The hardest thing to tell people is, “That’s a good idea, but no, we’re not going to do it.”
I don’t like disappointing people. I don’t like to be the one who rains on someone’s parade. I don’t like being the one who quashes new ideas. But neither do I want to be a “Yes” man or a people pleaser.
If I am going to accomplish the purpose of God in my generation, I need to know what to say “Yes” to and what to say “No” to. The secret lies in knowing what my purpose is.
I had a conversation with our youth pastor this morning about that very issue. He has an outreach barbecue planned for the end of the month. Someone suggested that food was not enough to attract the neighbors and what we really needed was a concert. When he asked what I thought of the idea, I said it depends on your purpose. You have to determine what will help you accomplish your purpose and say “No” to everything else that hinders you from accomplishing the goal.
A well-meaning soul suggested that what our worship services really needed was ___________. I said I would consider the idea. The more I considered the idea, the less comfortable I felt with it. Oh, it was a good idea and would minister to people. But it would require us to redesign the purpose of our worship services.
I routinely have people who come up to me and say, What the church needs to do is ___________, which being translated means, “What you need to do is ___________.” Once again, I have to go back to reviewing my purpose and what God has called me to do. There are countless good ideas and numerous ministries that could be done. The key, at least for me, is to determine not what I could do, but what I should do. Will this idea, ministry, activity, etc., help me to accomplish what God has called me to do? If it doesn’t, I have to say “No” even if it disappoints the other person.
