Biblically, ministry “success” is defined by sustained effectiveness:

… I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit – fruit that will last. (John 15:16)

Historically, many Christian ministries have done well for a limited time – often by the sheer vision and sweat of the founder. The founder’s presence and energy lasted for a while, but it didn’t last forever! In order to have sustained and increasing effectiveness, organizational capacity must be built – in addition to effective ministry being accomplished.

We cannot only focus on fruit – we must also focus on capacity. This is an imperative paradigm shift for Christian ministries (and for funders), since they are usually so focused on the short-term, frontline work that they ignore long-term capacity-building – an oversight that, if left too long, will inevitably (and, often irrevocably) undermine and damage the work, many times even destroying it altogether.

LeaderSource has developed the “Four Perspectives Model” to address this (see download). This model, which is derived from the “Balanced Scorecard” concept, helps a ministry define the key elements that must be in place for sustained and continually-improving success. In addition, the model helps the ministry to define, on the basis of the key elements, the critical measures by which organizational capacity can be evaluated.

Thus, the ministry can build an organizational capacity that is visionary, holistic and accountable:

• • Visionary – everything the organization does must be linked directly and essentially to the vision.
  • Holistic – the strategy must encompass every aspect of the organization (not only the frontline work), creating, sustaining and increasing the organizational capacity to do the frontline work and fulfill the vision.
  • Accountable – the ministry knows what can and should be evaluated (the key indicators of success), establishing clear accountability and not only validating the work, but also revealing the weak spots and their causes and enabling them to be addressed.

According to LeaderSource’s “Four Perspectives Model,” there are four main perspectives that must be addressed:

1. 1. Resources – the core ingredients necessary to fulfill the vision.
   2. Internal Operations – the core internal tools, processes, disciplines and behaviors necessary to fulfill the vision.
   3. Learning and Innovation – the core competencies, insights and innovations necessary to be learned and encouraged, to sustain and increase the ministry impact.
   4. Ministry Impact – the core ministry outputs and outcomes necessary to fulfill the vision.

Just as a mousetrap has four irreducible, basic components (spring, platform, bait and catch) and all four are necessary, so all four perspectives must be addressed in a Christian ministry.

As mentioned previously, traditionally, Christian ministries have tended to focus almost exclusively on Ministry Impact (the frontline work), while giving comparatively little attention to the other perspectives and, thus, compromising the overall health, effectiveness and sustainability of the ministry.

Here are some illustrations:

• • A church-planting ministry sends out a small team to a new area where there are unreached people. After six months, the team returns home because they have run out of money, in spite of the fact they have enjoyed a high degree of initial success in their work. The problem: resources.
  • Another church planting team elsewhere is experiencing trouble of a different kind. There is conflict between team members, but no one knows how to resolve it or who to go to for help. Eventually, the team dissolves. The problem: internal operations.
  • A youth ministry is experiencing great success in reaching large numbers of the young people in their city. However, several years later, the ministry is rapidly declining because their core strategies are outdated and irrelevant. The problem: learning and innovation.

Thus, a Christian ministry must focus on (define, execute and evaluate) not only the results of the work, but also their capacity to continue to do that work well and to improve. In short, the ministry must integrate focus between capacity-building (the first three perspectives) and ministry impact (the fourth perspective).

By doing this, we can define not only the outcomes, but also the key factors that lead to those outcomes. Moreover, everyone can then focus on the essentials, thereby ensuring both effectiveness and sustainability.

Traditional thinking says that every resource spent on organizational capacity takes away from the frontline achievement of the vision. The “Four Perspective Model” reveals that this is not so. The Christian ministry must do the work and build the capacity to do the work, at the same time. When all four perspectives are effectively addressed, the ministry can be sustained and increase.

This is true for all Christian ministries. In particular, an “effective” leader development ministry will be one that defines, evaluates and addresses the specific elements in all four perspectives that are critical for ongoing ministry success.