Hope is not a strategy.
Soon is not a timeline.
A colorful presentation is not implementation.

Hope is not a strategy.
“We really hope to pull this off.” “I hope to get to it in the next day or so.” “I hope that I have enough time between flights.” “I hope people will come.” “We hope that we budgeted enough to pull off this event.” As a leader you have heard these statements, or similar ones, time and time again. Everyone is full of that hand-wringing emotion that something may or may not happen. But as a friend of mine is fond of saying, “Hope is not a strategy.”

Our management team just finished constructing an eighteen-month strategic plan. We met with consultants to help us develop a strategy to develop “The Strategy.” We met staff for brainstorming and input. The consultants met with our staff. We met with the governing board of our church for direction and input. We met for hours and hours together to carefully craft clear and focused Strategic Priorities and Initiatives. God’s work is too important to sit around and hope what he calls us to do gets done.

The Christian hope is a substantiated certainty because God is a God of strategy. At the entrance of sin, he sacrificed an animal to make a covering for the parts of man and woman that would pass the sin nature from generation to generation. This system of animal sacrifice became the atonement strategy for the nation of Israel. But this was only temporary. The Old Testament system prepared the way for the Son of God to die on the cross for the sins of the world as a one-time-for-all-time Perfect Sacrifice. God did not sit in the heavens hoping everything would eventually work out. Salvation is according to God’s strategy.

Soon is not a timeline.
“I’ll get it done soon.” “You’ll be getting the e-mail soon.” “I will have all the information to you soon.” “Soon” is a fine word but what is the world does it mean? An hour from now? Later this afternoon? Tomorrow? By the end of the week? A month from now? Trying to determine the meaning of the word “soon” is like trying to nail the proverbial jello to the wall. Soon is not a timeline.

Timelines provide structure, deadlines, measurement, and accountability. That’s why so many people like to stick with “soon.” A timeline, taken seriously, means my 50 hour week might just get blown to bits. My day off might have to be put off. Some things I really like to do will take a back seat to the things I have to get done. A timeline is not just a target; it’s the bulls eye. With a timeline you can really tell how serious a person is about getting something done. Leaders will do everything possible to hit every point along the timeline. Wanna be leaders will do their “best,” make excuses for misses, and create a new timeline…soon.

God is a God of the timeline. When the right time came (Galatians 4:4) he sent his son. Not early or late, but according to his eternal timeline. And certainly God has a timeline for Christ’s Second Advent. Regarding Christ’s return, we are told to stay alert because no one knows the day or hour except the Father himself.

A colorful presentation is not implementation.
I enjoy impressive charts and graphs with color bars comparing pertinent information. I am a fan of a Power Point presentation. What a tremendous teaching tool. A well-done presentation portrays excellence and provides clear communication. But let me state the obvious, a colorful impressive presentation is not implementation. Far too many great ideas die right there in living color on the paper. Far too many strategies fade away when the “off” button is pressed on the projector. Presentations are easy; implementation is hard.

Recently our Management Team presented a six-hour update to our elder board on the progress we have made with our Strategic Priorities. We put together a great booklet complete with slide on one side of the page and lines for notes on the other. The presenters moved through their part of the presentation with the smoothness of a hot knife through butter. To say the presentation was seamless would be only a slight exaggeration. We kept those rabbit-trail issues nicely parked on a flip-chart for future consideration. We started each session right on time and ended when the allotted time was over. And as impressive as the presentation was, I sat there whole time thinking, “Man, we have a lot of work to do. I mean, we really have a lot of work to do!” A colorful presentation is not implementation.

I am thankful that God is a God of implementation. He did not leave his plan on the pages of the Old Testament. He burst through the pages of the New Testament in the form of a baby, who became a man, who became our substitute on the cross, and the one we follow from death to eternal life. God’s plan for you and me came to be through Jesus.