AWAKENING: My Life is a Short Term Mission Trip

Why are we on this earth? 

Jesus said, “I came to seek and to save that which was lost”; “As the Father has sent me so send I you.”

 God has placed us on this earth to seek and to save those who are lost. This is our mission.

 The Bible tells us that our life is but a vapor. Our life on this earth is short.

 The Bible also tells us that this earth is not our home. We are aliens and strangers in this land.

 So. . . ours lives are short, God gave us a mission, we are aliens; therefore our lives are Short Term Mission Trips.

 The Mission God has given to us has a long history. It really started at the beginning of time as we know it. In His sovereignty, God knew that man would fall into the temptation of sin. God’s redemptive plan was in existence at the time of creation.  He knew at creation that His justice would demand a payment for man’s future sin. He also knew that His love would find a way to make the payment for man, the suffering and death of His son, Jesus.

 So, if He knew all of this beforehand, why did God still choose to create man? The Bible tells us that man was created for God’s pleasure. I think that this is a concept that will always be beyond man’s understanding. Somehow, finite, sinful man can bring pleasure to the Creator of all things, the sovereign God.

 Before the fall, Adam and Eve brought pleasure to God because they were still in the perfect environment God had created. What was it about them that brought God pleasure? I can see two things. First, they were obedient to God’s will. Second, they walked with God in the garden. Once they stepped out of Gods will and they choose to go against Him, they no longer brought God pleasure until a sacrifice was made. From that time forward, man can no longer bring pleasure to God outside the satisfaction of His justice or the acceptance of His forgiveness.

So what is God’s mission?  What has God been about since the beginning of time?  Is it simply to save man from eternal punishment?  Is it simply to provide man a wonderful place called Heaven?  The overarching purpose of His mission is to bring pleasure to Himself.  Today, the mission lives on, but whose mission is it?  Before Jesus ascended back to Heaven, He passed the torch on to His disciples.  He prophesied that they would be witnesses of Him throughout Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost parts of the earth.  He also commanded the disciples to go into the entire world and preach the good news of Jesus and to teach them to live by all He had told them.  This is what we refer to as the “Great Commission”.  In reality, it was the next stage in God’s eternal mission.  Jesus was passing the torch to His disciples.  Just as He said, “as the Father hath sent me, so send I you”.  The torch is still in the hands of His disciples.  Who are His disciples?  His disciples are those who have accepted God’s redemptive plan and are following after Him.  In a word, His disciples are the Church.  The Church now carries the torch of God’s mission. 

 If an individual is a disciple of Christ and now realizes that he carries the torch of God’s mission, what changes will occur?  Will it affect his hobbies?  Will it affect they way he uses his money?  Will it affect how he relates to others?  Will it affect how he uses his time?  If we as Jesus’ disciples are on a short-term mission trip on this earth shouldn’t this determine the way we live our lives?  Shouldn’t we live more strategic?  Shouldn’t we live more intentional?  Shouldn’t it affect the way we view our life in general?  Shouldn’t the majority of our money be used for the mission?  Should it affect the next car, boat, house or any other purchase we make?  Shouldn’t the mission consume our thoughts?  Shouldn’t we continually have stories and testimonies of the mission?  Shouldn’t we overcome cultural barriers? Shouldn’t our hearts be united in cooperation for the mission? Shouldn’t we love Hispanics even when they are in our country?  Shouldn’t we be Jesus’ disciples first then Americans?  It seems that the Church of today does not understand what we carry in our hands.  We, as the body of Christ, the disciples of Jesus, the Church carry the eternal mission of God in our hands.  He has entrusted us to be the ambassadors of His mission on the earth today.

So what should be the Church’s response?  Yes, the mission is God’s and He deserves the worship received through His mission.  He has called you and me.  Will we be obedient to carry the torch of His mission?  Will we be like Adam and Eve before the fall and bring God pleasure through our obedience and our daily walk with Him?  Like it or not, you are on a short-term mission trip, its called life on Earth.  Will you share God’s redemptive plan throughout the ends of the earth?  That is your purpose.  It is why you were made.  How will you respond?

How Can We Finish the Task? Part 2: The Lottie Moon Potential

In Part 1 of this short series, we began:

In recent years, Jerry Rankin, President of the International Mission Board, has suggested that getting the gospel to all the remaining unreached, unengaged peoples of the world would take a doubling of the current mission force on the field.  (Just from a Southern Baptist perspective, that takes the number from roughly 5000 to over 10,000.)

I will address this issue from a Southern Baptist perspective, but every mission agency and denomination is facing the same challenge:  How do we get the gospel to all peoples?  And does our current model of mission support need to be re-addressed in order to do so?

In Part 1, I explored the limited growth potential of the Cooperative Program.  I want to emphasize how much I love the Cooperative Program of the SBC.  It is an unprecedented and amazing act of sharing among 43,000 churches and many great agencies of ministry.  But the CP is not likely, because of its design, to double in a short time frame.  On the other hand, the OTHER major source of revenue for the International Mission Board (the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering) has a totally different design and thus a totally different growth potential.

The Lottie Moon Christmas Offering is a freewill offering taking up at Christmas-time (duh!) by most of the churches who participate in this offering.  Some churches allow their members to give year-round through a combined mission offering, and a few others give to Lottie Moon directly from their budgets. 

The Lottie Moon Christmas Offering supplies over 50% of the IMB’s annual budget.  So, if the IMB’s mission force is to double, then most of the brunt will have to be taken up by this offering.  What would have to happen for this offering to double?

(For non-Southern Baptists, this article and the previous article are mostly academic, but they illustrate the issues facing every agency and denomination which is concerned with getting the gospel to all peoples.  Stick with me, and I’ll guarantee something a bit more practical in Part 3!)

For the LMCO to double I believe a few things will have to happen:

(1) A widespread awakening unto God and His mission to the nations.  People all across the landscape of the Southern Baptist Convention would have to get “fired up” about their Lord Jesus Christ and to develop a desire for His Gospel to be proclaimed TO all peoples and for His Name to be praised BY all peoples.  If this happens, we can be assured that the IMB, among many trustworthy mission agencies, would be supported better.

(2) Pastors will have to lead their churches to choose the mission over “optional” church characteristics.  Just a quick couple of lists to make this point: 

What sort of actions of the church are MANDATED biblically? 

• Preaching the gospel unto all ethne. (i.e. ethnic groups)
• Eradicating false teaching.
• Loving neighbors.
• Physically caring for widows, orphans, and other oppressed/oppressible groups.
• Observing everything commanded by Christ.

What are examples of characteristics, while not apparently wrong, are OPTIONAL biblically?

• Buildings, corporately owned and utilized by the church, which many confuse with “the church.”
• Paid “staff,” whatever “staff” might be. (This characteristic is actually ENCOURAGED–if we are talking about pastors–while not MANDATED biblically, so it should really be a list of its own in the middle of these two.)
• Programs designed to entice people to join and then to support further programs.
• Sports.
• Social clubs.

Which of the above lists require more of your church’s financial resources?  And, considering only the top list, what percentage of you church’s financial resources are devoted to getting the gospel to OTHER ethne outside of your own ethnos?  In order for the LMCO to double, serious consideration of these issues must be made.  Churches will have to give up some optional activities in order to obey the mandates that God has made through His Word.

(3)  Christians will have to re-think what their spending priorities are, around Christmas-time especially.  While not all churches receive the LMCO during the Christmas season, most SBC churches do.  Also, most Christians do the bulk of their discretionary spending during the Christmas season.  So even if an individual’s church does not take the LMCO at Christmas, an individual Christian’s Christmas-time spending has tremendous ramifications on his or her ability to contribute throughout the year.  Our family has elected (after being challenged by others) to give more to the LMCO each year than we spend on the rest of Christmas in total.  In other words, we set a Christmas budget, then we split it into a big “half” and a small “half,” then give the bigger to the LMCO, while spending the smaller portion on our Christmas gifts and celebration.  Some similar, or perhaps more sacrificial, perspective must be taken by thousands of families across the nation in order for the LMCO to double.

So now, what if the above three things happen?  Then the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering just might double.  This seems remotely possible.  I mean that in the positive sense.  There IS a remote chance, looking at both history and present trends, that this might happen.  (Of course, if God wants to make this happen, He will, even if all or none of the three points above are met!)

What happens again, if the LMCO doubles?  Then the International Mission Board’s revenue increase by a full 50%, making it possible for them to move from roughly 5,000 missionaries to 7,500.  But wait, it will take 10,000 in order to engage all remaining peoples, right? 

Don’t forget, the scenario set forth in Part 1 of this series will also have to happen–the doubling of the Cooperative Program as well.  We would also need a doubling of investment income and other receipts. 

The reality is, we would need a tripling of the LMCO in order for it to do all the work of doubling the IMB’s annual budget and then doubling the missionary force.

Is this possible?  Yes.

Is this likely?  No.

Just because I don’t think a tripling of the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering (in a short time) is likely does not mean that I do not urge you to make major sacrifices in order to increase your personal giving and your church’s giving to this or the parallel offering in your church.

I implore you to contribute more and more each year.  I beg you to become an advocate for making this offering and the mission force it supports to grow rapidly.

But I have a suggestion in Part 3 that will supplement this work.  It is more than giving more to missions.  It is more than challenging your church to do the same.  In fact, is goes beyond the strategy we see currently implemented by the IMB.  My suggestion is not in competition with the current strategy.  It is also more than a small-scale fix.  My suggestion is, in fact, a full-scale complement to the current strategy in place.

Here’s where I imagine you readers counting the days for me to finish Part 3.  Well, I can always dream.  I do hope you come back to read Part 3.  I pray you will not be disappointed.

So. . . What is a missional Church????

Recently, I had the privilege of meeting with a leading pastor in a North African country.  It was a very humbling experience as I realized that the cost of being a church in many parts of our world, including his, comes with great costs.   He wanted to discuss what it takes to be a “healthy” church and how that relates to being a “missional” church.  Understanding the likelihood of persecution on his part caused me to heavily weigh my discussion with him.  I had to come to the realization that there are principles of healthy or missional churches that are true globally and also in both open and closed cultures.

So here are some of my understandings of missional principles that cross both cultural and geographic boundaries.  In the upcoming posts, I want to discuss the purposes of the weekly church service, how can a church be intentionally missional, and also how does community transformation fit in the missional world.

1.  We need a clear understanding of God’s timeless plan

• God created all things, including you and I, for His pleasure and for His glory
• From the beginning there has been a battle over who is going to be god. Man or God. Adam and Eve decided to place their own desires over God.
• Sin temporarily seemed to have thwarted God’s plan by creating a rift between Him and mankind. Because of sin, God is robbed of the glory He is due.
• Because of sin, man is depraved and without hope. We are spiritually dead, separated from God, and slaves to our sin natures.
• Because you and I were created to bring God pleasure, we will never be fulfilled in life or experience joy and happiness until we can be reconciled back to God and fulfill our created purpose.
• God, in His infinite love and sovereign Grace, fulfilled the Old Testament promise of a savior who would die in our place so that we can have forgiveness of sin.
• Through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we can be reconciled back to God, fulfilling our original purpose of bringing pleasure to God, and experiencing joy and fulfillment.Not only does God reconcile us unto Himself but he also gives us the awesome privilege and mandate to partner with Him as His messengers of reconciliation.

2.  We need an understanding that worship is the primary motivation of the Mission.

• Sin robs God the glory He due. Paul stated that as more and more people are coming to Christ, God receives more glory (2 Cor. 4:15)
• God desires the worship of all peoples
• Compassion and burden are secondary motivations (emotions come and go but our dedication to seeing God’s name made famous to the ends of the earth must not waiver).

3.  We need to embrace God’s plan

• God created the Church with a Mission. Actually, I have heard it said- the Church doesn’t have a mission, the mission has a Church.
• He desires to reconcile people to Himself from every tribe, tongue, people group.
• He has called us (those who follow Christ; the Church) to be His ambassadors to make His name known from the most reached parts of the world (“Jerusalem”) to the most unreached parts of the world (“ends of the earth”).
• Every individual follower is called to be on mission personally but the wonderful thing is that we are all placed within community of believers to partner with one another to be more effectively on mission

4.  We need to embrace the true definition of “the mission”

• “The mission” is to disciple all peoples. It includes proclaiming the gospel- the good news that Jesus died, was buried and then rose again and also equipping the saints to become fully devoted followers of Him. The only ho pe for mankind is the saving grace of Jesus Christ.
• Making disciples is our goal. Jesus said to be His followers, “we must deny ourselves, take up our cross (die to ourselves) and follow Him (ongoing life commitment).
• We preach a gracious and wonderful message but it is also a difficult message therefore fulfilling the mission is not an easy task. For some, the gospel message is a stumbling block.
• Leading someone to pray a prayer is not the end goal of the mission. Persuading men to deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow Jesus, this is the end goal.
• God’s heart is that everyone will hear about Him in their heart language. From the beginning of time, God has focused on people groups. In Acts 2, we see it being modeled for us. Everyone there heard Peter (or Peter spoke) in their own heart languages.
• We must identify the pockets of lostness both locally and globally, identify their heart language, then strive to overcome barriers so that the gospel may be communicated in way in which they can respond.

So what do you think? Is this too simplistic?  There is much more to be discussed here but these are some of the very basics that I understand to what it takes to become a missional church.  Methodology and practices are important but without a clear biblical understanding, much if it can be for naught.  Let me know what you think.  I am still very much a learner and would love to hear your thoughts.

“Creative” Youth Ministry Topic

Last night, I had the wonderful opportunity to speak to the youth group of the church where I recently finished as interim pastor. (Wallace Baptist Church of Pace, Florida)  The youth minister was running a fever and asked me to pinch hit for him at the last minute.   I love opportunities like that.

Even though I already knew what I was going to speak on in general (the mission), I still went through he process of thinking about the kids and their situation and their window of life and my own adolescence.  Anyway, as I processed through this in my head I began to think about how we too often narrow the topics of choice when we focus on youth:  Sex, peer pressure, relationships, decision making, etc.

Well, what about the most important task on earth?   (The Mission.)  What about our core purpose?  (To glorify God in Christ.)  What about the most important authority in our lives?  (The Word of God.)

I may be overstating this as a problem here.  I don’t know what the majority of leaders of youth teach on a regular basis.  But I do know what the youth material in the Christian bookstore covers.  The curriculum I see rarely focuses on the Mission in a holistic sense (i.e. missions, but not the Mission), rarely expresses God as the should-be center of our lives, and rarely elevates the Word of God as the central, complete, and competent authority in the lives of our young brothers and sisters. 

Last night, I did an overview on the One Story of the Bible:  that God is blessing His people, ultimately with Jesus, so that they might be a blessing to all the families on earth, by declaring the gospel, resulting in God receiving the glory due His Name by saving some from among every people.   Did they get it all in that one setting?  Probably not.  But they do know (because I said it so many times) that there is one theme to the entire Bible and that it is God’s Glory through God’s Mission.  We looked at Genesis 12.  Then we looked at the exodus (where God says that He wants all of Egypt to know that He is the real God and then an ethnicly diverse crowd leaves Egypt with the Israelites).  Then we skipped all the way to Galatians (where Paul states that God was preaching the gospel beforehand to Abraham) and then onto Revelation 5:9 & 10 (where God fulfills what He spelled out in Genesis 12 & 17).

They listened attentively, because they are good kids and most of them have parents who taught them well.  They soaked up much of what I said.  It will, nonetheless, take many more sittings with these truths for them to sink in.  At least that what it took for me.  But my life has never been the same since these truths sunk in to my brain.

This is big stuff.  And that is EXACTLY why I want these kids to get it.

How can we finish the Task? Part 1: The Cooperative Program Dilemma

In recent years, Jerry Rankin, President of the International Mission Board, has suggested that getting the gospel to all the remaining unreached, unengaged peoples of the world would take a doubling of the current mission force on the field.  (Just from a Southern Baptist perspective, that takes the number from roughly 5000 to over 10,000.)

I will address this issue from a Southern Baptist perspective, but every mission agency and denomination is facing the same challenge:  How do we get the gospel to all peoples?  And does our current model of mission support need to be re-addressed in order to do so?

Under current means of sending (and presuming that the dollar doesn’t fall any further against the average foreign currency), that means that the IMB’s budget would have to double in size.  Under current proportions then, the Cooperative Program’s (the SBC voluntary contributions from churches shared among all SBC agencies and state conventions) component of the IMB’s revenue AND the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering (the SBC’s annual offering directly to the IMB overseas budget) would have to both double.  The latter is unlikely but feasible, but the former is nigh impossible, outside of a work of God on the hearts of millions (yes I said “millions” of Southern Baptists across the country). 

Let’s just focus on the Cooperative Program right now.  We’ll get to the Lottie Moon Offering in part two.

The Cooperative Program, while the darling of the convention, due to its voluntary and shared nature, is not susceptible to massive increase over a short period of time.  Every church is autonomous, so each decides how much it will give.  It is normally given as a percentage of undesignated receipts, or less often as a dollar amount designated in the budget.  That means that when you go to First Baptist Church of Main Street, USA and give a dollar, that maybe 8% goes to the Cooperative Program.  Then about 60-70% of that $0.08 stays in that state for ministry, local missions, and denominational support.  Then exactly 1/2 of what is left over (up to 1 1/2 cents in our scenario) goes to the IMB. 

For the IMB’s portion of the Cooperative Program receipts to double, one of a few unlikely scenarios would have to happen, or more likely a combination of lesser versions of the following unlikely scenarios:

(1) The direct donations to SBC churches would have to double and their giving to the CP would remain proportionally equivalent.   FBC still gives 8%, but their gross receipts went from $2 million to $4 million in one year.  This, of course, would have to happen in every church in the convention, or at least this would be the average change.   Hmmm.

(2) The doubling of percentages or budgeted amounts that churches give to the CP.  Meaning that the church that gives 8% would vote to give 16% next year.  The church that gave $12,000 would decide to give $24,000.  (And ALL the other churches in the convention would follow suit.)  What are the chances?  I know–everything is possible with God.  But we are talking about Southern Baptists, not God.

(3) The doubling of percentages that the state conventions give to the national SBC.  The average state convention keeps about 65% percent of its churches’ CP donations.  This means that the average state convention would move from sending 35% of its churches’ CP funds to the SBC executive committee to sending a whopping 70% to the national SBC!  Wow!  Raise your hand if you think that’s gonna happen. . .  Anyone?  Anyone?

(4) The doubling of the IMB’s portion of the SBC’s national budget.  Uh-oh.  The IMB is already exactly 50% of the national budget.  This action would require the following:  All six seminaries become 100% financially independent.  The North American Mission Board to fulfill its obligations with only the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering.  Guidestone (the former Annuity Board) would get no subsidy for its annuitants’ programs.  And the Executive Committee would meet at Denny’s.  Not likely.

If any one of these unlikely scenarios happened, the the CP component of the IMB’s budget would double.  That would increase the total budget of the IMB by a little over 30%.  What?!?  Oh, no.  This is tougher than we thought.

Still improbable, but more likely, is the across-the-board combo scenario.  If the average Southern Baptist increased his or her giving to his or her church by 20% AND the average SBC church increased it’s CP giving by 20% (like from 10%  to 12%) AND the  average State Convention increased its proportion sent to the national convention agencies (like from 35% to 42%) AND the National SBC chose to increase the share that the IMB gets by 20% (from 50% to 60%). 

Just a reminder:  ALL of these would need to happen for the IMB’s budget to increase by 30%.

Friends, we have a dilemma on our hands.

Next up:  Part 2:  The Lottie Moon Potential

Program vs. Process

Well, I try to keep the blog clean but it seems I have already used a dirty word.  These days, in many parts of our country, the word program is a “dirty” word in context of the Church.  I understand the potential heartburn with the word as we have seen at least some level of  dependency on programs to fulfill the task of the Church. 

I think it all started with good intentions.  I have even started programs myself with good intentions and motivations.  The danger of programs just as any other activity is that they can devolve into being the point instead of being a means to reach the point or attain the goal.  Bob Roberts once said that institutions are meant to serve the vision, when the vision begins to serve the institution, the institution must be dissolved.  I think this is the same with programs.  Many leaders are avoiding using the word “program” today and replacing it with “process”.  In my own perspective, processes can be seen more of a medium for God to accomplish His plan through us.  Many times, programs can be our attempts to accomplish His plan but in our own power and wisdom. 

So what’s the big deal?  Why the discussion of process vs. programs?  Good question.  In my experience of being a church mobilization coach, I have observed that there is no program that can lead a church to become missional or to be fully mobilized into God’s mission.  Programs usually have limited and timed effectiveness and can also be site specific.  It may work in one church but not in another.  With this observation, I begin to ask God to reveal a process or a journey that churches can embrace for the sake of becoming intentionally and strategically on mission with God.  After consultation with many church leaders, I think God has given us a simple journey a church can embrace.  It is not detailed oriented but process oriented for the sake of leaving room for the leading and guidance of the Holy Spirit.  You see, every church, every follower of Jesus is different- different experiences, different knowledge, different cultures, etc.  In the next upcoming posts, I will be discussing this church mobilization process.  The prayer is that a church can enter into this process and identify God’s specific journey for their own church that meets them in their own context. 

I have called the process “The Journey” and it is based on five Milestones.  These milestones are not linear or chronological.  Churches may experience milestone 2 while or before experiencing milestone 1.  These milestones are simply common characteristics of churches who are mobilized in God’s mission.  The milestones are:  AWAKEN, EXPLORE, EQUIP, ENGAGE, MULTIPLY.

We will discuss  the AWAKEN Milestone in my next post.

New Reformation?

I have the privilege of traveling and being with many church leaders in several states.  These leaders represent churches of all sizes, personalities and styles.  Yet, as I travel, I have seen a common theme surface with many of these leaders.  There seems to be a new longing for something new that may not be so “new”.  There seems to be unrest with many pastors and church leaders, a longing for something more.  Could it be that the American Church is beginning to experience a “New Reformation”?

The Institute for Reformed Theology melts down the sixteenth-century reformation as follows: 

“The leaders of this branch of the church (churches in the “Reformed tradition”) understood themselves to be “reformed” in two ways: first, they were “reformed” from what they believed to be the defective practice of Christianity promulgated by the corrupt Roman Catholicism of the day. Sometimes, this position is summed up in the phrase “Ecclesia Reformata, semper reformanda,” which means “the Reformed church, always to be reformed.” In the context of the sixteenth century (and the mind of the Reformers) this phrase does not mean that the church is always morphing into something new with the passage of time (a common misconstrual in our own day). Instead, this seventeenth-century motto is consistent with the Reformers’ idea that they were not innovating, but “turning again” to the form of the church and belief originated by Jesus Christ, lived out by the first disciples and early church, and born witness to in the writings of the Old and New Testaments shorn of later additions.

Second, as implied above, Reformed means rejecting the idea that tradition can provide a sufficient form for matters of belief. Instead, the Reformers insisted that “the Word of God” was the only ultimate source of appeal in matters of faith, and that all other sources of knowledge, including a church’s tradition, had to appeal to this central source.” http://reformedtheology.org/SiteFiles/WhatIsRT.html)

Ok, I am not wanting to spawn a debate on Calvinism with this post, that is not the point, but I do think it interesting that the two things I hear most often these days from pastors who are wrestling with God as they are striving to lead their churches are:

1.  a desire to focus on being a church as originated by Jesus Christ, without any additives. This desire usually leads a church to desire to be on mission.

2. a turning away from dependence or exaltation of tradition and a return to the Bible as the supreme source of authority. This return also tends to lead a church to desire to be on mission.

Could it be that we are beginning to experience a New Reformation?  Could it be that God is beginning to break us and cause us to long for the true Church that He died for and launched?  The truth is, that if we are not careful, we will allow form to take precedence over function.  What does a Biblical Church look like?  Is it a style? Is it a method? Are their barriers to becoming this type of church?

I sense a longing and a hunger in many American believers.  What do you long for?  Do you long for a deeper walk with God?  Do you long to be a part of a community believers who are authentically and passionately seeking after God and following Jesus in their daily lives? 

Truth is, I believe God is moving today like no time before.  He is slowly tearing down the things we tend to so readily trust in; our economy, our government, our finances, our safety, our future, our stability.  He is preparing us.  I think we are on the verge of a movement of God if only we will embrace it.  God is at work, we will either partner with Him or get left behind.  I long to partner with Him!

So what do you think? A New Reformation or just a skewed perception?  Let me know what you think.

So, What is “Missional”

Isn’t it amazing how quickly words tend to lose their original meaning?  The word “missional” is a fairly new word as words go, yet in just the past few weeks, I have had several conversations discussing what is truly means.  It seems that the definition of this word has already been broadened much further than its original meaning.

The simplest way to define “missional” as I understand it is:   it is an adjective that modifies the activities, plans, and strategies that are intended to fulfill the mission. Obviously, Christians don’t own the rights to the word “mission”.  If you do a Google search with just the word “mission”, you will find that there is a vast, diverse use of the word.  Top on the list, I found “missionhockey”, whatever that is.  Also intermixed in the list are corporate mission statements, projects, military issues, and churches.  So if missional is defined as activities meant to fulfill the mission, what is the mission? 

Just the other day, a friend and I were discussing the issue that today, almost any activity we do in the church, we want to label it “missions”.  He said it is just like the story he heard of the man that caught a leprechaun.  As you well know, anyone who catches a leprechaun is entitled to know where his gold is hidden.  Well, the man demanded to be taken to the leprechaun’s gold.  As they arrived to the secret location, the man took a yellow ribbon and tied it around the tree near where the gold was buried.  He made the leprechaun promise not to remove his yellow ribbon as he went into town to buy a shovel.  As the man returned, he saw that the leprechaun was true to his word, he had not removed the yellow ribbon but had instead tied a yellow ribbon around every tree.  It seems we have tied a “yellow ribbon” around all the activities of the church and have called them “missions” but what is the mission?

God created all things, including mankind, for His pleasure.  We are “built” to worship Him; this is our purpose.  Sin came into the picture and created a chasm between man and God.  While we are still created and designed to bring God glory, it is impossible for us to please Him in our sinful state.  God provided a way that we can be reconciled back to Himself.  The mission has existed from the beginning of time. 

So here it is– THE MISSION:  Matthew 28: 18-20:  “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”*

The mission is clearly spelled out for us- go and disciple all peoples.  Acts 1:8 shows us God’s intent- that the message of Jesus would be proclaimed while crossing all geographical and cultural barriers, from where the Truth is most available to where it is least available.  So if the mission is to go and disciple all peoples, “missional”  defines the activities we as the followers do to intentionally carry out that mission. If the activities do not have a clear intention of fulfilling the mission, it is not missional.

You may ask, does this mean we do not meet physical needs as we go?  How can we be Christ’s ambassadors and not reflect the love and concern He has for His creation?  We clearly see in the New Testament that Jesus met both physical and spiritual needs.  How can we embody the love of Christ yet ignore the hungry and the hurting?  This world is eaten up by the cancer of sin.  Sin has had catastrophic effects on our world.  People are hurting and are hopeless.  Although we must be faithful to reflect His love in meeting needs, me must never forget that the only cure for the cancer of sin is the message of the Gospel. 

*The Holy Bible : English standard version.2001 (Mt 28:18-20). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.

8 key principles for developing a missional church

EIGHT KEY PRINCIPLES

For developing a missional church

 

 

1. Worship must be the primary motivation.

 

 

2. The local church must be seen as God’s primary instrument to fulfill the Great

Commission.

 

 

3. The pastormust be a key influencer for the cause of the mission.

 

 

4. The church must intentionally develop a corporate purpose,  strategy, and personality related to God’s global mission.

 

 

5. Understand that mobilization is a process, not a “quick fix.”

 

 

6. Global missions must be approached from appropriate generational perspectives.

 

 

7. Personalization must be seen as the key principle.

 

 

8. The “partnership paradigm” must be an essential element in missions strategy.

 

 

The Leviticus-God vs. The Puppy-god

Recently, I talked on the phone with my old friend Paul. We had not talked in a while so we chatted for over two hours. He lives in California and I live in Florida, so we hardly ever see each other and hadn’t spoken for about two years. During our long conversation about various topics (ranging from website setup to movies to theology to church to family to financial problems to God’s goodness), Paul reminded me of this dude from college that said something pretty weird that he could never forget. During a discussion about the characteristics of God, he (the dude–not Paul) said that God was like a puppy dog to him. He keeps kicking the dog, but it keeps coming back to him. We both laughed and then paused. Hmm. Something about that representation of God just doesn’t sit right. Is God really like a puppy dog? Does He really keep coming back to me every time I kick Him?

Well, I’ve been reading through Leviticus–The third book in the Old Testament, or the Jewish Bible. It paints a very different view of God. He is holy. Hebrew word qadosh=English word holy. “Holy” does not mean that God is really religious (which He isn’t). “Holy” does not mean that God is really morally pure (which He is–for His character defines moral purity). “Holy” means that God is very,very,very different from anything else. “Holy” means “wholly” separated from everything else. In English, the words “holy” and “wholly” have the same etymological roots. (Think: two common spellings for wholistic and holistic.) Some have noted that it is unfortunate that the two words have developed separate spheres of usage because they have very little difference in meaning. God is Wholly. He is wholly self-fulfilled. He does not need me to complete Him. He is Wholly Himself. He is set apart from me and the rest of the created order, i.e. the universe. He is wholly independent. Everything else is a dependent being or thing. We (all created beings and things) have in our existence a dependence upon the One who is Wholly to even allow us to exist. No puppy dog here.

God is also good. If you were wondering, these two English words also share etymology. He is good and He defines that which is good. Goodness=God’s character. God’s character=Goodness. Maybe this is where our friend got the puppy dog thing from. Well puppy dogs are good, aren’t they? They lick your toes, even when you kick them. They only want to please you. That seems good, right? Maybe from a limited human perspective, but maybe this dude was confusing “nice” with “good.” I would agree that puppy dogs are nice. However, God is not nice! He is just, loving, wrathful, forgiving, holy, and good. But He is not nice.

God also is not determined to please you. Yes, a puppy wants to please you, but God does not. God has designed a Way for ultimate joy: Repentance from (sorrow for + turning from) sin (acts of rebellion + lifestyle of rebellion) and faith in Jesus Christ (who did the work for us to meet God’s holiness: He died on the cross to pay for sin, satisfying Our Good God’s necessary wrath against our rebellion; He rose from the grave, defeating death and providing means for our eternal life; and He is at the right hand of His Father bringing EVERY thing under His feet, either by deliverance or ultimate defeat.) But this Way was designed for God’s pleasure, not ours. And in His goodness, God desires to share His pleasure with us, through His Son Jesus. Again, no puppy dog here.

Leviticus shows a holy God killing priests who decide to tweak the rules. Leviticus gives the Jewish community 1,385,949 rules for approaching the holy presence of God. I may have to check my numbers again, but it sure seems like a lot of rules. If He is this holy and this fierce, while also being so good, then He cannot be adequately depicted by a puppy dog. Maybe God is more like a German Shepherd. A good dog, but also a fierce one. The Bible gives us better depictions, though. He is the Lion AND the Lamb. He is the Fierce One and the Sacrifice together. C. S. Lewis gaves us the character Aslan in his Narnia series. This is a picture of how God might have revealed Himself in another world. [Reminder: SAME God--different world] One of the lines in the book goes something like this (forgive me if I am misquoting; I’ve read the books and seen the movie, so I may get mixed up, and my wife is asleep, so I can’t go to the bookshelf beside her to check the words): “He sounds dangerous.” “My dear, he is not a tame lion.” “But he is good.”

No puppy-god will do. He’s not like a teddy bear. He’s not like Santa Claus. (Although God may have been depicted very clearly in the life of the persecuted Christian Nicolas who somehow inspired the candyman we see around Christmastime in our malls.) He’s not like a kitten. God is not our wishing well. God is not “the man upstairs.” God is not the world’s best co-pilot; We are His stewardesses, if we made the flight at all. God is wholly. God is holy.