Home David Mays June 20, 2008
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Biblical
Foundations for Your Missions Strategy David Mays For a variety of
reasons church leaders are taking a close look at how their missions resources are being deployed. Many are asking What is our strategy? A
strategy is a roadmap to guide you to making the best decisions for
responding to opportunities and pursuing ministry that fits your church's
priorities. A number of
factors may influence your church's mission priorities. These include things like how you hope to
balance your local and global outreach efforts, how narrowly or broadly you
desire to focus your efforts, whether you desire to minister to particular
categories of people or places, how much effort you place on partnerships,
and how important it is for your people to have hands-on involvement. You can find all this in the CD, Developing a Missions Strategy that Fits
Your Church by David Mays. But these
priorities are based on four foundation stones: ·
What
you understand the Bible calls us to do in the world ·
The purpose
or mission of your church ·
The
definition and scope of missions as you understand it ·
The
status of the world and the great challenges we face Most churches base
their missions ministry on particular Scriptures. They may have a written biblical basis statement
or paragraph. However, the missions activities and budget of the church may show
little connection to this biblical statement.
One can imagine a small house built on a firm foundation, but rooms added
beyond the foundation. The house sprawls
in several directions, with sagging rooms built on bare ground. To make your
biblical foundation more useful, have your missions or strategy team work
together in developing or revising it.
Here is a way to do this. Begin by selecting
a number of Scripture verses that might be considered foundational for
missions. (See this list, for example.) Write out each verse on an eight by eleven
sheet of paper and post it on the wall.
Ask the team if they want to add any verses; write each one out; and
put it on the wall. There is some
subjectivity about this and if you feel later that you have omitted important
verses, you can add them. Ask each
person on the team to pick their top selections (three, four, or five) and put
a colored sticker on each of their selections on the wall. The verses that
most people select will be your missions
verses. You may have four, five, or more
foundational verses. Divide your
strategy team into two or more groups with at least three people in each
group. Ask each group to choose one or
more verses from among the ones you selected.
Assign all the verses. For each verse,
ask all the groups to write out their answers to three questions. 1. Scope. Does this verse indicate the "scope"
of God's purpose? Who all does it
include? For example,
Isaiah 49:6b. "…I will also make
you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of
the earth." The scope
is "the ends of the earth," or all the world. Put all their
responses on a white board under the header, "Scope." 2. Outcomes. What is supposed to happen as a result of
missions? Does the Scripture you have suggest
an outcome, benefit, or result? Example: Isaiah 49:6b. "…I will also make you a light for the
Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the
earth." Result: People receive God's
salvation. Put their
responses for each verse on the white board under the header,
"Outcomes" 3. Commands. Does your Scripture give us a command? Example: Isaiah
49:6b. "I will also make you a light
for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of
the earth." Command: Be a light (witness) to the Gentiles (nations). Put their
responses for each verse on the white board under the header,
"Commands" Note: Be sure that people are giving answers that come from the
verse. We are trying to understand
what each verse tells us, not putting into the verse what we already think. So just write down, in your own words, what
the verse says as you understand it.
Not every verse has every element.
At this point you will
have three columns on your white board, a list of Commands, a list of Benefits,
and a list under Scope. It might look
something like this:
Ask your team to
use words from these columns to write a biblical foundation statement for
missions. Use a template something
like the following: We are commanded
to Here are a couple
of examples of what they might write: "We are commanded to witness for Christ in order to make
obedient disciples in all the world." Or, "We are to be the hands and feet of Christ, offering
healing, reconciliation, and salvation, to people of every race and
nation." This will provide the
substance for a biblical statement of the end goal of missions. It is more than window dressing. Use it as the first threshhold for
considerating mission opportunities.
If we undertake this project, partner with this organization, or
support this missionary, will we be helping to fulfill what this statement
directs? When the team
works together to understand what the Scriptures say and put them into a
statement, they are much more likely to use this statement in developing
their missions strategy and making their missions
plans. Note: The scope of this
statement is likely to be broader than just "missions." It may include, for example, the discipling
of believers in our Sunday classes and small groups. This kind of ministry among believers in the
church is normally considered "church work" as opposed to
"mission work." Mission work is beyond and outside the church. But that will be dealt with when you work
with the foundation stone of the definition and scope of missions. The full strategy
development process is outlined in the CD, Developing a Missions Strategy
that Fits Your Church by David Mays.
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