Clarify The Win


That’s one of the “7 Practices of Effective Ministry.” According to Andy Stanley, “Define what is important at every level of the organization. … It is impossible to know if you are making progress if you are not clear about your destination. This means examining each and every event and program and asking the question, When all is said and done, what is it that we want to look back and celebrate?” (Ibid) 
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How do we know whether our favorite basketball team is winning or not? Obviously, they win if they score more points than their opponents. No amount of fancy dribbling can ever make them win until and unless they score by putting the ball in the basket. How do we know if a business is winning? It’s making money! Stanley then asked, “How do you know if a church is winning? The very nature of what a church does makes it difficult to keep score. How do you create a scoreboard that measures intangibles like relevant teaching and changed lives?” (Ibid) Of course, our bottom line as a church is different from a secular company. To them, the bottom line is profit. What about ours? Lead a seeker to become a committed Christ-follower who will lead others to become committed followers of the Lord also.
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Our Lord Jesus made it crystal for us: “make disciples of all nations.” (Matthew 28:19) Did the first church do just that? According to Acts 14:21, “When they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch” (Emphasis added). Also, the apostle Paul commanded his protégé, Timothy, “You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.” (2 Timothy 2:1-2. Emphasis added.) 
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 Make disciples who will make disciples. That’s our score… our bottom line… our win. Stanley exhorts us, “The church should be more determined than any other kind of organization to ‘clarify the win’ simply because stakes are much higher: Eternity hangs in the balance.” (Ibid) 

 Brothers and sisters, that’s our win clarified.

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