Aim small, miss small

One of my favorite lines in the movie "The Patriot" is the one where the father (mel gibson) tells his two sons to "aim small, miss small" when shooting at their targets. When one uses this phrase it always raises an eyebrow to "what does that really mean?" The line was communicated to raise the awareness that if you going to hit a target, the best way to insure a direct hit on the target, is to aim at something specific rather than at something large. Good soldiers know that if you try to shoot your gun at the whole man, rather than at something on the man, your odds of missing your target are extremely higher. But, if you aim for the button on the coat of the man, there is a greater chance for a direct hit.

This is the dilemma many church planters have in starting a new church. They think if you aim at the masses you're bound to hit something. And, in reality they do. The problem is when they focus their aim at reaching the masses, their usual targets are not what they were aiming at in the first place. Meaning, when you aim and shoot at the mass in church planting, what you normally get is dysfunctional and disenfranchised "Christians." If many church planters would adopt the mentality of going after more individuals rather than the crowd, they might find out in time that what they were aiming for is actually what they are getting in return. The philosophy of "aim small, miss small" doesn't just apply in war and hunting, it also applies to reaching men and women for Christ. If church planters would take the time to aim more intentionally at people who are outside of a relationship Christ, and zero in on reaching them, then perhaps our church plants would be filled more with people who have been outside of Christ. What I see is this -- what we put in our sights is what we get. If you put a mass of people in your sights, and then pull the trigger, what you get from the mass is usually a mess. If you target going after one person at a time, you'll probably end up with the type of people you were trying to reach in the first place. So, the choice is yours and mine. We can aim for the crowd, and bag what we get. Or, we can be more intentional at what we're aiming at and zero in on people whom God puts in our path. One is easier and doesn't take as much time, and the results usually are unappealing and regretful. The other is harder and takes time, and the results are always fresh and rewarding. I don't know what your aiming at as a church planter today, but my prayer is that you "aim small so that you miss small" and you bag what God wanted you to go after in the first place.