Avoid Faulty Assumptions (#7): We can flourish without experiencing passionate purpose, right?

Photo by SHVETS production

Please note: Consistently pursuing a granular vision (aka vision script) of flourishing students, staff, and leaders helps international Christian schools to flourish. This post reflects my vision.

Yes? Maybe? No? What’s your answer? Here’s the question: Can you flourish without experiencing passionate purpose? 

• Some might say “yes,” depending how they define “flourish” and “passionate purpose.” 
• Some might say “maybe,” thinking that while they aren’t experiencing passionate purpose, since they are experiencing resilient well-being, healthy relationships, transformative learning, and helpful resources, they are flourishing. 
• From my perspective, the answer is “no.” I don’t think you can flourish without experiencing passionate purpose. And I think you’re making a faulty assumption.

Let me explain my response by processing some related questions:

Question 1: What comes to mind when you think of passionate purpose? When I think of passionate purpose, I think of words like heartfelt intentionality and strong direction (not superficial desire or lack of focus). I think of deeply understanding and pursuing purpose (not: having a purpose statement that hangs on the wall, serving as a piece of office decor). And I think of moving toward a brighter future (not: having a purpose statement that serves as a fire alarm to be pulled to stop something bad from happening).

To learn more, please read What’s the difference between passionless purpose and passionate purpose?

Photo by Yan Krukov

Question 2: What does passionate purpose at an international Christian school look like to you?  To me, it looks like…

• Students consistently experiencing personal goal setting and making a positive impact for Jesus.  
• Staff consistently experiencing discussions (including celebrations) of the meaning, implications, and achievement of the purpose statements; and consistently experiencing clear connections between their job responsibilities and the achievement of the mission and outcomes.
• Leaders consistently experiencing decision-making that is guided by and aligned with the purpose statements, and consistently experiencing an inspiring board that rigorously monitors the implementation of the purpose statements.

Now back to our original question: We can flourish without experiencing passionate purpose, right? I don’t think so. Why? Because without experiencing passionate purpose, you’d be experiencing everything from blah to purposelessness to futility—all of which reduce engagement and motivation. Would you say that a student or a colleague who is not fully engaged and who basically experiences the blahs is flourishing? I wouldn’t.

And I’m not the only one who thinks purpose is an integral part of flourishing. ACSI does, too. ACSI’s flourishing model includes the purpose domain and 7 research-based constructs (Flourishing Schools, p. 14). And in its new accreditation protocol, ACSI includes the purpose domain, complete with 3 standards and 12 indicators. 

Bottom line: Avoid the faulty assumption that you can flourish without experiencing passionate purpose.

Question 3: What other faulty assumptions might you need to address about passionate purpose? Here are 3 examples:

(1) Student: “I guess we’re not really supposed to ask deep questions. You know, like sometimes when I have doubts, I’d like to ask questions. But it doesn’t come up in class, and I’m pretty sure my teacher would say I shouldn’t have doubts, so I don’t ask. So I guess a good Christian doesn’t have doubts—that’s why I shouldn’t ask my questions, right?” 

This just makes me sad. At a Christian school, we’re supposed to help our students grow in faith, which includes processing their doubts (see construct on questioning in Flourishing Schools, p. 14). I know that in my own life, processing my doubts has helped me grow—like doubts about God’s sovereignty when some gets cancer. 

Students learn from asking questions. We all know this. And when students aren’t encouraged to ask questions about their real experiences, about their real doubts, they lose out on an opportunity to grow. And when the message is that they shouldn’t ask certain questions, their takeaway could be that being a Christian means never having doubts and behaving in such a way that no one gets uncomfortable. (To learn more, please read My Christian High-School Students Have Doubts. Here’s How I Respond.)

Note: If your students don’t ask their questions in a Christ-centered environment, there’s a good probability that they will eventually ask their questions in environments that aren’t Christ-centered.

(2) Staff: “As a teacher, I’m focused on helping my students learn, you know, achieve the standards and benchmarks. I like our curriculum, and the parents of my students are supportive and really want their kids to achieve academically—which works for me! I love the content I teach, and I love to help kids improve their skills. And both I and my students really like our chapel program—really great!  If it comes up, I help students with spiritual and emotional matters—which doesn’t happen all that often. Which is good because it takes time away from class time or takes time away from my prep time.”

I get it—helping students achieve the standards and benchmarks is a big challenge, and having supportive parents can add pressure to make sure students grow academically. I also get that your real subjects are your students, not the content and skills. It looks like your focus on academics is excluding you helping your students holistically—like spiritually and emotionally. 

And when you only help students academically, they can feel like you think they aren’t holistic image bearers of God, just receptacles for academic learning. ACSI research indicates that effective classroom instruction includes “helping students develop spiritually and emotionally (teaching the heart and soul, as well as the mind)” (Flourishing Schools, p. 14). To learn more, please read Spiritual Formation and Flourishing.

(3) Leader: “During onboarding and our opening meetings at the start of each year, we review our mission. As part of our contracts, all staff indicate that they support our mission. And we’re all Christians, so we’re all heading the same direction.”

It’s good to work with fellow Christians and to have annual processes for reviewing and indicating commitment to the mission. However, working with Christians and doing a once-a-year review and a signing of a contract don’t result in “staff feel[ing] a sense of shared ownership for school mission” (Flourishing Schools, p. 14). 

To cultivate shared ownership, consistently do things like overcommunicating the mission, asking staff to memorize and recite the mission, using the mission as a guide for decision-making, measuring mission achievement, and celebrating progress. To learn more, please read What happens when Christian organizations are not deeply unified?

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay 

Question 4: What change(s) do you need to make to consistently experience passionate purpose and help others do the same? As you think about this question, please keep in mind 4 things:

• Ongoing change is part of flourishing.
• While you need to do something, you don’t need to do everything.
• Start with yourself.
• Identify your options for change, not just 1 option. (Need help identifying options? Review questions 1-3 and check out practices 1, 2, 3, 5, and 10 in What happens when Christian organizations are not deeply unified?)

For myself, I need to continue practicing the disciplined pursuit of helping others experience passionate purpose. This disciplined pursuit, this change, is both endless and exhilarating. Practically speaking, I’m going to continue learning about passionate purpose, blogging about it, and aksing questions about it during coaching sessions. 

Note: To help yourself successfully make a change, be sure to identify what helps you. What helps me includes using an experimental mindset, starting small, and getting tasks on my calendar.

What about you? 

1. What comes to mind when you think of passionate purpose?
2. What does passionate purpose at an international Christian school look like to you?
3. What other faulty assumptions might you need to address about passionate purpose? 
4. What change(s) do you need to make to consistently experience passionate purpose and help others do the same?
5. What helps you make the changes necessary for experiencing passionate purpose?

Get flourishing!

Michael