O
n that day, I was frustrated. My eldest daughter had entered adolescence and was starting what I like to call her “war of independence.” I called a friend, and though I didn’t call him to talk about this, it was almost inevitable. He listened patiently for several uninterrupted minutes. Then he gave me the following nugget of wisdom: “They will grow up; the question is, will you grow up too?”To grow or not to grow, that is the dilemma. The Scottish author, Sir James M. Barrie, had the strange opportunity to define the psychology of this generation. Unknowingly, his children’s play, Peter Pan, the boy who didn’t want to grow up, became the drama played out on the stage of a society that exalts youth as an ideal and evades the challenges of adult life.
Resisting maturity is endearing as a fictional story. But it stops being amusing when it concerns real people or organizations. No one would name their church “Peter Pan Church.”
This also applies to ministry technologies. We are obligated to grow. The challenge of maturity is the fourth of the 4 challenges of using technology in your ministry. Este es el desafío de la madurez:
We need a maturity roadmap for ministry technologies to bear much fruit.
Maturity means bearing fruit
Maturity is the state of maximum vitality. This means that maturity is the stage when the most fruit is produced, when in the lifecycle, reproductive capacities are at their best. Jesus said:
By their fruit you will recognize them.
Matthew 7:16
We recognize a mature Christian by their fruits. But we don’t often think of the church in terms of maturity. Maturity applies to the individual and the institution, to the organism and the organization.
A mature Christian will reproduce in many mature Christians; a mature pastor will reproduce in many mature pastors; a mature church will reproduce in many mature churches.
The same can be said for ministry technologies. A mature ministry technology program can bear maximum fruit. A mature ministry technology program… you know how it goes.
Maturity is Biblical
Maturity is necessary. According to the apostle Paul, maturity allows us, firstly, to have a clear vision of progress and, secondly, to attain perfect knowledge. It is expressed as follows:
When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
1 Corintios 13:11-12
Vision and knowledge are the results of maturity. If you want to have a clear vision and authoritative knowledge of the use and impact of technology in your ministry, you need to have a maturity roadmap.
Maturity requires a roadmap
Although talking about technology maturity models is quite common in the field of informatics, I’m alarmed by the surprise of Christian leaders when I mention the topic. I often find myself trying to explain why it’s necessary to mature and have a maturity roadmap in order to mature.
Life has a maturity roadmap that we learn in elementary biology: every living being is born, grows, reproduces, and dies. There are even more detailed roadmaps with all the stages of life. In reality, anything that has life, anything whose purpose is to bear fruit, needs a maturity roadmap.
If technology is going to bear fruit in your ministry, you need a maturity roadmap. Having a technology maturity roadmap is essential for growth. A maturity roadmap puts us in perspective, allows us to know where we are, and stimulates us to reach our maximum potential.
I have developed a model which I call the Custom Maturity Roadmap™ in response to the challenge of technology maturity in ministry. This will allow you to assess your ministry and define the scope that technology will have within your mission.
Furthermore, I have published an expanded version of these concepts in my first book: Cybermaturity: 7 Steps for Ministry Technologies to Bear Much Fruit. Available on Amazon.com.
Contact me now if you would like to receive an assessment to develop your Custom Maturity Roadmap™ and how you could implement it.
Use #ministerialtechnologies on social media to continue the conversation.
Ya me suscribí para recibir mi mapa personalizado de madurez. ¡Qué buen trabajo estás haciendo! Sólo el bosquejo de tus charlas ya está bien detallado y despierta expectativas. Tengo que nombrarte mi mentor en el área tecnológica para aprender de “el mejor.” Que Dios te siga dando sabiduría para compartir el conocimiento que te ha dado. Bendiciones.
¡Excelente! Es muy importante crecer y madurar en esta área también. A veces, como iglesia, deseamos adquirir nuevas tecnologías porque pensamos que sólo por el hecho de ser nuevas y lo de moda, nos harán más relevantes y será mucho más fácil conectarnos con la gente que queremos alcanzar. Pero sin una estrategia definida, ni la madurez que requiere manejar tecnologías de punta, resultan al final en un desperdicio de recursos y frustración por no lograr el objetivo deseado. Definitivamente nos urge madurar en esta área y aprender a, efectivamente, usar todas las herramientas posibles a nuestro alcance para cumplir con la tarea que nos ha sido encomendada por el Señor. Gracias Vladimir.