5 Unfair Criticisms People Levy at Strategic Church Leaders
1. You’re Not Trusting God Enough
So…because I’m planning and thinking, I must not be trusting God?
Trusting God doesn’t mean “my half-baked idea is good enough for God.”
It doesn’t mean “let’s just do some ill-considered thing and hope it works out.”
Trust and strategy can be and should be inherently linked.
Trust isn’t blind, and strategy isn’t bullet-proof.
When they work together (like when Paul built the early church), incredible things can happen.
Will God do more than your strategy suggests he will? Absolutely.
When I look at everything God has done in my life and leadership, he’s out-delivered my strategy a thousand times over. I’ve seen God work in me, through me and in spite of me again and again.
But I often find that leaders who have a (faithful, well-thought-out) strategy tend to do greater things in the Kingdom than leaders who don’t.
2. Just Get Back to the Gospel
Often when the conversation becomes highly strategic, someone around the table will say something like, “Just get back to the Gospel.”
Should you get back to the Gospel?
Of course. In fact, root everything you do deeply in the Gospel and be faithful to it.
Strategy—when done well—is what gives flesh to the Gospel in your context.
I can hear the critics now… The Gospel doesn’t need flesh. It doesn’t need help. It doesn’t need anything.
I get that….but what are the critics really railing against?
I don’t think most can answer that.
And notice this: Often the critics who speak the loudest are accomplishing little for the Gospel in their lives.
