OK, so it's December. And that means a lot of people who work in religious organizations are even busier than usual. But how come so many of them feel like the life is being sucked out of them during the OTHER 11 months of the year, too??
Too many faith-based organizations are captive to the consumable practices that have characterized life and work in this modern industrial era. We recognize them by their valiant but exhausting efforts to fill-in-the-blank for the sake of doing what they think they're called to do. You know how it works:
If we only had ______________________ (e.g., more money, more members, etc.),
then we could (e.g., be more effective, grow, etc.).
If you're a faith-based leader, filling-in-the-blank in the midst of this economic and cultural climate is probably becoming more and more difficult. It's time to begin making the shift from a consumable to a renewable way of doing life, work, and ministry together. It's time, in other words, to learn how to be who you are and see what you have for the sake of doing what matters.
Let 2010 be the year you decided to start making this shift.