MikeThe Present Future is a powerful resource for church leaders. McNeal can be helpfully provocative, as seen in the following paragraph:
Occasionally, when I do consulting for congregations I insist that the church leaders meet off-campus in a restaurant during Sunday church time. I ask the group to look around and then pose the question to them: “Do you think these people struggled with a decision this morning of whether to attend church or go out for a sausage biscuit?” Are you kidding? The church is not even on their screen.The “sausage biscuit” question may not be particularly eye-opening for you, but what about others in your church or ministry? Do they think that most of the people in your community still have good intentions to attend worship on the weekend? If this question isn’t important in your context, are there other deeply held but inaccurate beliefs that are keeping your ministry from moving toward God’s preferred future? Human beings have a tremendous capacity to insulate themselves from information that doesn’t fit their view of the world or that makes them uncomfortable. One of the most important jobs for a leader is to paint a clear picture of “current reality.” This painting exercise may not be easy or popular, but it’s essential. As long people in your organization hold onto outdated or distorted views, you will find it very difficult to create excitement and energy around a new vision. You could ask your leadership team to read and discuss The Present Future together, and it would be a fruitful exercise. But notice that McNeal’s field trip to a fast food restaurant creates an experience. In doing so, he makes current reality much more tangible and much harder to deny. So what perspectives do you need to challenge with a dose of current reality? And how can you create experiences that will help change those viewpoints? Think about that over your next sausage biscuit. It’s easy to receive my blogs by email. Just sign-up on Feedburner by clicking here.]]>
