An implicit lesson I learned as I prepared for full-time ministry was that there are primarily four things that are the measure of success: buildings, budgets, baptisms and butts (in the seats). That is, we’re on track as a church if we have large and impressive buildings, a generous and growing budget, numerous baptisms and many people in attendance each week. Fortunately, I learned quickly that a church can achieve high scores in all four yet still fail at what matters most.
During this time of COVID-19 and racial reckoning, I’ve been thinking about the kinds of things we Christians and churches should be considering as the measure of our success. It’s clear that our assessments and discipleship programs thus far have, according to recent studies, produced disciples who still possess great capacity to treat others in dehumanizing ways and treat spirituality itself in very selfish ways.
Jesus teaches that life is about love–loving God and loving neighbors. Paul affirms this by urging that faith, hope and love are the most important virtues, the greatest being love. It’s a theme woven into Old and New Testaments. Loving God and loving neighbors flow from the first love–being loved by God. Experiencing God’s love leads to expressing similar love to him and to all others.
Thus, I propose that questions like the 21 below might better reflect the kinds of assessment individuals and congregations should be doing that can lead to the kind of transformation God anticipated when he first created us:
God’s Love for Me
- What priority have I given this past week/ month to fully accepting God’s love for me?
- What practices or habits have enabled me to sense and savor God’s love for me?
- Specifically, what forms of prayer have led this past week/ month to seeing myself as God does?
- How have I practiced self-care (mental, spiritual, physical and emotional)–the kind prompted by seeing myself as God does–over the past week/month?
- How have I actively addressed messages internally and in my culture/ environment claiming I am less than God’s beloved?
- How have I stewarded pain this past week/month, allowing God to use it for my growth while also engaging authentically in grief and lament?
- How have I listened to myself over the past week/ month and responded to what I heard?
My Love for God
- What priority have I given this past week/ month to fully expressing my love for God?
- What practices or habits have enabled me to express my love for God?
- Specifically, how have I practiced / experienced forms of gratitude and/or praise over the past week/ month?
- What forms of prayer have I engaged in that lead to expressing love for God?
- How have I practiced listening to God and responding to what I heard during the past week/ month?
- In what ways have I been tempted to treat spirituality less relationally: less of a matter of my heart (how I cleave to God) and more a matter of my hands (what I receive from God) or my head (what I believe about God) or my feet (what I achieve for God)?
My Love for Others
- What priority have I given this week/ month to selflessly loving others?
- What forms of prayer have I engaged in on behalf of individuals and groups, especially those who may not be like me?
- In what ways this week/ month have I thought or behaved in ways that reveal my own ageism, sexism, racism, xenophobia, homophobia or similar prejudices and biases?
- What have I done this past week/month to actively work against both personal and systemic ageism, sexism, racism, xenophobia, homophobia or similar prejudices and biases?
- What practices have enabled me to become more self-aware regarding things like implicit bias and other things keeping me from loving others fully?
- In what ways have I practiced listening to others, especially those who are not like me, and responded to what I heard over the past week/ month?
- What practices have helped me to be more hospitable, inclusive and compassionate, especially with people who may not be like me?
- How have I actively addressed messages internally and in my culture/ environment claiming that some person/ group is less than God’s beloved?
