FINDING OUR MISSION: Strategic Planning Template #3

Jesus wasn’t always easy to understand but He did make the church’s mission clear and simple. Study Matthew 28:16-20 – There is only one command here in the original language.  What is it?

Three participles (ing words) describe how the command gets done.  What are they?

Going – this is the action that we must always be involved in, going towards non-Christians, in love, with the gospel

Baptizing – this ceremony gives those who have heard and believed a “watershed” moment – a way to celebrate what has happened to them and differentiate two distinct portions of their lives

Teaching to obey – we were not commanded to procure professions of faith but to turn non-followers of Jesus into actual followers, people who are constantly becoming more like Jesus as they obey His command to make more disciples                                         

See also:

 

Mark 16:15ff –

 

Luke 24:45-48 –

 

John 20:21 –

 

Acts 1:6-8 –

 

Mission is always about doing something important.  Remember “Mission Impossible”?  “Your mission, Jim, should you decide to accept it, is to…”  It was always about GOING somewhere – usually somewhere dangerous – and DOING something strategic.

They say that men shop like they’re on a mission.  They GO somewhere and they’re not content to browse; they’re there to “get-er-done.” We can think of disciple-making as going to people – like missionaries – to rescue them from a terrible fate.  Think also of: medical missions (vaccinating all the children of a village) or military missions (capturing an enemy facility, weapon or leader). 

We can also think of it in terms of making something.

We are to make disciples (devoted followers) of Jesus out of the raw material of lost people (including adults).  Jesus invited us to compare the church to factories and schools when He told us to MAKE SOMETHING.

• A factory that never makes anything won’t last long.
• A truck driving school that never turns out truckers won’t last long either.
• A medical school that doesn’t produce doctors will lose its funding.
• A factory owner who has to settle for rebuilding old units during a recession is going to be dissatisfied; he wants to make something new.

Obeying the Law of Moses (Matthew 22:34-40) is not our mission.  Obeying Jesus’ new commandment He shared with us (John 13:34,35) is important, but it’s not our mission.  A body made up of body members (parts) who only focus on loving each other is the body of a narcissist.  Jesus’ physical body while he was physically here on earth was busy serving others; it was not the body of a self-absorbed narcissist!  

Incidentally, most members of most evangelical churches believe that their church exists for its members.  This is a serious misunderstanding of the church’s mission.

It is easy to confuse mission with vision, values or strategy.  Mission is what we are here to DO. Many churches “mix in” these other strategic planning elements into their mission statements. This is certainly acceptable if the intent is to have only one – easily memorized – strategic planning statement.  The key here is to understand which sections of the statement are about mission and which aspects of it are vision, values, strategy, etc.  

 “The mission of _______ church (what we’re here to DO) is to show Christ’s love to the people of Hoochie County (this is a STRATEGY) and to share the message of Jesus (more STRATEGY) with clarity, joy and compassion (three of the church’s VALUES) so that thousands (this is an element of VISION) become disciples of Jesus Christ (making disciples is their MISSION).”

 It’s also a good idea to use “non-religious” language: “We exist to turn irreligious people into fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ.”  (It’s still saying, “we exist to make disciples.”)

 SUGGESTION: As a team, work through a Bible study that powerfully demonstrates that the church is here to make disciples of Jesus.  This is easy to do and will change your church if you do it prayerfully with open hearts and minds.  First study the passages listed above.  Then study the following passages.  What does each of them say or imply about the mission of the church?

Mtt. 5:13-16 –

 

Mtt. 16:15-18 –

 

Lk. 4:18-19 –

 

Lk. 4:43 –

 

Acts 2:41-47 –

 

Acts 5:42 –

 

Romans 1:1-7 –

 

Romans 11:25 –

 

Romans 15:15,16 –

 

I Cor. 9:19-23 –

 

I Cor. 10:31-11:1 –

 

II Cor. 5:18-20 –

 

I Thess. 1:8-10 –

 

When you’ve completed this study, re-read the comments above about the church’s mission.  Conclude your session with lots of prayer and a good, relaxed discussion of these questions:

1. Do you think that an unbeliever taking a good look at your church’s activities would conclude that it is an organization of people “on a mission”?  What would they see or fail to see in your people which would lead to such a conclusion?
2. If you insisted that your church is indeed “on a mission together,” and you asked your unbelieving friend to identify that mission, what do you think he/she would say that it is?
3. What is the disciple-making strategy of your church? Have you thought through and articulated how your congregation is intending to make disciples?
4. Do you think that most of the members or attenders of your church understand it as existing for the purpose of making disciples, or do they see it as existing for some other purpose?
5. Talk about the last adults who became Christ-followers through your church: What were these people like? How did they hear the message?  What was your church’s role?
6. Discuss the question: “Does your church have a mission statement or is it truly a church which is on a mission?” Compare the importance of having a mission statement to actually being on a mission.
7. What can the participants in this study do to help their church truly become a church which is on a mission for God?