Will You Dare to Dream in 2017?
“Dare to dream” rolls off the tongue easily; following through is another matter. It’s why thousands of people rush into gym memberships after January 1st and only stick with it a few weeks. After a couple strenuous workouts, they figure out that a new physique will cost them more than a monthly fee. What they really want requires way more effort than they’re willing to exert. Inertia gets the best of them, history repeats itself, and they remain stuck in their old ways.
Aspiration without perspiration always results in dead-end dreams.
As the calendar year comes to a close, I’m sure your heart is filled with a mix of ministry results and regrets. You made headway in so many ministry areas on behalf of yourself, your leaders, kids, and families. Yet, there are many others that still lack adequate vision, resources, focus, and support. It’s tempting to draw up a long list of New Year’s resolutions for your children’s ministry. You and your team long for lifelong discipleship to become true, but patterns from the past keep holding you back. You want to dream in 2017 (and be daring). Still, it can be hard to muster the courage again, especially because you know from experience that wishful thinking won’t get you from here to there. I love this quote by Eleanor Roosevelt: “It takes as much energy to wish as it does to plan.” Planning may feel more strenuous than wishful thinking, but the outcome is a much better payoff.
Daring to Dream Takes Discipline
The question to you as a leader isn’t “Will you dream?” it’s “Will you dare to?” A desire to dream isn’t the same as daring to dream. Lots of leaders have great ideas; few translate these into strategic, actionable plans. Without a target and tactics, the odds of hitting the mark remain slim. Good leaders know what it takes for dreams to become reality; great leaders actively partner with God and others to make them come alive. Ultimately, it’s a leaders’ discipline that makes the difference.
The Apostle Paul was a godly leader with a mission. He faithfully tapped into the Lord and other believers so that the message and ministry of Christ would change individuals and the world. Paul was daring. He deeply understood the value of discipline; he sought to approach every endeavor with consistency, determination, and commitment.
Without giving up, Paul faced varied degrees of opposition in every church and city he ministered. Jesus promised His followers this would happen (cf. John 16:33); Paul experienced it firsthand over and over (cf. 2 Cor. 11:16-33). Read Paul’s own words about what kept him going when the going got tough:
I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me. However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace. Acts 20:23-24
Paul loved to use athletic metaphors when referring to lifelong discipleship and ministry. The phrase, “finish the race,” means more coming from someone who has battled his or her way to the finish line. We can learn a thing or two about being daring from Paul’s experience and teaching on this:
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 2 Timothy 4:7
Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. 1 Corinthians 9:23-25
Paul’s exhortation in 1 Corinthians 9 is a strong statement to anyone claiming to follow Christ and serve Him in ministry. Discipline is necessary for you and your church to dare to dream in ways that honor God. He will bless your pursuits in powerful ways, but it’s going to require focus and full engagement on your part. If you want to dare to dream in 2017 so that you, your kids, families, and leaders grow closer to Christ, you’re going to need an extra measure of discipline.
What Are Your Discipleship Dreams for the New Year?
Take a close look at this 2017 discipleship dream below. What would it take to transform this from dreamy to daring?
In 2017, our children’s ministry’s dream is that: 1. Every leader we equip will follow Christ first, 2. Every child we reach will trust Christ personally, and 3. Every family we serve will encounter Christ in our church.
The three desires above are wonderful, but how will they become reality? Broad discipleship dreams aren’t bad, they just tend to be more like mission statements than crystal clear visions for ministry. The three-fold ministry dream above is a great starting point in the direction of lifelong discipleship. However, to make it daring will require strategic specifics and ongoing support.
Below is an audacious list of life-changing ideas that several children’s ministry leaders shared with me a couple years ago. These stemmed from their ministry mission and vision statements as new and additional discipleship initiatives. Read through them and imagine what it would take to build and execute a solid plan for one of these in your church this year.
We believe God is calling us to start up pro-bono legal services for families in need.
Our children’s ministry needs to re-focus on sharing the Gospel.
The Lord is inviting us to reach out to an impoverished part of town.
We’d like to start satellite children’s ministries in our area.
The foster care system needs our help. We’re inviting parents to open their homes.
Incarcerated parents have kids. We’re going to host events to reach them for Christ.
We were going to build a youth room, but the teens told us to build a preschool instead. Our kids care about the world, so they’re raising money to help children in Haiti.
No one is serving special needs families in our area. We’re starting a new ministry! God is calling us to give food and school supplies to kids on the other side of town.
Parents need a break. We’re starting up a free childcare service on Saturdays.
From Relational Children’s Ministry by Dan Lovaglia (pgs. 234-235)
If it’s been awhile since you and your team dreamed big in ministry, the examples above can help get your juices flowing again! This list is included in Chapter 11 of my book, Relational Children’s Ministry: Turning Kid-Influencers into Lifelong Disciple Makers. I inserted it into this post because we need inspiration from God and each other to dare to dream, especially when we’ve forgotten how. We also need equipping so that we will move from ideas to strategy, from strategy to planning, and from planning to implementation.
Daring to dream requires discipline and dedication to see the dream through from start to finish. Chapter 11 in Relational Children’s Ministry, “Recalibrate the Discipleship Target in Your Children’s Ministry,” is all about providing ministry leaders like you with a framework to move from good ideas to kingdom impact. If you haven’t already, read this new resource with your leadership team so you can dare to dream in 2017 together.
Be as Daring as God Calls You to Be
Carve out focused time to pray, brainstorm, and plan as a ministry before the New Year gets too far underway. Perhaps the Lord wants to confirm, clarify, or correct the path you’re already on together. Your discipleship dreams matter to the kids, families, and leaders in your church and surrounding community. You and your family of faith have a distinct calling, or God wouldn’t have placed you where you are on planet earth. Don’t spend time wondering what other churches or ministries are up to. Home in on who God has called and gifted you to be – then dare to dream in 2017. Here are some questions to wrestle with as you get started:
- What are 2-3 new areas of ministry focus that we could step into in 2017?
- In what way(s) will these impact lifelong discipleship in the lives of kids, students, families, and leaders?
- How are these potential initiatives aligned or misaligned with our current mission and vision as a ministry?
- How is God’s Spirit directing us through prayer, His Word, our church, and shared experiences?
- What resources need to be in place, and by when, for us to move ahead with one of these ministry focus areas?
- How will launching this new initiative affect our ministries and leaders that are already in place?
- Specifically, believing we have a “green light” from God, what is our plan of action for 2017?
I’d like to leave you with a passage to chew on. It’s one that helps me as a disciple and ministry leader stay on target. When I get distracted, tired, or derailed, this section of Scripture pulls me back to center. I believe the same can happen for you in your children’s ministry. Consider using this passage as a starting point for your “dare to dream in 2017” time alone or with your team of leaders.
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. Hebrews 12:1-2
There’s encouragement in remembering that we’re not alone in this divine race. There’s power in recognizing we have a unique path set out for us. And, there’s hope in trusting in Christ’s sacrificial example – He modeled for us what it means to “dare to dream” on behalf of the entire world. What better example could we have as we head into the New Year!
