I heard a pastor say that he believed that 9/11 was a “historical shift.”  While I am not sure, as a historian, that I completely agreed with him, his point was well placed.  We are in a new time.  It’s a time that demands excellence in leadership and a willingness to replace past poor decisions.

            Jim Collins powerful book, Good to Great, postulates that for an organization to be great, a few things will be true.  For instance, great companies were “focused equally on what not to do and what to stop doing.”  So often in ministry and in life, we maintain “sacred cows” that have neither Biblical mandate nor effectiveness.  Collins found that great companies did not worry quite that much about what to start doing, but rather to eliminate the things that were of no use, time stealers, resource drains and the like.

            Another issue that this new time demands and that Collins discovered is that little effort is really needed for motivation or discovering new settings or dealing with change. “Under the right conditions, the problems of commitment, alignment, motivation and change largely melt away.”  So, if you are finding yourself constantly verbally attempting to motivate your “leadership” or attempting to create change, your organization needs a serious overhaul.  Rather than heading toward great, it is moving into mediocrity.

            A final point that Collins brings forward provides us with a great impetus for the future of the Body of Christ.  Our bookstores are filled with motivational works trying to demonstrate for ourselves how we have to be like the latest and greatest thing to come along.  Yet, we hear church leaders lamenting how they are not in a vibrant setting, thus it is impossible for them to succeed.  Collins attacks this notion with a wonderful quote:  “Greatness is not a function of circumstance.  Greatness, it turns out, is largely a matter of conscious choice.”

            More recently than Collins’ book, George Barna’s company has once again put forth some powerful evidence about where the faith is and where we must move.  His latest efforts, UnChristian and Pagan Christianity, Point further at the points Collins made.  We are representing the greatest thing, person, activity, reason anyone could ever need to “be in business.”  Yet, often when you consider “churches” or “Christian ministries” there is a sense of defeat or a sense of merely trying to copy the world.

           Sure, our “business” is not sexy, not hip, not riding a wave of popularity.  Most of the good to great companies that Collins found were not in hip, exciting fields either.  That had nothing to do with them moving to greatness. 

            It is a matter of choice.  A choice to move beyond 200-500 years of traditions that provide little relevance in today’s world.  A choice to maintain 2000 year old traditions that are our marching orders.  We are certainly in a new age or maybe only transitioning into a new age, but our great need is clear.  We must be willing to make changes to move from a good organization towards a great one.  If we are unwilling, the downward spiral that has been well documented by Barna, McDowell and others will remain unchecked.

            At Numinous, we are determined to not merely follow the world’s description of greatness or success.  We are not about building a great organization, but rather growing great people, people who pursue a life of passion for Jesus.  It is time for a new revolution to emerge taking the faith back to the vision of the Founder.  We can do this by being true to His words and His vision.