Pursuing God’s Ways

As ministry leaders, we are bombarded every day with more tasks than we can accomplish, with endless urgent needs, and with books and podcasts offering leadership strategies. Beyond that, we have the pressure to meet an ever-growing budget while our fundraising appeals have to compete with the public’s information overload and donor fatigue.

What does God have to say about all of this? What does it look like to bring every area of an organization—from strategic planning to fundraising, from hiring to measuring success—under the lordship of Christ?

In reality, what the Bible says often challenges us. God seems to value childlike obedience over the very best strategic initiatives. He calls us to trust Him as our provider, even if it means turning down a donation or telling a donor our struggles rather than giving only positive reports. Sometimes—like when Samuel anointed King David—He would have us choose someone for a job despite their less-than-impressive resumé. We often hear Him calling us to be still and to take Sabbath just when we feel the most frantically busy.

It isn’t easy to pursue God’s ways, but if we want our work to flourish—if we want to see Him use us to bring about transformation in our broken world—then we must be both intentional and tenacious in seeking to understand and follow God’s ways.   

These are a few steps we can take to pursue God’s ways for our organizations:

Work out what the Bible says

It’s important to search the Bible for all that it has to say on a matter. When you think you understand a specific verse, ask yourself how that lines up with other parts of the Bible. How does it fit with Jesus’ life? Make sure to look for as much scripture as possible that might apply to the situation, and not stop at the first few verses (or the most commonly referenced). Make sure you read all scripture in context.

Create guiding documents

After searching for all the Bible has to say on a subject, create a guiding document that makes it practical for your organization—how does this principle impact the way we will do business, make decisions, or treat one another? This is best done in diverse groups who can challenge each other’s assumptions and help each other separate cultural values from biblical truth.

Examine your why

For all of your day-to-day activities and processes, commit to looking at your motivations again, asking, “Why do we do this the way we do? Could there be a way that better matches God’s intentions?”

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?”  

Risk looking foolish

Once we believe we understand what the Bible says, we are simply required to obey. Radical obedience may go against conventional wisdom and will sometimes make us look foolish to others. It isn’t always easy. But God’s ways are higher, better, and wiser than our ways.