Practical Steps to Pursuing God’s Ways

Practical Steps to Pursuing God’s Ways

Pursuing God’s ways is a lifelong journey. It isn’t something that can be completed and checked off a list. Here are some specific ways we can be intentional in prioritizing pursuing God’s ways in our ministries:

Work out what the Bible says

The Bible is our source for understanding God’s ways. So, in order to pursue God’s ways, we must first try to work out what the Bible says on a given topic. It’s helpful to search the Bible for all that it has to say on a subject, looking for as much scripture as possible that might apply to the situation. We shouldn’t stop at the first few verses we find (or the most commonly referenced). For each verse we find, we need to ask ourselves, “How does this line up with other parts of the Bible? How does it fit with Jesus life?” We also must consider the verses before and after the one we’re focused on. What does the verse communicate in the context of the whole passage?

Invite different perspectives

As we seek to understand what the Bible says and how that impacts our organizational life, it’s best to make sure we have people from different parts of the world and in different roles in the organization working on it. Engaging with people from different cultures and backgrounds—especially people who see the world through a different lens than we do—challenges our assumptions. This is the best way to find our “blind spots” and to see where our cultural norms may be influencing how we understand biblical principles.

Create guidelines

If we want to pursue God’s ways in organizational life, creating guiding documents for various areas of our operations—fundraising, communications, and human resources (for example)—is a good place to start. It’s an important discipline to sit down and struggle through what God has to say. These documents should outline what we believe God is telling us about specific areas of our organizational life. There are three steps we can take:

• Bring together a group to identify what you feel God is saying. Remember, the group should be as diverse as possible so members can help each other separate cultural values from biblical truth. 
• Together, the group should hunt out scripture or biblical stories that might inform organizational practices. Remember not to stop at the first few verses but to seek out all the Bible has to say on a topic. 
• Using what they find in Scripture, the group can write a guiding document that summarizes what the Bible seems to say about this aspect of organizational life and then answers the question, “How does this principle impact the way we will do business, make decisions, or treat one another?

Examine Motivations

When it comes to activities and day-to-day decisions, it’s good to ask ourselves why we do things the way that we do, and then see where the answers take us. What are our motivations? For any given activity—from receipting to paying invoices to organizing meetings—it’s good to spend some time pondering, “Why do we do this the way we do? Could there be a way that better matches God’s ways?”

Read and listen critically

What we feed our minds has a huge impact on our beliefs. So while we can get many good ideas from reading books, attending conferences, and listening to podcasts, we do need to be careful. We need to take time to prayerfully ask, “Does this align with what the Bible says?” 

While there is a growing acceptance of some biblical wisdom—for example, servant leadership—there is still plenty of “wisdom” the average author touts that really doesn’t line up with the Bible. As we read, we do need to take time to prayerfully reflect on each idea (especially those we want to apply) and ask God to help us see how (if) it lines up with the teachings of scripture.

Risk looking foolish

The wisdom of God is foolishness to the world (1 Corinthians 1:18-31). If we really are pursuing God’s ways, then some of the things we do should seem like foolishness. But are we willing to be foolish, to put aside conventional wisdom to do something that God shows us? It isn’t always easy. But God’s ways are higher, better, and wiser than our ways.

Conclusion

Many of us struggle with some aspect of pursuing God’s ways. If we find ourselves fearful, anxious, or confused as we seek to implement any of these practical steps, the best thing we can do is to pray and listen—to spend time in our Father’s presence. At the same time, we do need to walk forward in faith to pursue God’s ways even when it feels uncomfortable. Our obedience opens the way for God to show Himself faithful and replace our fears with freedom.