Leader selects, maintains aim

A leader usually has an aim and a vision he is trying to keep. Selection of the aim and maintenance of your aim is the number one principle of war!

You must select your aim and keep at it. In line with this he selects his aim. It is important for a leader to select his aims and to stay on those aims till he has achieved them.

If your aim is to start and grow churches, stick to it! If your aim is to help the helpless obtain some tools to help them in their lives, stay with it!

If your aim is to start different branches of a specialised food joint, stay at it! You must direct your efforts towards your objective.

A successful military operation is aimed at an objective that can be achieved. War is aimed at destroying the enemy’s ability and will to fight!

Aim of war

That is the aim of a war. The war is deemed to have been successful if this aim was maintained and achieved.

The British military teaches that a single, unambiguous aim is the keystone of successful military operations.

Selection and maintenance of the aim is regarded as the master principle of war!

The Russian Armed Forces’ doctrine calls this same principle steadfastness. Subordinate commanders are to carry out the mission in the spirit and the letter of the plan.

They must not waiver from the plan of their superior. That means the subordinate must maintain the aim of the commander.

The American military calls this principle objective. They are taught to direct every military operation toward a clearly defined, decisive and attainable objective.

Selecting the aim and also maintaining the aim is crucial to every endeavour.

Today, the church has largely set aside its one and only aim to win the lost souls of this world for Jesus Christ.

Paul had this one aim: “For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2). Jesus came to seek and to save that which was lost. This is the work He has assigned to us. This should be our aim. And we must maintain that aim! Today, very few ministers of the gospel have the aim of only talking about Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Most ministers have new aims and goals that are not the bringing of the lost to Christ. Many pastors have turned into motivational speakers and bankers. May this not be your story!

The real aim of the church is to “go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature”. Our aim has been selected by the Lord Jesus. He is our commander. The least we can do is to behave like the soldiers who make sure they maintain the aim of the commander. It is not our place to change the aims of the commander who has selected the aims. When you shift away from your selected aim, you start to lose the war. Let us be determined to maintain the aim given to us by our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

Because the church has not maintained its aim of soul winning, preaching and evangelizing the world it is gradually losing the battle for the souls and lives of people.

The aim “Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel” should not be a forgotten instruction in many churches today.

Selection, maintenance

The first Gulf War was brought about by the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq. Iraq annexed Kuwait by invading a sovereign nation and simply taking it over.

America responded by fighting Iraq and driving them out of Kuwait. This war was over in a few days as the Iraqi forces fled before the Americans invaded.

Even though the Americans could have pursued the Iraqis and destroyed the Iraqi army they did not do so.

This would have been very possible for the Americans who were ready for a big fight. But they had to maintain the aim and the purpose of the war that they had embarked upon.

It is important for an army to maintain its aim. This is what helps the army to be steadfast and unmoveable. What aims have you selected for your ministry?

Is it church growth? Is it evangelism? Is it to catch the anointing? Is it to build a church building? The aim must be selected and it must be maintained!

Throughout history, armies that violated this principle lost the wars.

Do not become someone who loses his war because he did not maintain the aim. Remember that anyone who chases two rabbits will lose them both!
Your aim is likely to vary from your friend’s aim or your brother’s aim. Select your aim and maintain it! (Culled from “A Good General”)

The writer is the founder of the Lighthouse Group of churches. E-mail: theaol@ymail.com