I firmly believe God often has a way of placing encouragement into our lives at just the right times.  Recently I received an e-newsletter from Leadership Journal with an article on “Missional Leadership” detailing some of the greatest challenges missional leaders face in the midst of a transition from consumer-driven to missional ministry. 

Following is an insightful excerpt from the article posted on LeadershipJournal.net (part of the Christianity Today organization) entitled The Missional Leader - How does a leader prepare to redirect a church toward its mission in the world? by Chad Hall, Leadership correspondent: 

Stamina required en route to better days. Since the transition toward missionality is complex, there will be great difficulties to endure. For leaders used to measuring success by attendance or accolades, they may have to endure desert days without those signs of success.Signs of health may get inverted. Attendance and giving may actually drop.This is what happened at Community Church of Joy [in Glendale, Arizona].  Breen says, “We lost a lot of people initially. That was tough, but eventually the levels of commitment went up, and today we have a more highly committed congregation. Our attendance and giving are still rebounding, and we have a much higher level of commitment in almost every measurable way.“Our average attendee gives 50 percent more than a year ago, we have more kids in Bible study, and more people in our teaching experiences. Interestingly, our demographic is shifting younger, because the younger people want a call to commitment, not another call to be a consumer. For them, being a consumer is not compelling. If we had not weaned ourselves of the consumer model, we’d never have gotten to the level of commitment we are today.”

Some of the biggest questions our leadership has been asking revolve around the issue of commitment.  Are we truly committed?  How do we live as committed Christ-followers?  How do we foster an environment of commitment?  I think we begin by demonstrating that commitment is not dependent simply on how we feel, but is truly about who we are.

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