{"id":36423,"date":"2023-05-08T15:19:48","date_gmt":"2023-05-08T19:19:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cccc.org\/news_blogs\/?p=36423"},"modified":"2023-05-26T06:26:22","modified_gmt":"2023-05-26T10:26:22","slug":"a-theology-of-strategy-development","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cccc.org\/news_blogs\/john\/2023\/05\/08\/a-theology-of-strategy-development\/","title":{"rendered":"A Theology of Strategy Development"},"content":{"rendered":"
This entry is part 1 of 18 in the series Faithful Strategy Development<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n

In a Christian ministry, everything about the organization should align with its Christian faith, including how it develops its strategy. That means, as ministry leaders, we need to think theologically about the way we develop strategy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are four theological truths that can form the basis of a theology of strategy development. Feel free to add additional truths you find meaningful and relevant to strategy formation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Christ Continues to Work in the World Today<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Luke says his gospel concerns only what Jesus \u201cbegan to do and teach,\u201d1<\/a><\/sup> and yet his gospel and its sequel, Acts, show that Jesus\u2019s time on earth came to an end shortly after the close of the gospel when he ascended into heaven. So how does Jesus continue to do his work?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Luke shows that Jesus continues his work through the Holy Spirit. The Hebrew and Greek words for the Spirit mean \u201cinvisibility, movement, power, and life\u201d and convey the idea of \u201cGod in action.\u201d The dynamic Spirit actively guides the church and our ministries, meaning that our strategy development process needs to take the Spirit’s leadership seriously, just as Paul did when he changed his plans and went to Macedonia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because Christ continues to work in the world today, developing a strategy for a ministry is a cooperative spiritual endeavour between God and the ministry’s leadership team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Leadership Has a Prophetic Role<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

People act in a prophetic capacity when they speak God’s truth into a situation. They might be speaking truth to power regarding an issue of justice, or they might be making sense of things such as Peter did in his Pentecost sermon when he effectively said “This is that”2<\/a><\/sup> and explained what the people were seeing and hearing that day in Jerusalem. Ministry leaders need to act as Peter did: discern God’s leadership of the ministry and then make sense of the ministry’s circumstances based on what God is doing.3<\/a><\/sup> This is the leader’s prophetic role, and it is one very important way they lead the ministry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leighton Ford offers a specific process to incorporate God’s leadership into strategy development:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cWe must observe<\/em><\/strong> carefully and prayerfully where people are hurting and suffering and longing, and what God is doing in the world, until in our hearts we are drawn to an area which may be God\u2019s vision for us. We need to reflect<\/em><\/strong> on what we have observed, praying and reading, thinking and talking, and perhaps writing in a journal, until our sense of call begins to emerge and we \u201csee\u201d what it is that God would have us do. Then we must begin to act<\/em><\/strong> on that vision.\u201d<\/p>\nLeighton Ford4<\/a><\/sup><\/em><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Ministry leaders can then bring their prophetic understanding of what they’ve discerned to the ministry team for testing, just as Paul did with the dramatic call to Macedonia, by leading the team in a group exercise of discernment and reflection. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

For example, at CCCC, we feel strongly led by the Spirit to serve all<\/em><\/strong> Christ’s ministries in Canada. In observing that Christ left the 99 sheep to look for the one lost sheep, we understand that every ministry, regardless of size, is important in God\u2019s eyes. For some small ministries, our membership fee, as low as it is, may be a barrier to them receiving our help, so we created the Web Membership to care for these small ministries.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Leaders, make sure your prayer time includes listening prayer and time for meditation on God’s word as it relates to your ministry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. God Honours Human Intellect <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Bible shows that God respects humanity, delegates to humanity, and equips humanity with intellect and skills so that we can participate creatively and meaningfully in his mission.\u00a0God has given us the what<\/em> to do and usually leaves us to decide how<\/em> to do it. There is room in Christian strategy development for both divine wisdom and human wisdom. It may surprise some people that divine and human wisdom do not have to be in conflict. The tension between them is resolved in another post, From Human Wisdom to Godly Wisdom<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two proverbs show that we should use our intellect when making plans:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

The naive believes everything, but the sensible man considers his steps.<\/p>\nProv 14:15<\/em><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\n

Without consultation, plans are frustrated, but with many counsellors they succeed.<\/p>\nProv 15:22<\/em><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Jesus affirmed the value of human wisdom when he told a parable in which a master commended his steward for using human wisdom to act shrewdly when he was called to account for his wasteful ways. The steward protected his future by forgiving people of most of their debt to the master, thus ingratiating himself to them for future benefit. Jesus commended the steward, saying, “For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light.” 5<\/a><\/sup> He similarly approved of kings who consider whether they can win before deciding to go to war.6<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

God expects us to use all our human abilities in his service to discern the specific plans the ministry will act upon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Self-Reliance Impedes God’s Work in Our Ministry<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If we believe that our ministry can only accomplish what we ourselves can do, we will only try those strategies that we know we can do and we will not see what God wants to do through us by adding his capabilities to ours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, our weakness is not a limiting factor in God’s eyes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness .\u201d<\/p>\n2 Cor 12:9<\/em><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\n

And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.<\/p>\nPhil 4:19<\/em><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

We do need to work hard at making ourselves the best possible servants of the Lord (\u201cBe diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed.” 2 Tim 2:15), but we should not be driven or consumed by our weaknesses. We should improve what we can, but our best mission progress will occur when we build on our strengths and actively trust God for our areas of weakness. Consultant Jim Galvin<\/a> says that sometimes we need to start doing something, anything, just to change where we are and help us to find a way to go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Honour God by actively seeking his guidance and help when developing and implementing strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Because the Sovereign Lord helps me,
    I will not be disgraced.
Therefore have I set my face like flint,
    and I know I will not be put to shame.<\/p>\nIsaiah 50:7<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Download discussion guide<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Conclusion<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As we engage in strategy development, we must stay open to the Spirit and the contributions God wants to make to our ministry’s work, making sure the entire process is in alignment with God’s ways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

From a Christian point of view, it is only when the direction and the method are in line with God\u2019s purposes, character, and ways of operating that godly leadership takes place.<\/em><\/p>\nRobert Banks and Bernice Ledbetter, Reviewing Leadership<\/em><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n

<\/div>
  1. Acts 1:1. ↩<\/a><\/span><\/li>
  2. Acts 2:16. ↩<\/a><\/span><\/li>
  3. Henri J.M. Nouwen, In the Name of Jesus: Reflections on Christian Leadership. 1989. pp. 85, 86. ↩<\/a><\/span><\/li>
  4. Leighton Ford, Transforming Leadership: Jesus’ way of creating vision, shaping values and empowering change. 1991, pp. 116-117. ↩<\/a><\/span><\/li>
  5. Luke 16:8. ↩<\/a><\/span><\/li>
  6. Luke 4:31. ↩<\/a><\/span><\/li><\/ol><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
    This entry is part 1 of 18 in the series Faithful Strategy Development<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>

    In a Christian ministry, everything about the organization should align with its Christian faith, including how it develops its strategy. That means, as ministry leaders, we need to think theologically about the way we develop strategy. More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":36512,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ts_fic_featured_image_caption":"Photo by hp koch<\/a> on Unsplash<\/a> White dove just about to land on the pavement beside a canal in a European City. ","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[623,663],"tags":[586,68,70],"series":[694],"class_list":["post-36423","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-healthy","category-winning-strategy-healthy","tag-faithful-strategy","tag-strategic-planning","tag-theology-of-leadership","series-faithful-strategy-development"],"yoast_head":"\nA Theology of Strategy Development - CCCC Blogs<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cccc.org\/news_blogs\/john\/2023\/05\/08\/a-theology-of-strategy-development\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Theology of Strategy Development - CCCC Blogs\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In a Christian ministry, everything about the organization should align with its Christian faith, including how it develops its strategy. That means, as ministry leaders, we need to think theologically about the way we develop strategy. 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Ephesians 2:10 Could the way our ministries do strategic planning quench the Holy Spirit? 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Don't let circumstances drown out God's call. Here's how.","rel":"","context":"In "Healthy"","block_context":{"text":"Healthy","link":"https:\/\/www.cccc.org\/news_blogs\/category\/healthy\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Chess pieces","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cccc.org\/news_blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/Chess-Pieces-Freeimages.jpg?fit=640%2C480&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cccc.org\/news_blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/Chess-Pieces-Freeimages.jpg?fit=640%2C480&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cccc.org\/news_blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/Chess-Pieces-Freeimages.jpg?fit=640%2C480&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9609,"url":"https:\/\/www.cccc.org\/news_blogs\/john\/2011\/11\/28\/strategic-planning-that-will-amaze-jesus\/","url_meta":{"origin":36423,"position":2},"title":"Faith and Risk: Strategic Planning That Will Amaze Jesus!","author":"John Pellowe","date":"November 28, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"How much risk are you prepared to accept for your ministry based on faith that God will provide? Do you have big faith that God will provide and then you act? Or do you have big faith that God will provide when you act? 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This ideology\u00a0is the driving force\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Healthy"","block_context":{"text":"Healthy","link":"https:\/\/www.cccc.org\/news_blogs\/category\/healthy\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Person talking","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cccc.org\/news_blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Person-strategic-Freeimages.jpg?fit=849%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cccc.org\/news_blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Person-strategic-Freeimages.jpg?fit=849%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cccc.org\/news_blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Person-strategic-Freeimages.jpg?fit=849%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cccc.org\/news_blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Person-strategic-Freeimages.jpg?fit=849%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":13926,"url":"https:\/\/www.cccc.org\/news_blogs\/john\/2017\/12\/06\/spirit-led-leaders-and-institutional-life\/","url_meta":{"origin":36423,"position":4},"title":"Spirit-Led Leaders and Institutional Life","author":"John Pellowe","date":"December 6, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Once a Spirit-led leader is hired, the stage is set for conflict with the powerful force of institutionalism.\u00a0The primary correction for institutionalism, a fixation on the past, is to focus on the role of the Holy Spirit in the life of the church today. 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