Strategy vs. Spirit

I am finishing my first year as the high school pastor at my church. In addition, it is the end of a school year, which makes it a good time for reflection. Part of my reflection focuses on the logistics of ministry. A lot of my first year has been spent on learning the culture of our church, learning the culture of the surrounding community, learning the history of youth ministry at our church over the past few years, and learning about the spiritual needs of the students I serve. One theme has been going through my mind more and more: simplicity. Don't do too much, and do what you do well. I almost laugh at myself as I say this, because this fall we will add one more thing to our weekly schedule. Granted, it's a sort of experiment to try to do something well that is a stated value of ours (in addition to anticipating the logistical difficulties that a church renovation will bring in the next year or so). But I wonder and almost obsess over whether I'm doing things right. How do I structure our small groups? What should I teach on during Sunday mornings? What needs to be tweaked, and what needs to remain the same?

And then it hits me: I am focusing a whole lot on what I'm doing (or not doing), and not much on what God's doing. With my mouth, I say that I simply want to be a part of what God's doing in our church and in our community, but with my actions, I plan, plan, plan, plan, and forget to seek, seek, seek God.

Now, I'm not saying that having a plan is not a good thing. Nehemiah had a plan when he rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem, yet he clearly relied on God each and every step of the way. However--to use the words of our missions pastor in his sermon this weekend--"We're so busy and we plan so much, sometimes I think we plan God right out of our lives." His focus was our personal lives, but I think it applies very well to how we lead the Church as well. There is nothing wrong with having a strategy. Just as studying for and planning a sermon does not negate God working in the process, so planning a year of ministry or a shift in strategy does not negate God working in the process. However, I know that I forget to seek God in the process. I love so much to figure things out that I forget that God already has things figured out, so I should ask him for his direction.

This isn't about balancing Strategy and following God's Spirit. (My loathing for that word--"balance"--grows stronger as I hear it more, by the way. As though the center is the place to be whenever two extremes are presented. The center is safe; being in the center is not how Jesus ended up at the cross.) Really, the way I see it, we need to formulate Strategy under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. When we plan, we have more margin in which to prayerfully discern whether we are following the direction of God's Spirit, which helps us to tweak or reformulate our strategy, which gives us space to discern some more, which helps us to plan, and...you get the idea.

I pray that as I formulate strategy, I will not forget this, "that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day" (2 Peter 3:8).

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