Does 'winnning at all costs' have value?

“Win at all costs.”  This is the overarching vision of the Essendon Football Club last year. Did Essendon and James Hird go too far? Were they so committed to the vision that it caused them to take performance-enhancing drugs? We may never know the truth about what happened at Essendon but it did get me thinking about a few things. Firstly it is important for an organization to have clear vision that reflects what it believes and where it is attempting to go. This applies to the developing Amana Living mission. The vision I believe God has given us is for “People to be blessed by serving”. I am not exactly sure of the precise steps involved in developing this mission but that is not the point. When Jesus first called the disciples he said, “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” I have never read in the Bible where Jesus said “Follow me, we will walk up and down the country together, I will teach you, you will want to leave me, you eventually will abandon me because my teaching is too difficult and I will get crucified, then I will be resurrected and then you will all die for your faith, oh except for you Johnny boy, you will just be persecuted and shoved on an island to die naturally and you will be fishers of men.” The vision is what counts. This is what should move us into action, not the plan or strategy. People are blessed when we serve and we are blessed when we serve. The vision for the Amana mission is clear and the rough plans are taking place.We had 30 people for a BBQ at our house after last week’s baptism to start building a potential team. Many more dreams, plans and ideas will take place but they must fit under the vision of “People being blessed by serving”.The second thought that struck me about the Essendon saga is the lack of character displayed. It doesn’t matter if you are the most skilled operator, what really counts is the character of a person. Before going into the ministry full time, I was taught continually that good character trumps skills. In the business world we hire on skill and sack on character. We should hire on character and teach the skill. This is exactly what Jesus did when developing his disciples. Character training in the work place and in our families is a must and it goes without saying that one of the major roles of the church is to develop people’s character to be more Christlike. It is important that we are continually reformed by God’s word and to be open to His Spirit’s promptings that encourage and rebuke us to develop a Godly character.If you would like to be involved in the Amana mission, please don’t hesitate to talk with me. Please continue in prayer for my family as we dream about how God will use us to bless people by serving. Please also pray that He will develop a Christlike character within all of us involved in the Amana mission so we can have the privilege of being involved in his good and perfect plans.Blessings, James