by Mark Mofield

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If you are not familiar with the app Goodreads, think of it as Facebook for readers. People post about the books they are reading and their reviews of the books they have finished. For someone like me who always enjoys a good book, I have found it a very helpful tool for discovering new books and authors. However, there is one aspect of Goodreads I find challenging. Every year, in January, you are asked to establish a goal of how many books you will read in the coming year. When you log into the app, there is a progress bar that tracks where you are in relation to your stated goal. I have yet to reach my goal by the end of the year, meaning that by the end of December that progress bar is frustratingly short of where I wanted to see it.

This tends to provoke several reactions within me. I start thinking about all the reasons why I didn’t reach the goal. What if I had spent more time reading and less time watching TV or playing video games in my free time?  What if I had decided to read a fast-paced mystery rather than a long, thick theological treatise? And, of course, the biggest question is – where will I set my goal for the new year?  I have been tempted the last couple of years to lower my goal to something that I know I can easily attain. However, for some reason, I end up leaving the goal the same, telling myself, “This year, I will do it!”

Looking at that progress bar started me thinking about other goals that I have set for myself and that we as the Church set for our communities of faith. A lot of times we can get locked into looking at our individual resolutions and our community dreams only in terms of “success/failure:” Did I read the Bible all the way through like I promised I would do this year? Did we meet budget? If we did, we succeeded! If we didn’t, we failed! But there is a reason why Goodreads calls it a “progress bar” and not an “achievement bar.” Because whether or not I reach the goal I have set, my depth of knowledge and understanding of the world in which I live has grown. In the same way, my efforts to grow a deeper prayer life or the church’s desire to give more to missions than last year still lead to blessings and maturity of faith and ministry, even if we don’t hit the specific goal we set.

The Church was founded on the Great Commission: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations…”. Those disciples standing on that Galilean mountain didn’t achieve the final goal themselves, but the progress they made laid the foundation of the Church we are part of today. Christ did not hesitate to give the disciples in Galilee big goals, knowing that their progress would set the stage for greater works. In this new year, I am daring to believe that Christ continues to ask us to chase big goals, knowing that our efforts keep the progress bar moving ever forward to the glory of his kingdom.

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Rev. Mark Mofield is the senior pastor of Melrose Baptist Church in Roanoke, VA, and is BGAV’s 2026 First Vice President.

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