Natural Church Development/Good to Great, Part 4

PASSIONATE SPIRITUALITY/THE HEDGEHOG CONCEPT

What are you passionate about? The bottom line is that if the majority of the people in your church can't give an answer that has anything to do with Jesus or church or faith, then you have a fundamental problem. According to NCD, 71% of church members in growing/high-quality churches report that "Times of prayer are an inspiring experience for me." In addition, 76% say that they are "enthusiastic" about their church. Contrarily, only 52% of church members in declining/low-quality churches can say their prayer life is inspiring and only 33% say that they are enjoying their church. Obviously there is a direct correlation between church growth and personal spiritual growth/passion. So as pastors and leaders, what are we doing to foster meaningful encounters with God in our churches? I think sometimes the problem is that we can get so caught up in making the programs happen and other things that cause "busyness", that we forget that it's all about meeting with God.

G2G states that organisations who make the jump from good to great all had a "hedgehog" concept, or a "simple, coherent concept" that drives every decision they make. There are 3 questions you should ask yourself to discover your Hedgehog Concept: What can we be the best in the world at?, What are we passionate about?, and What drives our resource engine? The obvious lesson is that passion is often a prerequisite to success. Passion for the things of God are a pre-requisite to a fulfilling spiritual life and church life.