Words to grow on
Outcome or Execution?
By Kirk W. Potter
Director of Retreat and Community Ministries, The Firs
“You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.”(John 5:39-40)
Have you ever noticed that under pressure something that you can do, have done, and have practiced many times, fails you? For me that was piano as a kid. No matter how hard I practiced, I often messed up at the obligatory piano recital in front of a room full of parents. We know this as the concept of choking under pressure. This, I recently learned, happens when under pressure our focus shifts from execution to outcome.
The same thing happens in our camps. We can focus so much on ministry as an outcome (running programs, directing staff, teaching Bible studies and speaking) that we can forget about the execution of ministry in our own life. If you are like me, when I read the Bible or have personal devotions I am always on the lookout for a passage that might be useful for staff meeting, speaking at fireside, a message in church, or the next board devotion. In fact, when I read this passage and the devotion that went with it, I thought this would be good to share with the FCC Executives at our next meeting, which I did. A self-fulfilling example of being outcome oriented.
As camp staff in Christian camps we should be driven to ensure that ministry is taking place at all levels of our operations, which needs to include our own time in the Word. We need to do this not just to be prepared for ministry in our camps, but because knowing God and growing in our relationship with him is his highest calling in our own life.
If you would like to submit a Words to Grow On devotional thought for Thursday Mail, write 100–200 words, include at least one Bible verse and send it to editor@ccca.org.
This devotional is published by Christian Camp and Conference Association. Learn More
