Friday, May 05, 2006

The Miracle Question

The miracle question is something I came across in a book called Quick-to-listen Leaders by Dave Ping and Anne Clippard. Dave Ping co-wrote Irresistible Evangelism with Steve Sjogren and Doug Pollock.

The miracle question is this:

Think about your church, your vision, your mission, your purpose, and your people. Then ask yourself this question:

If a miracle happened tonight and you returned to the church tomorrow with everything and everyone operating just the way God intended, what would be happening?

Now someone is bound to say: "That'll never happen in my church!" But that is not the point of the question. In the book they explain that most of the time we focus on the problems that surround us rather than on the solutions that are available. The idea of the miracle question is to move the focus away from the problem towards the solution. When we become solution focused, we see the possibilities, the potential.

It's always been something on my heart that the church can sometimes be in danger of seeing the world outside as the problem rather than the opportunity. I'm no evangelist, but if I can shift my perspective towards thinking about how my community might look if Jesus was both its leader and forgiver, then maybe I'll start to think more about how I can be a part of what God may be doing amongst the people with whom I share this corner of England.

I need to give the miracle question some thought.

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