Command Intent

Sometimes Christian churches bog down because of confusion over the role of the pastor. This is especially true when a church is trying to get in the mainstream of the Great Commission to make disciples for Jesus Christ. Some congregations expect the pastor to do everything. Any project or ministry needs to be generated by the pastor, promoted by the pastor, staffed and equipped at the pastor's initiative, and carried out by the pastor. In defense of those congregations, many of us who are pastors are too quick to jump in and micromanage everything in the church's ministry. This usually means that we are getting in the way of someone whom God has equipped and called to do a particular service in the Body of Christ. A pastor-dependent church rarely grows. In some congregations the pastor essentially is powerless, reduced to a chaplaincy role of providing comforting messages, baptizing babies, presiding at weddings, and conducting funerals. Sometimes this is by the congregation's design, sometimes it happens at the pastor's initiative, sometimes it's a combination of both. A congregation without a pastor's vision and active leadership rarely grows.

So how does a pastor lead, without micro-managing and doing ministry for the congregation, and without abdicating a needed, central leadership role.

The military has a concept known as commander's intent. (See MADE TO STICK: Why Some Ideas Take Hold and Others Come Unstuck. Chip and Dan Heath. Arrow Books, 2008. pp. 26 ff.) Commander intent "is a crisp, plain talk statement that appears at the top of every order, specifying the plan's goal, the desired end-state of an operation." A statement of command intent may be something like, "Drive the enemy out of the southeast sector." While stating a desired outcome, the statement does not detail-out how every unit will contribute to that goal, given the variables that may affect the process of the operation. Assessing its position and role in the operation, any given unit leader will have to make decisions, set sub-goals, and act, based on clear awareness of the command intent, and realization of how his/her unit will contribute to the end goal. This happens without the commander spelling out the specifics for that unit necessarily, but with the unit leader's awareness of the commander's intent.

I think there's an analogy here for the mission of churches. Instead of ministry paralysis, waiting for the pastor to spell out details, give approval of details, or to lead the specific completion of those details, what if church leaders had a clear sense of command intent? What if church leaders took initiative and authority, acting on ministry opportunities as they presented themselves? What if they spent more time reporting to the pastor what has been done, is being done, or will be done to fulfill command intent, rather than assigning details to the pastor or waiting for the pastor to create or approve-of details before proceeding?

What do you think? Am I on to something, or way off base here? Something to think about on down the river...