Progress versus Program

It seems to me that far too many leaders are looking for the proverbial “magic bullet,” that one program or innovation that will take their organization from obscurity to outstanding almost overnight. This rarely happens. Instead, study after study shows that persistence and patience are the qualities that leaders of outstanding organizations or churches possess. Jim Collins, the author of Good to Great (New York: HarperBusiness, 2001) reflects upon his research in preparation for writing his book. He says, in an online audio clip:

We learned in Good to Great, that in building a great institution there is no single defining action, no grand program, no one killer innovation, no solitary lucky break, no miracle moment. Rather, our research showed that it feels like turning a giant, heavy flywheel. Pushing with great effort, days, weeks, and months of work, with almost imperceptible progress, you finally get the flywheel to inch forward but you don’t stop. You keep pushing and pushing and with persistent effort you eventually get the flywheel to complete one giant slow turn. You don’t stop, you keep pushing in an intelligent and consistent direction and the flywheel moves a bit faster. You keep pushing and you get two turns, then four, then eight and the flywheel builds momentum, sixteen, you keep pushing, thirty-two, and it builds more momentum, a hundred, moving faster with each turn, a thousand, ten-thousand, a hundred thousand, then at some point, BANG!—breakthrough. (Jim Collins, “The Flywheel,” audio clip at http://www.jimcollins.com/hall/index.html, October 14, 2005).

Thom Rainer, in his book Breakthrough Churches (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2005), uses Collin’s methodology and applies it to a study of churches that have experienced breakthroughs. He observes that pastors of churches which have broken out of plateau or decline are pastors who have tenures that are much longer than average, and are men who just kept pushing. The statistics show that these men were often at a church for years before the turning point came and that it was not one program or miraculous revival that turned things around. Instead, it was commitment to the call, persistence in the face of adversity and patience in the face of panic. These men did not try to change the church overnight into something else, but they moved methodically in the direction they believed God was taking their church.

Having grown up in a Pentecostal church I have observed too many pastors and church members who believed that one great revival or employing the latest greatest innovation was going to miraculously transform their church into a thriving example of success. This is rarely, if ever, the case. Indeed, over time the failure of such hopes and claims have undermined the value of consistent and committed progress. The result has been cynicism and skepticism.

As Jim Collins states, the momentum for a breakthrough is like pushing a giant flywheel, it begins one inch at time before significant and self-sustaining momentum is attained.

Jesus began His public ministry at the age of 30 and for two years He walked the dusty roads of Judea preaching the message of the kingdom. At the time of His death He had only 11 loyal disciples and even they deserted Him in His moment of sacrifice. After the resurrection He appeared to five hundred, but only about one hundred and twenty obeyed Him and tarried in Jerusalem in anticipation of the coming empowerment of the Holy Spirit.

The beginnings of the church Jesus came to build were small and insignificant. He left a few people to carry the message and they faced extreme opposition, but two-thousand years later there are almost one billion people on the earth who claim the Christian faith. Jesus was wiling to move the flywheel one inch at a time. He was willing to go see one woman at a well, to heal one cripple at a pool, to lift one leper from his condition, and to touch the heart of one person at a time if necessary to illustrate the power of the kingdom, and to build His church.

Great leaders do not give up easily, and they are willing to move methodically toward the goal that they believe God has placed before them. Leaders who seem to appear suddenly on the stage of success have often worked in the shadows of obscurity for years before the flywheel began to move with the momentum that propelled the organization into greatness. It may begin with an inch, with slow steady growth, but progress in time becomes a powerful force that is hard to stop.

Wes Hardin is the senior pastor of the Word Vision Church of God in Macon, Georgia. In the winter of 2000-2001 the reports showed that the church averaged 264. In July 2005’s report the church showed an average of more than 570. I’ve known Wes for a few years now and I’ve watched the growth of the church. It didn’t happen all at once, but month by month with steady growth the church has continued to grow.

I recently saw Wes at a state function and asked him about the success of his church and in his quiet, soft-spoken, unassuming manner, he simply told me that they’ve been staying faithful and loving people and the church has continued to grow. It wasn’t an event, or a program, or a dynamic personality, but solid persistent and consistent leadership that has moved the flywheel an inch at a time. I believe the church has achieved momentum and in the months and years to come they will see even more significant growth. BANG! Breakthrough.

On the other hand, I watched a church explode in growth in just a few months from 100 to over 500. The pastor was featured in a prominent Christian magazine and became a speaker at some of our denominational meetings. Five years later the church, with the same pastor, is averaging less than 200 in worship attendance. Wes has never been featured in a major Christian magazine, but his church continues to grow. He is patient, persistence and consistent and the results are lasting.