Guidetokeepingscore.Pdf

Acknowledgments Thank you Todd Wilson for challenging me to measure what I say really matters. That challenging conversation on the plane was the catalyst behind the creation of this book. Thank you to Pat Masek whose nickname is “Getter-done” and this book is another example that she deserves the title. God was very kind the day he sent you to work with me. Thank you Carrie Larson for proofing the manuscript and making sure it's readable. You make things better. Thank you to Community Christian Church who is filled with people who love Jesus, his mission and want win. Thank you to the many churches that make up NewThing movements. I know of no other group that is as obsessed with movement making as you. You inspire, challenge and remind me that movement making is how we accomplish the mission of Jesus. Thank you Karen Pheasant for creating a cover that reinforces the big idea. Thank you Lindy Lowry for editing and making sure the world knows about this book – it’s great being on the same team with you. Thank you to Jim Sheppard of Generis, and my friends at NewThing and Exponential for sponsoring this work. Thank you to my terrific family: Sue, Amy, Josh and Caleb. Even if we are playing board games at the kitchen table you each want to win and we always keep score. I love doing life with you! 2 Foreword: Dave and I have talked about it often: We simply believe that too many pastors and ministry leaders have begun to keep score the way the world does. We have begun to measure success the way the rest of the world does. I believe there are three main guiding principles we must hold ourselves accountable to as we keep score and measure success: What Gets Measured Reveals our Motives Compounding our challenges is the fact that we don’t even understand our own motives! We don’t even recognize what is driving us. We don’t often understand why we do what we do. As pastors, the greatest battle we face is not a battle against our ministries. It’s the battle between our flesh and his Spirit. Why do we really care so much about how many showed up for church this past weekend? Why is one of the first questions we ask each other as pastors about the size of our churches? Why are the financial contribution numbers really so important to us? What Gets Measured Reveals Our Priorities Have you ever heard that you can tell a person's priorities by looking at two things? Their calendar and their checkbook? As ministry leaders why don’t we assess our priorities the same way? How much money have we invested into our worship experience relative to our discipleship efforts this past year? How much of our work week is focused on the worship service vs. the time I spend investing into discipling people? Are we more focused on the ninety-nine Christians or the one lost sheep? What gets Measured Should Matter to Jesus If we are to follow the example of Jesus, why is the majority of our programming relate only to Christians? Is the church as a whole guilty of being focused on itself rather than seeking to meet the needs of the spiritually sick? While so much fuss is made about fast-growing churches, is anyone wondering how much of that growth is actual conversion growth? While we are busy making church cool and relevant, are we also making it a hospital for sinners? From God’s perspective, who our church is reaching is far more important than how many we are reaching. All of this is why we must keep talking about the real score...the real measure of our success! Thank you, Dave. This is one subject we need to talk about again and again. We will need to read it again and again...because you and I...we need to hear this...often! Shawn Lovejoy Lead Pastor, Mountain Lake Church; Author, The Measure of Our Success: An Impassioned Plea To Pastors. 3 Table of Contents Introduction: A Scoreboard Never Lies Page 5 Chapter 1: It’s More Fun To Win! Page 9 Chapter 2: Exploding Scoreboards Page 13 Chapter 3: Confusing The Scoreboard Page 18 With The Scorecard Chapter 4: Keeping Score Page 21 Chapter 5: Measuring Disciple Making Page 26 Chapter 6: Measuring Mission Page 29 Chapter 7: Measuring Movement Making Page 32 Conclusion: Playing To Win Page 35 4 Introduction: A Scoreboard Never Lies A scoreboard never lies. At the end of nine innings of baseball, the scoreboard tells you which team won and which team lost. After 48 minutes of pro basketball, the scoreboard tells you how many points each team has scored. When time runs out on a football game, the scoreboarD tells you the outcome of what happened on the field. You may not like what’s on the scoreboard, but a scoreboarD tells the truth. The scoreboard does not tell the whole story, but it does tell you who won the game. A scoreboard never lies. The scoreboard read: MillwooD High – 38 Hugo High – 37 Unless you are really into high school basketball, you probably didn’t hear the sports story that came out of Yukon, Oklahoma. It was Hugo High versus Millwood High in the first round of the 3A State Basketball Championship Playoffs. Hugo was leading MillwooD 37-36 with less than four seconds remaining in the game. Hugo had the ball and all they had to do was inbound it and let four seconds tick off the clock to advance in the state tournament. Hugo passed the ball to their star forward who caught it under the basket. Since he was so close to the basket, he went ahead and shot the ball and made it. He raised his hands in victory and started running around the court looking for teammates to celebrate! Just one problem – the star forwarD just shot at the wrong basket and scored two points for the other team! He looked at the scoreboard and realized his team from Hugo High had just lost 38-37. As a parent and a guy who played high school and college basketball, my stomach sank and my heart broke for that kid as I read the story and watcheD the online viDeo of him shooting at the wrong basket and making it. But, he isn’t the only one. When I was in seventh grade, the best kiD on our Deer Creek Junior High basketball team was Jerry McGee. Jerry was an amazing athlete for a 13-year old, but the same thing happened to him. Jerry got turned around and also scored points for the other team. In Jerry’s case, it was worse; he actually shot at the other team’s basket twice (and made it once)! It doesn’t just happen to junior high or high school kids. Take, for example, Jim Marshall, a Pro Bowl defensive end for the Minnesota Vikings. You may have seen it on ESPN Classics when Marshall emerged out of a mound of football players with a recovered fumble. Disoriented and turned around, Marshall started running as fast as he could for the end zone. His teammates on the field and on the sideline were running after him, telling him to turn around, but he didn’t hear them. He crossed into the end zone, throwing the football into the air with joy, only to discover that he 5 haD not scored a touchdown for his Vikings, but a safety for the San Francisco 49ers. He looked at the scoreboard to see two more points adDeD to the opposing team. In each case, the number on the scoreboard was shocking. People didn’t want to believe it. But, the scoreboard doesn’t lie; it tells the truth about who wins and who loses. In each of those examples, the problem was not a lack of effort; in fact, the players involved were among the best on their teams! They were well-conditioned athletes who prepared, practiced and gave 100 percent. What was the real problem? These athletes got disoriented and confused about direction and, while they thought they were scoring points and helping to win the game, when they looked up at the scoreboard at the end of the game, it showed they had lost. The scoreboard never lies. Most pastors and church leaders I meet work very hard - in many cases probably too hard. The majority of these leaders are well prepareD both theologically and practically for ministry. Church leaders toDay are among some of the most highly traineD and most well-reaD leaders in the world. But, here’s the problem: Like the star forward from Hugo High School, my teammate, Jerry McGee, and All-Pro Jim Marshall, pastors seem confused and disoriented about their church’s scoreboard, how to know if they are winning and how to accomplish the mission of Jesus. Church leaders toDay lack confiDence and understanding of how they can put points on the scoreboard and know for sure their church is winning and advancing the cause of Christ. For most church leaders, keeping score is a mystery. I hear more and more pastors questioning, “Is just keeping track of attendance and offering enough? It seems like there should be more or different measurements. What about community transformation? What about issues of justice? What about sending out missionaries? Should church planting count? Should I stop keeping track of attendance? Do I dare not keep track of finances? How do we actually keep score as a church? Ultimately, how do we know if we are winning and accomplishing the Jesus mission?” For most church leaders, the idea of keeping score is a mystery about what really counts, what we should count and how to get points on the board for the mission.

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