Teaching With Vision & Purpose

No this isn't a lesson or devotional.  This is something I've been thinking very hard on for about 2-3 months.  About a month ago I finally realized God was telling me something; of course it didn't hurt that certain people said some things from time to time that returned me to the subject of teaching with vision.

For the past two weeks Paul (the lead pastor) and I have been talking about this. A lot of interesting things have come from those discussions.

Here's some of the things God has made extremely clear to me.  A lot of pastors talk at their church but never talk to their church (youth pastors included).  A lot of pastors pick the topics they speak about very haphazardly.  A lot of pastors see people in black and white and really don't know what to do with those who are somewhere in the gray and are unable to be instantly fit into the church stereotype of "spiritually mature".

A few things I've been "shown" about the teaching ministry of the church is the following:

1. The leaders need to know where the flock is and know how to give them right steps to go where they should be.
2. An accurate view of Christ that combats the myths/misconceptions about Christ needs to be taught from a very culturally relevant perspective (combating today's misconceptions of Christ). This is deeply connected with the Gospel and a powerful way to create a platform for introducing people to the real Christ and inviting them to enter into a relationship with Him.
3. An accurate view of what it means to be connected to the local church (local body of believers) to combat the unbiblical style of "church" being practiced today.  Every member should be an active partner in a ministry within the church.
4. I think until the teaching ministry has truly "taught" #2 and #3 all other things being taught will be fruitless.  Sort of like trying to cure cancer with a bandaid.

I'm not saying these things because I've figured it all out, but this has been passing through my mind for some time now.  

I would LOVE to hear your thoughts!

Why? Vision Casting, Part 2

Why? Vision-casting continues with asking the question why? You will not know why you should do something until you know:

1. Why is what we're going to do important?
2. Why does what we're going to do matters?
3. Why is what we're going to do worth the effort?
   

Knowing the answers to "why" exceeds the simple answer of "because God says so". Yes, what God commands is important but passion is understanding God-given desires. These unique God-given passions influence how we view our purpose.

When looking at your ministry team knowing people's passions is essential on multiple levels. For one, people are more effective when they're excited about what they're doing and people are more excited about what they're doing when they know why they're doing it, why it matters, and why it's worth the effort. Also, our passions often expose our strengths and weaknesses. Where one person might be weak on your team hopefully someone else is strong.

Also see:
What? Vision-Casting, Part 1
Youth Ministry Vision-Casting, Part 1
Youth Ministry Vision-Casting, Part 2
Youth Ministry Vision-Casting, Part 3