After 25 years of vision coaching, I’ve heard every excuse for why churches stay stuck.

“We need more people first.” “If we just had a bigger building…” “Once we hire the right staff…”

But the real problem isn’t what pastors think it is.

There’s a quote from freelance writer Robert Brault that haunts me: “We are kept from our goal not by obstacles but by a clear path to a lesser goal.”

This is my favorite quote because it names the silent killer of breakthrough ministry—not the obvious obstacles we prepare for, but the comfortable compromises we don’t see coming.

Here’s what I’ve discovered: Most churches aren’t failing because they hit walls. They’re failing because they found easier paths.

Three areas where I see this happening:

CLARIFYING VISION You’re chasing attendance growth, campus expansion, or platform building instead of the harder work of defining your unique vision. These feel like progress, but they’re detours from breakthrough.

STRENGTHENING CULTURE You’re hiring new talent, managing board politics, or driving departmental goals instead of the messier work of team transformation. These keep you busy, but they don’t create the culture you actually need.

ACTIVATING CALLING You’re recruiting volunteers, offering trending programs, or launching external ministries instead of the slower work of developing disciple-makers. These generate activity, but they don’t multiply your mission.

Each of these “lesser goals” offers a clear path. Each one feels productive. Each one keeps you from the breakthrough you actually need.

This is why I’m launching The Clear Path Series.

Over the next 9 posts, I’m going to expose the nine specific lesser goals that seduce ministry teams away from their breakthrough potential. I’ll show you exactly how each one works, why it’s so seductive, and what to do instead. Here is a brief overview. Each less goal is categorized in three areas based on our services at RunFree.Co:

The Nine Lesser Goals

CLARIFYING VISION: The Seductive Substitutes

1. ATTENDANCE GROWTH

The Clear Path Lie: “More people = more impact” The Deadly Truth: You’re building a crowd, not creating disciples

Core Ideas:

• Problem: Every weekend becomes your report card instead of your launching pad
• Pain Point: You celebrate numbers that don’t actually measure what Jesus measured
• Deeper Issue: Attendance addiction creates churches full of consumers, not contributors
• The Trap: Growth metrics that make you feel successful while your discipleship stays shallow
• Reality Check: Jesus never counted attendance—He counted transformation

Watch Out For:

• “Butts in seats vs. hearts in motion”
• “Measuring the wrong thing perfectly”
• “Consumer Christianity”
• “The weekend worship mirage”

Run Free Solution: Vision clarity that pivots from adding attenders to multiplying disciples

2. CAMPUS GROWTH

The Clear Path Lie: “Bigger buildings = bigger kingdom impact” The Deadly Truth: You’re multiplying square footage while your mission gets buried under debt

Core Ideas:

• Problem: Buildings become your master instead of your tool
• Pain Point: Every leadership conversation becomes about facilities instead of formation
• Deeper Issue: Capital campaigns steal emotional energy from discipleship campaigns
• The Trap: Concrete and steel feel like progress when your spiritual momentum stalls
• Reality Check: The early church turned the world upside down without owning a single building

Watch Out For:

• “Mortgage payments vs. movement multiplication”
• “Real estate vs. real transformation”
• “Building maintenance vs. building disciples”
• “The concrete trap”

Run Free Solution: Unique ministry DNA that defines impact beyond infrastructure

3. PERSONAL PLATFORM GROWTH

The Clear Path Lie: “Influence equals impact” The Deadly Truth: You’re building your brand while your church builds… what exactly?

Core Ideas:

• Problem: Your speaking calendar becomes more important than your shepherding calendar
• Pain Point: Platform opportunities seduce you away from local pastoral presence
• Deeper Issue: Personal fame becomes a substitute for congregational formation
• The Trap: Being known outside becomes more important than being effective inside
• Reality Check: Jesus could have had the biggest platform in history—He chose twelve guys instead

Watch Out For:

• “Speaker vs. shepherd”
• “Building brand vs. building believers”
• “Conference celebrity vs. church catalyst”
• “The influence illusion”

Run Free Solution: Kingdom confidence that prioritizes local calling over global recognition

STRENGTHENING CULTURE: The Team Temptations

4. HIRE NEW TALENT

The Clear Path Lie: “Fresh blood fixes fundamental problems” The Deadly Truth: You’re hiring your way out of leadership gaps instead of growing through them

Core Ideas:

• Problem: Staff shopping becomes a substitute for culture shaping
• Pain Point: New talent gets contaminated by existing toxic systems
• Deeper Issue: Hiring can’t solve what leadership development could prevent
• The Trap: Thinking personnel changes create cultural transformation
• Reality Check: You can’t hire your way to health—you have to grow your way there

Watch Out For:

• “Staff shopping vs. staff shaping”
• “Hiring hope vs. development discipline”
• “New blood, old problems”
• “The talent trap”

Run Free Solution: Team renaissance that transforms existing team dynamics

5. KEEP THE BOARD CONTENT

The Clear Path Lie: “Happy board = healthy church” The Deadly Truth: You’re managing personalities instead of mobilizing purpose

Core Ideas:

• Problem: Peace-at-any-price approach trades visionary tension for committee comfort
• Pain Point: Board meetings become negotiations instead of inspiration sessions
• Deeper Issue: Conflict avoidance creates vision erosion
• The Trap: Keeping people happy while keeping the mission stagnant
• Reality Check: Jesus had massive conflict with religious leaders—and changed the world

Watch Out For:

• “Peace vs. purpose”
• “Committee comfort vs. kingdom calling”
• “Managing personalities vs. mobilizing purpose”
• “The harmony trap”

Run Free Solution: Break-thru clarity that unifies teams around compelling vision

6. DRIVE DEPARTMENTAL GOALS

The Clear Path Lie: “If every department succeeds, the church succeeds” The Deadly Truth: You’re optimizing parts while the whole suffers from coordination chaos

Core Ideas:

• Problem: Silo success doesn’t equal system effectiveness
• Pain Point: Departments compete for resources instead of collaborating for results
• Deeper Issue: Individual ministry victories that don’t serve the larger vision
• The Trap: Departmental wins become expensive distractions from unified direction
• Reality Check: A body where every part works independently is called paralysis

Watch Out For:

• “Silo success vs. system synergy”
• “Parts vs. the whole”
• “Department kingdoms vs. unified mission”
• “The fragmentation trap”

Run Free Solution: Collaborative process that aligns all ministries toward singular vision

ACTIVATING CALLING: The Mobilization Mirages

7. RECRUIT VOLUNTEERS

The Clear Path Lie: “More volunteers = more ministry capacity” The Deadly Truth: You’re filling slots without filling souls

Core Ideas:

• Problem: Warm body hustle that focuses on programs instead of people
• Pain Point: Volunteers show up to serve your vision instead of discovering their own
• Deeper Issue: Recruitment becomes manipulation instead of development
• The Trap: Staffing programs while starving personal calling
• Reality Check: Volunteers serve your vision—disciples live out their own

Watch Out For:

• “Warm bodies vs. willing hearts”
• “Slot-filling vs. soul-stirring”
• “Program servants vs. purpose-driven disciples”
• “The recruitment trap”

Run Free Solution: Core activation that moves people from understanding to implementing their calling

8. OFFER TRENDING PROGRAMS (Alpha, Rooted, Practicing the Way)

The Clear Path Lie: “Viral content = ministry impact” The Deadly Truth: You’re optimizing for engagement metrics while your actual engagement flatlines

Core Ideas:

• Problem: Viral validation chase confuses reach with depth
• Pain Point: Algorithm approval becomes more important than life transformation
• Deeper Issue: Digital metrics substitute for discipleship measurements
• The Trap: Going viral while going nowhere spiritually
• Reality Check: Likes don’t equal lives changed, shares don’t equal hearts surrendered

Watch Out For:

• “Reach vs. depth”
• “Engagement metrics vs. engagement reality”
• “Viral validation vs. spiritual transformation”
• “The content trap”

Run Free Solution: Real growth that measures what actually matters for kingdom advance

9. LAUNCHING EXTERNAL MINISTRIES

The Clear Path Lie: “More ministries = more mission fulfillment” The Deadly Truth: You’re planting programs instead of planting disciples who plant movements

Core Ideas:

• Problem: Mission multiplication mirage that spreads you thin while keeping you shallow
• Pain Point: External activity becomes substitute for internal transformation
• Deeper Issue: Program proliferation without people development
• The Trap: Launching initiatives without launching disciple-makers
• Reality Check: Jesus didn’t launch ministries—He launched people who launched movements

Watch Out For:

• “Program planting vs. people planting”
• “External activity vs. internal transformation”
• “Ministry multiplication vs. disciple multiplication”
• “The launch trap”

Run Free Solution: Redemptive momentum that creates sustainable multiplication through developed people

Stay tuned as I unpack each one of these in further detail. If you are interested in a free 60-minute vision call, just let me know by requesting a discovery call at RunFree.Co