March 26, 2023 - Pastor Message
04/18/2024THE YEAR OF MISSION
THE MISSION TO ACT (cont.)
“Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. But it did not collapse; it had been built solidly on rock. But everyone who listens to these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a fool who built his house on sand. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. And it collapsed and was completely ruined” (Matthew 7:24-27).
We have been reflecting in this column on the three steps necessary to effectively serve our mission - listen, discern, and act. In our reflection on the third leg of that tripod, Christian action, we have been looking at another three important steps - plan, execute, and evaluate. Last week we talked about the importance of planning before we act, without which our actions can be random, wasteful, and ineffective. Today we will look at how we execute our action plans, making our ideas a reality.
The greatest challenge to executing a plan is the inertia of inactivity. In science, the law of inertia states that an object at rest tends to stay at rest unless acted upon by a greater force. In terms of Christian action, that means that, when people have become used to not doing a ministry or parish activity, they will continue not doing it unless acted upon by a greater force - motivation. We can build motivation right into our action plan.
What will motivate the people entrusted with executing the plan to carry it out? While not exhaustive, the following can help: simplicity, communication, ownership, accountability, and a faith foundation. First, action plans should be as simple as possible. The desire to achieve everything in one shot can be tempting, but overly complicated plans often confuse people, leading to failure and discouragement, the opposite of motivation. Success breeds more success, so set people up for success by breaking complex plans down into simpler, more achievable tasks.
Communication is key. If people don’t know or understand the plan or their role in it, they will fail to carry it out successfully. Effectively communicating the plan to everyone involved and clearly explaining each person’s role eliminates this confusion. Communication works both ways, though, so we also need to listen to the people involved and incorporate their input into the plan. Two brains are better than one, and listening to others normally improves the plan while at the same time generating ownership and accountability. People who help develop the plan have a vested interest in seeing it succeed. It isn’t something someone else imposed on them but is their own idea as well, which is a powerful motivator. Bringing everyone on board also contributes to accountability. It isn’t just MY plan, it is OUR plan, and I can only succeed if everyone succeeds, so I will do what it takes to make that happen.
Finally, and most importantly, we don’t carry out Christian action just for ourselves or the other people involved. We do it for and with God. By listening, we heard his call to carry out this ministry or activity. By prayerful discernment, we figured out what we need to do. Now, as we prepare to take action, we build our plan on our faith that he has called and guided us to this action and will be with us to see it through. To overcome the inertia of inactivity, we need a greater force, and there is no greater force than God. We need to entrust our Christian action to him and rely on his grace in all we do.
Fr. Marc Stockton
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