September 2022 | Discipline
As CDA Miami leaders we should always strive to be and do better as a church. As we look across our organization things have gotten much better in every area. But the truth is that the ultimate goal is not simply to get better, the goal is to become extraordinary. Becoming an extraordinary church is not just the result of doing better it’s the result of consistently seeking ways to do even better. It’s the result of not simply settling into our recent improvements. Instead, it’s the constant pursuit, and continually asking ourselves, how can we do even better that will enable us to become an extraordinary church.
The problem is that the motivation that inspired us to pursue doing better is not going to be enough to lead us to become an extraordinary organization. If we’re ever going to reach the ultimate goal of becoming an extraordinary church we’re going to need more than motivation and inspiration were going to need to become disciplined. The difference between a better organization and an extraordinary organization is discipline. Motivation will get us going but it’s discipline that will determine if we’ll be a good church or an extraordinary church.
What is discipline? Ask ten people to define discipline and you’ll probably end up with ten different answers. Allow me to give you a very simple and narrow definition of what I mean by discipline. Discipline is the commitment to saying yes to the one thing and no to everything else. There will always be temptations, distractions, opportunities, discouragement, and fatigue but discipline causes us to prioritize the one thing over everything else. It’s a simple concept but a difficult one to consistently implement. But it’s discipline that we need to kick in when motivation fades out. And, more importantly, it’s discipline that will eventually lead us to our ultimate goal of not becoming just a better church but rather an extraordinary one.
Discipline is not a quality any one of us is born with it’s a quality that you must learn and develop. In the very first chapter of the Book of Proverbs Solomon writes: These are the proverbs of Solomon, David’s son, King of Israel. Their purpose is to teach people wisdom and discipline, to help them understand the insights of the wise. Their purpose is to teach people to live disciplined and successful lives, – Proverbs 1: 1-3 NLT
How do we learn and develop discipline? First, we must learn to be wise. A wise person is the one who knows what’s right and does what is right. It’s not about how much you know but rather what you do with what you know. Second, as you practice being a wise person you begin to develop discipline. Because wisdom will always lead you to say yes to the one thing and no to everything else. Developing discipline is kind of like developing your physical muscles, initially you’ll need the cooperation of other muscles to build up the undeveloped ones. Wisdom is the muscle that helps us to build the undeveloped muscle of discipline in our lives.
Discipline is built within the framework of freedom and responsibility. Freedom allows you to choose anything you want to do but responsibility causes you to do what you’re supposed to do. Therefore, to develop discipline you’ll need to clearly define your responsibilities. When we don’t have clearly defined responsibilities it’s always easy to excuse our irresponsibility and it also allows us to blame others. But when our responsibilities are specific we eliminate the option to give excuses and blame others. Clearly defined responsibilities are a big step towards living a disciplined life.
Doing better is great but better is not our goal, becoming an extraordinary church is our goal and extraordinary requires that we consistently do better. And the consistency that leads to extraordinary can only be achieved by living disciplined lives.