In his famous TED talk, author and former ad man Simon Sinek argues that the genius of successful companies is that they start with why. Unlike most of us, who try to win a hearing by explaining what our organization does, world-class innovators like Steve Jobs start with the purpose that motivates them. Sinek’s TED talk is compelling. It has been viewed more than 56 million times. It’s the third-most-watched TED talk of all time.
The only problem is that Sinek is wrong.
“Why” matters to ministry. It is devastatingly important to align, to the best of our ability, our purposes with God’s purposes, so that our bottom line does not become our plumb line. But Jesus’ ministry started with who, not why – with the person in front of him, in all their sweaty, frayed humanity. Before he embodied ministry, Jesus embodied love, receiving each person as a whole, beloved child of God, radically reframing how human longings, losses, and limitations should be addressed.
To Sinek’s point, “why” is a crucial question that all spiritual entrepreneurs must answer—but it is the wrong place for innovative ministry to begin. Ministry starts with Who—the God who loves us, and those whom God sends us to love.
Purpose matters in ministry—a great deal. It’s just that people matter more. One of the things hampering 21st-century congregations, which have become obsessed with their many shortcomings, has been our insistence on asking, “How can we build a better church?” That is the wrong question. The real question is, “Are we the people Christ calls us to be?”—human beings in communion with God and one another.
Our model (and indeed, our power-source) for such a compassion-driven, grace-drenched version of humanity is Jesus. Our vocation always involves becoming more profoundly like Jesus, divinely wired and earthly-born, made from mud but bound for heaven, one with God and one with all the world.
We are not called to build better churches. We are called to be better at being human, better reflections of God’s love, formed in communities of people stumbling toward Jesus, squinting in the dazzling sunlight of new life.
Want More? FREE Webinar!
Join Dr. Kenda Creasy Dean for a one-hour FREE Webinar “Don’t Start With ‘Why’” – hosted by Vibrant Faith’s Rick Lawrence, on Thursday, September 19 – 4-5 p.m. EST (3-4 CST, 2-3 MST, 1-2 PST). SAVE YOUR SEAT HERE!
Help Is On the Way!
Fall is fast approaching, and we innovative, practical resources that will help you infuse your ministry environment with “rich soil” for transformation. First up, Following Jesus is a curriculum resource you can use with both adults and teenagers in your church this fall—help them explore what an ABIDING/REMAINING relationship with Jesus is like. It’s an experiential, highly interactive, co-discovery way to invite people into deeper intimacy with Jesus. And The Life of Jesus TalkCards is a simple, devotional way to invite small groups into the heart of Jesus.
Dr. Kenda Creasy Dean is an ordained United Methodist pastor in the Greater New Jersey Annual Conference, and the Mary D. Synnott Professor of Youth, Church, and Culture at Princeton Theological Seminary. In addition to teaching in practical theology, education, and formation (specifically youth and young adult ministry, Christian social innovation, and theories of teaching), Dean works closely with Princeton’s Institute for Youth Ministry and the Farminary. Dean is the author of numerous books, including Almost Christian: What the Faith of Our Teenagers Is Telling the American Church (Oxford, 2010), Practicing Passion: Youth and the Quest for a Passionate Church (Eerdmans, 2004), and The Godbearing Life: The Art of Soul Tending for Youth Ministry with Ron Foster (Upper Room, 1998).
A Deeper Way to Lead Others Into Faith Maturity… Guide your people into depth relationally and experientially… A new curriculum by Rick Lawrence for both youth & adult ministries. Learn More Here