I remember the first time I shot a shotgun. It was a 20 gauge. I was in the fourth grade. A can was placed several feet in front of me. My puny arms struggled to hold the gun level. I attempted to take aim; it was an exercise in futility. Regardless, I pulled the trigger and the can went flying across the ground! I hit my target!
When the can was brought to me for examination. I could not believe it! It looked like Swiss cheese! I was ready to compete at a professional level!
While I had fired pistols–and missed targets–I did not know a shotgun was more accurate at closer distances. So accurate was the dispersion of buckshot, a fourth grader–who could barely aim–could hit a can several feet away.
For many years, we have likened the development of church planting strategy and methods to the shotgun/pistol metaphor. We keep calling each other to be more focused and specific, rather than diffuse and spread out here, there, and everywhere. “Don’t take the shotgun approach!” we exclaim, “You’ll hit a target every time, but it will be one that you were not aiming for. Then you’ll claim that as your target. Not wise.”
And while we know we need to be firing pistols, we keep shooting shotguns only to draw a bull’s-eye around whatever we hit. What is worse, we sometimes use this as an excuse to give credit to the Spirit’s unexpected work. Yes, He does work in unexpected ways, but often it is through our planning and not our laziness.
Two of the reasons for the shotgun approach is that we lack focus and fail to do our homework. We see the can on the ground and start pulling the trigger. Zeal without knowledge is not a good thing (Proverbs 19:2).
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Don’t miss this week’s episode of Strike the Match. Brad Wall of Global Gates will be my guest as we talk about reaching unreached people groups in the United States. Subscribe: iTunes | Android | RSS
