Celebrate Small Wins

Having worked in business and church I can say with conviction that in the church we generally do not know how to measure success.

It’s easy in business, you must make a profit or you will not stay in business. You can celebrate small wins because you know they are the things that move you toward making a profit. However, in ministry “profit” is not the goal. In fact, many churches continue to generate income through tithes and offerings while never accomplishing much toward their mission. This is partly due to the fact that we are not clear on our mission!

In his excellent book 7 Practices of Effective Ministry, Andy Stanley states “It is possible for a church to become very efficient at doing ministry ineffectively.” This is because we do not have a clear picture of the end. We must work with the end in mind, or as Andy says it, we must clarify the win!

Yogi Berra once said “If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will take you there.” That characterizes many (if not most) churches in North America. When we don’t know where we’re going, we never know what or when to celebrate! We don’t know what the “small wins” are if and when they come. Without celebration, people lose vision, hope, and motivation.

In a church plant, we must have a plan of action! That plan must move us toward a clear vision and it must identify small wins along the way. These should be the focus of our intercessors (please tell me you have an intercession team), and they should be markers for celebration. I encourage planters to maintain a 90 Day Plan and to update it monthly. At least monthly you and your team should celebrate the small wins!