God-Sized Goals

When sharing the vision for Disciple Making Movements (DMMs) most people are excited to hear what God is doing.  As a Christian worker, who wouldn’t want to see a movement of genuine Jesus followers?  We all do!  It’s not hard to get people on board with the vision.  It is more difficult motivating people to make necessary changes in what they believe and how they do ministry.  Many also struggle with believing it is possible to see these kinds of movements in their area, or through them.

Faith Is Necessary

Faith is a necessity as we talk about starting Disciple Making Movements.  I regularly return to Hebrews 11 to stir up my own faith.  Hebrews 11:1 tells us that faith is believing for things we can not see yet and verse 6 says without this kind of faith it is impossible to please God.

How does that play out in our daily lives?  What does it look like to be people of faith as we attempt to start a DMM?

Our faith takes shape in our actions and goals.  What we believe, actually believe, shows up in these two things.

I recently trained a group of church planters.  We talked about multiplication and movements, about disciples making disciples and groups starting groups. Everyone seemed on board with what I was sharing.  Then it came time to set goals for the coming months.  Suddenly, faith was tested.  What do I really believe is possible?  What will I attempt to do?

It is not easy to set God-sized goals that reflect multiplication.  We are afraid of failure.  We may not reach those goals.  If God doesn’t intervene, those things may not happen and I might be disappointed in myself.  Others may also see me as a failure.

Take Risks In Goal Setting

There are risks involved in setting faith filled goals.  Speaking out a goal and going after it feels dangerous.  There is indeed a chance that you won’t reach that goal.  There is also a chance that you will!  If you never attempt something great, you are unlikely to achieve it.  If you never ask God boldly for something, He probably won’t give it to you.

Why set small goals that are humanly achievable?! There is no place for God to be glorified when we do that.

We all know that nothing is possible without God. Not even small things can be done apart from Him.  So when we ask, why shouldn’t we ask Him for more?  It is going to require Him working anyhow.

The only thing that limits God is our own inability to believe in His greatness.

Does He love lost people around you?  Yes.  Does He desire that they be saved? Yes.  Is He able to convict the world of sin? To change hearts? Again, yes.  Did He choose you to bear much fruit?  Indeed.  So why aim for something less than a God-sized goal to see rapid multiplication?

I’m not encouraging foolish goals that have no basis in reason, or that we randomly pull numbers out of the air.  What I am advocating for is that we ask Him boldly for the things that He is both able and wants to do through us!  I’ve always liked the Schuller quote “I would rather attempt to do something great and fail, then attempt to do nothing and succeed.”

God is able.  He is ready to work.  Are we?

Set bigger goals, pray bigger prayers, and expect God to work in bigger ways through you this week!