Video Transcript: Simple and Measurable
Welcome back. We continue with our study, developing great commission skills. We're moving still into our skill number three, setting objectives and establishing accountability. Today we're going to be looking at simple and measurable, simple objectives Stated simply, and holding ourselves accountable to those objectives by having measurability built in to those objectives. You know, effective effective objectives require that they be articulated in simple, clear terms, measurability built in now think about this couple things to consider when it comes to objectives. Simplicity. Simplicity is a virtue. Measurability is a motivator. Simplicity is a virtue. It's something that brings blessing. It's something that in its core, of course, is good for us. Simplicity is a virtue because it dispels confusion. Vagueness it it makes it crystal clear what it is that we are zeroing in on in terms of the clarity and the understanding of our objectives, no confusion, no ambiguity, no misunderstanding, no misinterpretation. Now when it comes to measurability, measurability is a motivator, because once we once we see that that certain element of the objective that that quantifies what it is we're trying to accomplish, it's a metric by which we can measure Our effectiveness. So for example, if we set an objective that said, our objective is to recruit six additional small group leaders for the coming season. Well, at any given moment, we can take a look and ask the question, how many new leaders have we identified? Two? Well, we haven't hit our objective. Four, well, that's helpful, but we haven't hit our objective. You see, we're motivated because we want to reach the objective, and so when we realize that we we we've got a challenge before us, then we rise to the occasion to try to meet that challenge, to try to hit that mark and achieve that particular measurable element of the objective. So measurability is a motivator. Without measurability, objectives just float in terms of, you know, hopes and dreams, wishful thinking. It's vague. It's ill equipped. It doesn't drive decision making. It doesn't drive actions that need to be taken. So let's look at, let's look at a couple of examples. Two contrasting objectives. Objective number one says this, my objective is to hike to the summit of a mountain in Virginia. The second is this, my objective is to hike to the summit of Mount Rogers, the highest mountain in Virginia by elevation by October 1. Obviously there's a huge difference between these two objectives. The first objective is simple. It meets that requirement, but the measurability is so open ended. It's so vague, we can't really picture what's being asked. We could just, we could just pick any mountain any time, and hike that mountain, whether we do this tomorrow or 10 years from now, we've met the demands of this objective. So an objective that is just open and vague like this is not going to drive timely action. Now the second objective is simple, but it's also crystal clear and measurable. What's going to be done? We're going to be hike to the summit of a mountain, which mountain? Mount Rogers, when are we going to do this? By October 1. Now, when we look at this objective, it drives the making of decisions and taking actions. You know, the articulation of the
objective itself drives the demands of that objective, hikers have to think about what must be done, all the steps that must be put together consecutively between now and October 1 to equip them and enable them to take that action and meet that objective. Now, these decision steps and these actions could be laid out in a plan. You see objectives that are properly crafted. Promote planning. You know, specifically, what, who, how and when, what needs to be done, the various steps involved. Who's going to take care of each step. How are they going to do that, and when are they going to do that? And you see, when we put when we put all of these together, what we find is that we have a strategic plan. Now, when October 1 arrives, either we've met this objective or we haven't. That's how simple, that's how measurable this objective is. By the way, in this case, the particular objective in view actually is giving us a hint as to the why. Because it's the tallest in elevation in the state. I mean, I've known people that are into hiking, and they do think in those terms. They want to hit the highest mountain in every state, or they want to hike in a certain mountain range and hit the highest peaks in that range. These are goals, challenges that they set for themselves. And they can be very simple. I'm not saying they're easy to accomplish, but they're simple to understand what's necessary. And by having targets, measurable targets, measurable elements within that objective, it drives our behavior. What are we going to do? Who's going to take care of what? How are they going to do that? When are they going to do that? You put those elements together and you have a strategic plan. Now here's a tip for you. Objectives exist to serve people. It's not the other way around. People don't exist to serve objectives. So this is, this is a slight nuance to this concept. Yeah, there is a sense in which having a worthwhile objective will drive the actions of people, but those objectives are there to serve the interests, the passions, the needs, the desires of people. People are not there to serve the needs of the objective. Let's try this on for size, for example. I let's say, let's say that a given church, their leadership, has determined that small groups ministry needs to play a more significant role in the life of their church's ministry. So what is it that they want to do? Well, they set a goal, an objective. You know, at present, let's say 28% of the congregation is engaged in small group ministry, but leadership has established an objective that says that, you know, by January 1 of the coming year, 75% of the congregation will be engaged in small groups. Now that's a very demanding, a very demanding goal, moving from 28% to 75% Why would they do something like that? Well, obviously they have determined that it's extremely important that that particular objective be met, that it's going to contribute to what they're trying to accomplish as a church. Okay, so it's very clear the Great Commission objective that we have in view, 75% of our congregation will be engaged in small groups by January 1. Is that simple? Yes? Is it measurable? Yes, it meets the criteria. Now this will force numerous decisions to be made, numerous actions to be taken if this GCO is going to be
reached. For example, this is going to require. Identifying, recruiting and training a cadre of small group leaders to accommodate this huge increase in the number of people in small groups, it's going to require that meeting places be established in conventional small groups that would probably be in private homes. So a number of private homes would need to be developed in order to make this work. You know, the list goes on and on, but a plan and a timeline can be developed that would ensure that the ministry capacity to handle this increase to 75% is in place. And remember, with accountability we're talking about what, who, how, when, all right, so far, so good. We have a great commission objective, a GCO that is simple and measurable. We have established accountability with a strategic plan that includes the what, the who, the how and the when. However, when we come to January 1, we discover that we didn't reach 75% we're only at 62% that are engaged in small group ministry. So here's the question, is not reaching the objective, a failure? Well, here's the thing, technically, we failed to reach our objective of 75% but we have increased participation in small groups from 28% to 62% and that is a gigantic leap forward that is a resounding success. Now, what we really have uncovered here is not the failure of an objective. What we have uncovered is the failure to understand the time frame required to get to 75% maybe January 1 was a bit too ambitious. So what can we do at this point? Well, let's move that objective from January 1e to say June 1, we're already at 62% as of January 1. That's a wonderful thing. That's a huge gain. But now we recalibrate the objective and say, okay, by June 1, we're going to move to 75% and more than likely, we're going to hit that bull's eye, that objective, and we will have moved from 28% to 75% it's just that we had to stretch the time frame out just a bit longer. Now, word of warning be reasonable about quantitative metrics over stated periods of time. Don't set the bar so high in terms of your quantitative metrics that you've created a virtual impossibility. Yeah, we want to exercise faith. We want to we want to trust that the power of the Holy Spirit is going to move in such a way that much more than what we could do on our own would be accomplished. But at the same time, we don't want to go overboard with this. We don't want to be ridiculous in the projections that we put out ahead of us. Here's the thing. Great Commission objectives must be credible. They have to be believable, not that they're absolutely going to take place, not that they don't include stepping out in faith, but they're stepping out in faith in such a way that they're not just pie in the sky random numbers or metrics of some other kind that we're throwing out there. Now I want to, I want to talk for a moment about faith and possibility. There is a verse in Scripture, Matthew, 19:26, and it says. This. Jesus looked at them and said, with man, this is impossible, but with God, all things are possible. Hmm, all things are possible. Now here's the thing. I have been in numerous situations in the past, where certain leaders have projected things that are just beyond belief. Yes, God can do anything with all things. With all things are possible with God,
but we don't want to be presumptuous in our dealings with God. We don't want to try to manipulate God into producing some outlandish projection that we have on our minds. Now, I've been in a number of meetings where churches that were really struggling in a variety of ways, where the proverbial writing was on the wall, and yet the pastor, or perhaps a set of leaders, or maybe all of the above, are still insisting that you know what we're looking at in reality is not truly binding, that we can look past that and we can rely on God to do the seemingly impossible. Now, there are times when I felt like such people were being presumptuous to the point of arrogance. I thought they didn't really have a finger on the pulse of reality. I thought that their projection was so unrealistic that they would lack credibility with the very people that would need to support this vision and work toward this objective. Well, when I've done that in the past, sometimes I, I've been accused of having too little faith. You know, I was, I was accused of short changing God's power. And on several of these occasions, someone would quote this very verse, but Well, Ken, you know, with God, all things are possible, as if somehow I'm, I'm a person who lacks faith. I'm not trusting God for the impossible. Okay, I understand that sentiment. But here's the thing, God's power is not in question. The capacity of God to do the impossible is not in question. What's in question here is the integrity and the discernment capability of a pastor or a group of leaders who would, who would dare to project something so far out of reach as if somehow that was a testament to their faithfulness, yes, with all things, With God, all things are possible, but that is not a strategy. You know, when I ask a pastor, when I ask a group of leaders, what is your strategy, the correct response should not be, well With God, all things are possible. That's not a strategy. That is a measure of desperation. So let me share this with you. Indeed, With God, all things are possible. But even with God, not all things are probable. Not all things are probable. I want you to really let that, let that sink in. You see, we're not testing God's power here. We're testing our own ability to discern God's leading, to step out in faith, but to step out in faith with integrity, with humility, and when we and we paint pictures of reaching to heights that we've never, ever come close to this is a lot more than simply saying, I have faith. This is daring God. This is trying to manipulate God, trying to coerce God into doing something that is not just impossible, but. Highly improbable. Now, one of the ways that I think of crafting objectives that are simple and measurable is that that increases the level of probability that these things are, in fact, going to come to pass. We can't build objectives on wild assumptions, and dare God to do the impossible that is reckless, that is careless, that is abuse of our relationship with God. Again, I don't want to discourage stepping out in faith, but again, don't, don't go over the top and dare God to do something that surely God has not truly led you into this can be very, very dangerous. Setting Great Commission Objectives, GCOs, establishing accountability. Effectively begins by carefully and prayerfully crafting Great
Commission objectives that are simple and measurable. Simple to provide clarity and understanding, measurable for accuracy in evaluating progress. Don't go off the deep end, exercise your faith, but exercise your faith responsibly with respect for who God is. Now, this completes our video on the subject of simple and measurable objectives. When we get together next time, we're going to be talking about the skill topic, quality and quantity, that balance between quality and quantity, both are important to God. Now, may God continue to bless you in your ongoing studies, may you serve him well in ways that bring glory and honor to His name. Amen