The possibility that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just—-Abraham Lincoln
It is a sin to be good—if God has called us to be GREAT!
Christians refer to Matthew 28:18-20 as the GREAT Commission, not the Good Commission. Jesus himself said that the words we read in Matthew 22:37 and 39 are the Great Commandments, not the Good Commandments. And the Apostle Paul did not call love something that is good; instead he said “the greatest of these is love” (I Corinthians 13:13). GOOD IS THE ENEMY OF GREAT!!!
There are a lot of good churches, good christians, and good people out there in the world—but how many GREAT churches, GREAT christians and GREAT people do you know of??
There was a study done by a man named Thom S. Rainer. He and many other researchers studied thousands and thousands of churches and their leadership to determine what makes a good church, braekout and become a GREAT church. A lot of the principles they found to be true, not only can be used to become a great church, but to become a great leader, and a great christian! They found a process that all of these churches went through. If you’re no longer satisifed with living mediocre, or believe that God can and intends to use your life for great things, then I think this Bible study will help you not only make the choice to begin aiming in that direction, but will also help you come to an understanding of what things will need to change in your life to accomplish this. There are many areas in my life in which I would love to “Break Out!” I’m ready to start yesterday! I’m ready to become Great for God, not just good. Good is OK-but isn’t great better? I remember when our church ran a christian school through the A.C.E. program. We had a little saying we would do in opening excercises – something we tried to drill into the heads of those young students. It went like this:
Good, better, best. We’ll never rest, until our good is better and our better is best!!!
Now if we want our children to understand this principle, then why have we settled for less—just because it appears to be good? Tough stuff, huh?
In this study, the desire of the research was to identify as clearly as possible, the events, patterns, plans, strategies, crises, and other factors that took place when a church made the transition to greatness. Now even though this particular study was done on churches that “broke out”, this process was initiated by individual leaders, which means that if you want to breakout in your own personal life, no matter what aspect or facet, you CAN DO IT! Learn from what this study found. These are principles that can be used by every christian leader. I know, some of you are saying–”but I’m not a leader!”. YES YOU ARE! If you are a Christian, you are a born again leader. It’s true, there are leaders and followers, but every Christian should be trying to lead someone—–to Jesus!. So, yes, in at least one way, you are a leader! Why not be the best at it.
If you want to breakout in your own personal life, then you will want to follow this study closely. The researchers found that every great breakout leader followed this same pattern–and it began with the ABC moment. The A- represents an “awareness” that something was just not quite right. It may have seemed OK, but it felt like things were not exactly to the fullest, where God intended them to be. The B – represented the ”belief” stage. This takes place when the person is willing to seek out and confront the brutal facts about his/her inadequacies. And thirdly, the C represents the “crisis” that ensues in that person’s heart because of this gap. It will typically lead that person/leader to seek help, to do a deep self-evaluation, or to begin a fast, or DO something—anything, that will promote a great change!
We, my husband and I, have recently begun a 21 day Daniel Fast, because we have come to this ABC place. We are totally aware that God not only wants, but needs to do something great in our lives. It has always be His intention and plan, but somewhere along the way, we began to slowly settle in for a little bit less. At first, I didn’t even take notice. I personally began to fill my life with work and things that aren’t bad by any means, but neither are they expedient. Some of these things were even necessary, but even in the necessary things, we can find the time to be great! Great in our desire to allow anything and everything about our lives and lifestyles to bring God not only good glory, but GREAT glory! We were called out, and chosen to do GREAT things for God. I’m tired of settling in for just being good. That sounds so odd, because most people just want to be thought of by their friends and family as being a good friend, a good mom or dad, a good christian, a good worker, or just an overall a good person. But I don’t—not any more. I’m tired of just being good—I want to be GREAT! Have your ABC moment and come follow me in the footsteps of other great men and women of God. Let’s pursue GREATNESS together for the glory of God!
