The Power of 1%

We all hear the call of the Scriptures!

“For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (‭‭2 Peter‬ ‭1‬:‭5‬-‭8)‬

But sometimes we are squashed by it.

We all hear the call of the preachers!

Read your Bible everyday.
Get to church every week.
Share the gospel with everyone.
Pray with your kids every night.
Pursue godliness in every moment.

But sometimes guilt and shame are the only outcome.

I am often an optimist and an idealist in leadership and in the pulpit. I have firmly preached ideals. I have called people to absolutes. (In some cases, of course, this may be justified as in the case of a man in adultery! But not always!) I have pitched unrealistic goals. I suspect to my shame I have squashed people and even imposed guilt and shame. For this I humbly and earnestly apologise. I wish I could go back.

At staff meeting this week we talked about the power of 1%. Who would have thought maths would be helpful for ministry?

Do you know if you have $100 in your bank account earning 4% compound interest for 10 years you end up with $148.86. But if you add $1 each month, just 1%, you end up with $270.11. Almost double.

Do you know if you walk 7km in one direction, then go back to your starting point and walk 7km again but on a 1° angle, you end up more than 122m away from your first end point.

What’s the point? Small changes make big differences in the long run. They can be conceived of and are achievable.

At our church, we are trying to carefully reshape our language to encourage rather than discourage, to build up rather than press down. We will continue to have ideals in our sights but we will focus more on the 1% next step. The doable, achievable next steps that when added together will make a difference in the long run.

So what about these questions to start with…

Ideally, we would be engaged in discipleship of our children every day, but when in a week could you add some prayer and Bible reading to something you are already doing together?

God calls us to self-control, but what’s the one thing you could do differently this week as you seek to keep in step with the Spirit?

We’re called to pray continually, but how might you add prayer into your weekend?

Are we crazy? Are we pitching the bar too low?

What I know is that if Christians can make the achievable 1% changes every month, their growth in godliness will be exponential in a lifetime.