Process, Not Results
The Bulletin, 1/27/25
Humans are results-oriented creatures. We want to win the game, achieve the health goal, get the promotion, and so forth. This makes us prone to all-or-nothing thinking, when in reality we have to orient ourselves to focusing on the little things if we want more sustainable success.
For example, people who have a weight loss goal often end up putting the weight back on, because they viewed the goal as an end in itself. Instead, they should have started with a focus on process, thinking of themselves as healthy people who do the kinds of things healthy people do. This way they would likely reach the goal, but in a sustainable way.
The ultimate example of this can be found in Daniel 3:16-18.
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were not worried about avoiding the fiery furnace. They did not try to get a favorable result by demanding God give it to them or by giving in and sinning. Instead, they placed that result squarely in God’s hands while they focused on handling their process properly.
They were able to do this because they had long had their processes dialed in properly. One time goals and desires are fleeting, but processes can carry us for years.
Similarly, our spiritual lives would benefit from us being process-oriented people rather than results-oriented people.
Maybe you have a goal to get through the Bible in a year. That’s a goal countless people set and then fail to reach each year, eventually giving up and missing plenty of days as their goal is no longer in reach.
Instead, work to build the habit of daily Bible reading. Once you have that, work to stretch out your time spent reading. It’s far more important to build a better process and increase your time in the Word than to try to perfectly hit a one-time goal.
Or, maybe you have an evangelistic target but you’re worried you might push them away if you bring up Jesus. But evangelistic results are out of our control. All we can do is consider our process
Yes, we want to get through the Bible, bring people to Christ, and so forth. But putting the right processes in place has a way bigger impact than simply reaching a goal.
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Thank you Jack, this is helping me to see that my goals may not have had real outcomes, mostly because I didn't focus on the process enough.
I did find this sentence to be an excellent challenge, "Instead, they placed that result squarely in God’s hands while they focused on handling their process properly."
"Dialing in" our process as a congregation, or eldership or individual, can be more difficult than we realize. Like Daniel and his friends, who knew what type of a leader Nebuchadnezzar was, prepared for what they would face in the future.
So, how do we prepare for our future and not let apathy or complacency grow out of the fear of past and possible future failures? I would love to hear more about how we can "dial in" our process. Certainly ignorance of the scripture is the first step, as you have said many times before, but what do we do when ignorance is not the issue?
Thank you again for your Bible 101 posts.
RE: It’s far more important for the mind of Christ’s indwelling Holy Spirit to try to build a better carnal-minded process that could increase your time in the Word than for Him to have you lukewarmly continue with the impotent carnal-minded process that fails to perfectly hit a one-time self righteous goal.
Or, maybe you self righteously have an evangelistic target but your unregenerate carnal-mind is worried that you might push them away if you bring up Jesus. But evangelistic results are out of our flesh’s self-willed control. All we can religiously do is consider our carnal minded process.
Yes, we want to get through the Bible, bring lukewarm foolish virgins in Lucifer’s Laodicean Church to Christ, and so forth. But putting the right carnal-minded processes in place has a way bigger impact than simply reaching a fleshly goal.