed to this world,[a] but be transformed by the renewing of your
minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and
perfect.[b]
Moving The Needle
Every sales job I’ve had has used this phrase; How do we move the needle? What they are
asking is how do we grow sales as a company and take it to the next level. I didn’t realize
how much that would translate into ministry as I exited that career. I left one job only to
find churches asking the same question; how do we move the needle? Both were really
asking the same questions. How do we get more people interested in what we have to
offer? You see, sales and church require the same thing to function. They both require
people to reach their maximum potential. If you don’t have the people, you can’t reach
your goals and develop the organization. People are a requirement to success!
What keeps businesses and churches from moving the needle? The answer becomes really
simple when you look at it from the outside looking in and it boils down to three truths; 1.
Lack of Perspective, 2. Refusal to Change, and 3. the loss of innovation. That’s really all it is.
Whether it’s business or church, I have found in all situations these three challenges create
boundaries that are extremely difficult to penetrate. Over the next three weeks, I want to
talk about each of these so that we can, as they say, “move the needle”. Let’s start with
Challenge number 1: Lack of Perspective.
Everyone has a perspective, but our perspectives are influenced by history, experiences, and
personal preferences. Over time our perspective becomes more focused on that last little
part, our personal preferences. This is completely natural! Everyone does it but it can often
be a hindrance to our personal growth. We know what we know and that’s enough. But
what if something needs to change? Our natural tendency is to resist because we have our
own perspectives and personal preferences. What most businesses and churches need is to
have someone come in as a consultant to offer a new perspective. It’s not that ours is
wrong or that we are bad. Actually, we are really good and have a lot to offer; we just
might not be offering our gifts in a way that appeals to the people we need. Someone
offering a new and fresh perspective can not only accentuate the positive but also help an
organization see where the areas of growth are necessary and what needs to change.
That last word is what complicates the whole bunch and why organizations don’t seek out
perspective. When you start to see the cracks in the foundation, you’re now responsible for
what happens. When it’s hidden it’s ok but once the challenges are exposed change is
necessary to growth. Growing up we remodeled houses. What kind of a contractor would
we be if we didn’t fix the problems? Would it have been ethical or just to see a floor about
to collapse and say, “Looks good to me”, “we installed this system 20 years ago, no need to
change it now”, or “Maybe you should move instead of dealing with the issue”. We would
all agree our business model would be flawed if this was the way we operated.
Changing perspective is necessary and extremely Biblical. Romans 12: 2 tells us to be
transformed by the renewing of our minds. It literally means to change our perspective and
see our world through God’s eyes and not our own. He’s the best consultant we can hire,
the most ethical contractor, and sees all the cracks from a place of love and
encouragement. It’s not just necessary to change perspective but a commission from a
place of love for the church. God’s desire isn’t for any church to stay exactly where they are
but to make disciples of all nations and to transform the world for His Kingdom. When we
change our perspective and see ourselves as God sees us then we can truly move the needle.
Keep the Faith,
Pastor Tommy
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