Over the next several posts I would like to invite the community to join the call of the Christian to be a creator of culture – specifically the culture of the Kingdom of God. There are at least nine shifts which have been expressed by many Christians that the Church must deeply consider as we find the dominate culture around us changing so quickly, last week I wrote a bit about shifting from church focused to Kingdom focused. This article I would like to share a bit about moving from maintenance to missional leadership.

If a community is church focused then it is important to the church to maintain the church. So for the sake of maintenance of the church, leadership will avoid real risks and failure because it might result in embarrassment and a “black eye” on the church. However, if the community is Kingdom focused then it is important to the church to promote the values of the Kingdom of God. So for the sake of the Kingdom, leadership will embrace risks and learn to fail forward because it will result in an explosion of the Holy Spirit. As we look at AHUMC I think it might be good to ask are we maintenance or missional focused. Do we embrace risks? Are we willing to be embarrassed for the sake of the Kingdom? Are we willing to fail? Can we see the working of the Holy Spirit? If the answers are ‘yes’, then we should share those stories with the community. If the answers are ‘no’ then perhaps we need to shift our leadership focus.