Nor Cal / Nev College Ministries

This article first appeared in Pastoral Renewal, October 1980, Vol. 1, #4 and was adapted for a campus ministry context.

How to set goals and priorities that move God's people toward his purposes.

By Ted Engstrom.

Purposes or goals?

It is important for a discipler to distinguish between purposes and specific, achievable, measurable, and manageable goals. For instance, ask yourself if the following are purposes or goals:

• To glorify God through our campus ministry
• To be a mature Christian
• To teach an effective lesson in Small Group
• To be a good friend and helper
• To be a better discipler

It might surprise you to know that none of the above are goals. They are all purposes. A purpose, or aim, is something for which we ultimately hope. It is not necessarily measurable in itself, but is a clear direction toward which we wish to move.

Our purpose statements often fall in the category of things we want to be. To be mature, to be a better, to be a good - these are the ideals toward which we are striving. But it is our goals which help us determine how much progress, if any, we are making toward our "to be" purposes.

Below are examples of specific goals. I think you will readily see the difference between purposes and goals:

• To share Christ with a non-believer twice a week
• To spend 15 minutes in prayer each day
• To tithe a minimum of 10 percent of my income
• To eat with my discipleship group once a week
• To learn to fly an airplane by the end of the summer

Now of course no one can guarantee, for example, that eating with my discipleship group once aweek will make me a better discipler. But it does give me a specific, tangible means of measuring this important purpose in my life. Therefore, all of the above are measurable goals.

Communicate and Mobilize

It seems that God has so made us that we almost naturally respond with enthusiasm to something worthwhile, specific, and measurable to tackle. That's because good goals are related to faith.

A goal is a statement about how we hope things are going to be at some time in the future. It is a statement of faith.

Any statement about tomorrow is a statement of faith. This is an important concept. Don't miss it As the writer in Hebrews said, "Faith is the substance of things hoped for" (Hebrews 11:1).

Goals have the power to lift our eyes from the mud below to the sky above. They are a statement about what could be, what should be, or what can be.

Notice that goals are not statements about what will be. That is in God's hands. But they are statements about what we believe God wants us to do or to be, in light of his word.
Well-written Goals

Many may be asking at this moment, how do I start writing down goal statements? I know what we want to be as a campus minist:ry, but how do we develop the goals that will help us measure our progress toward what we want to be? Below are some statements that might help you.

Well-written goals are:

• Stated in terms of end results
• Achievable in a tirne span
• Definite as to what is expected
• Practical and feasible
• Precisely stated in terms of quantities, where applicable
• Limited to one important goal statement

Poorly written goals tend to be:

• Stated in terms of process or activities
• Are never fully achievable; no specific target dates
• Ambiguous as to what is expected
• Theoretical or idealistic

Too brief and indefinite, or too long and complex Written with two or more goals per statement

Goals may cover different time periods. You may have immediate goals for this week, month and year. Then you may have short-range goals for the next two or three years. And finally you may have long-range goals for five years or more.

Another way of looking at the characteristics of good goals is to use the following items as a checklist of questions to ask for any goal statements you have developed:

• Is this goal accomplishable: do you believe you can do it (under God's leading)?
• Does this goal have a date: will you know when you want to do it?
• Is this goal measurable: will you know that it has in fact happened?
• Does this goal have steps (a plan): do you know how to reach it?
• Is this goal claimed: do you know who will be responsible for the following the plan?
• Is this goal supported: do we have the resources to accomplish it?

The ABC's of Prioritizing

Now after you have set your goals, you may still have confusion and misunderstanding in the group if you do not prioritize theim Especially with limited manpower, time, and financial resources, it is important for us to determine the top items requiring our best efforts.

Here is a little prioritizing system that may help you sort out the most important items. It is simply called the ABC technique.

Start by making a list of all the goals that you have considered....

There is no reason why we have to have one goal that is our top priority. We are more likely to have a number of goals, all of which we consider number one.

There is a simple and effective way of sorting out in terms of priorities. Instead of trying to assign each goal a ranking number, assign it a value, an A, B, or C.

A - "Must do" or very high value

B - "Should do" or medium value

C - "Can do" or low value.

You can use the ABC technique in one of two ways. The first way is to go down your list and decide which of these goals you consider to be A goals. If it's a B or a C go right past it. Just mark the A's. Now go back to the list and decide which ones are C goals, low priority. The rest are automatically B's.

A second way is to pause at each goal and decide whether you think it is an A, B, or C.

It does not matter which of these methods you use. Some people find one easier than the other.

Remember, goals for which you have no priorities are useless.

Goals and Leadership

It isn't always easy to put flesh and bones on the exalted purposes which God has called us to in his Word. But developing achievable goals for these purposes and prioritizing them can be one of the most practical and measurable means of mobilizing believers to truly seek his kingdom and his righteousness.