RESOURCE: Andy Stanley on The Complexity of Purpose

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I spent some time this last weekend re-listening to a two-part Andy Stanley Leadership Podcast that I think you need to listen to, take notes, and put into practice. The Complexity of Purpose, Part One and Two, is so good and really too good to miss. It will have an immediate impact on your ministry if you’re paying attention.

Why do you need to listen to it? Purpose is so important in our role! It’s too easy to begin seeing the job we do as the end as opposed to the means to an end. And if we want to have meaning, we must begin to function as a means to an end.

What is the end? I think it will be be better for you to listen in and then do the work of figuring out the end for your ministry.

Can you see how purpose is so important in the philosophy of ministry discussion? If we don’t know the purpose behind what we do, we almost always make decisions based on the wrong things.

Here are the two podcasts:

Click here to listen to part one.

Download the listening guide right here.

Click here to listen to part two.

Download the listening guide right here.

Here are a few quotes I found helpful:

“Purpose is about becoming a means to an end that is not you.”

“Saying no to myself so I can say yes to something bigger.”

“Purpose is always found just across the border from what’s in it for me.”

“Purpose is the pathway to meaning.”

“Those who devote themselves to themselves will eventually have nothing to show for themselves.”

“The starting point for the discussion is the question, ‘Who are we here for?'”

“Begin looking at everything you’re doing through the lens of means.” For example, raising children is not the end, it is the means to an end.

“Pay attention to what stirs your heart or what breaks your heart.”

“At the end of my life what would I want people to line up to thank me for?”

“What leads you down a path to become a means to an end.”

“Purpose is often found at the intersection of a broken heart or a stirred heart and opportunity and skill.”

“Surround ourselves with on-purpose people.”

Additional Resources:

Andy Stanley: Random Thoughts on Leadership

Organizational Culture: Must-Read and Listen Resources

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