The Mission Challenge

It’s my personal conviction that one of the primary roles of the church is to be regularly engaged in Mission/Service. Sadly, too few churches are as engaged as it would seem they could be. As culture pushes us to be more “individualized” and “self-centered”, (or “self-focused” if the previous label carries too much negative connotation) members within a church begin to see church as “what does it offer me?” The consequence is a church culture in which people are more concerned about what their church can do for them than they are concerned with what they and the church can do for Christ.

This is a fundamental breakdown in what scripture defines as the church. We can derive an image of that definition from Ephesians 4:

Ephesians 4:1-7, 11-16

I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.

7 But each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ’s gift…

11 The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ. 14 We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people’s trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming. 15 But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body’s growth in building itself up in love.

I don’t know about you, but that passage speaks volumes to me. It says that we are to be about “being Christ” to the world around us as much or more than expecting the church to “be Christ” to us because WE ARE THE CHURCH! It’s about action, about growing, about working through tough times, and about growing as a community not only in number but depth of relationship and in maturity.

But how do we get there? There are five key elements to such growth—Worship, Instruction, Fellowship, Evangelism, and Service. From my perspective, we do reasonably well at worship (it seems these days we put most of our eggs in this basket), instruction, and fellowship. Evangelism, because of the culture we live in, seems to be something better done on an individual basis in our workplaces, schools, and other community arenas and ties hand-in-hand with the subject of discussion. Which brings us to Service (also known as Missions).

It’s easy to go to church and do our “religious duty” for the week, but is that what this whole Christianity thing is about? Maybe it’s not about doing our “religious duty” for the week but doing our “religious duty” for the WEAK.

James 1:26-27

26 If any think they are religious, and do not bridle their tongues but deceive their hearts, their religion is worthless. 27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.

The church in America is struggling to gain any real momentum towards depth. Life may seem great, but that’s not what the stats are saying. From my perspective, it’s a generational transition from an “American” church that was enjoying the prosperity of an economic superpower to a new era of Spiritual Awareness which is asking “is this all there is to church? Surely there must be more than music and sermons and Jesus talk.” The assumption of a postmodern era is that there is something more out there and that something more is concerned with the direction humanity is headed.

With that said, a church that wants to thrive must take steps to position itself to meet the needs and ideas of such a generation. That church must re-examine its goals and direction and set down roots in an identity that makes it move. As it is said in Hebrews 10

Hebrews 10:23-24

23 Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds,

This “love and good deeds” is exactly what I’m talking about. If we examine our intentions and find that all we are concerned about is growing a bigger church then we are missing the mark—that’s the cart before the horse. Instead, our intentions must be about doing the will of the Father—Love and Good Deeds. It is then and only then that a community will see the value in who we are and what we do and desire to join with us. It comes down to a few basic principles of humanity.

For example, when we examine Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs we find that all people have eight basic needs to be fulfilled, each of which is built upon the foundation of the previous needs.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs:

1. Physiological Needs: Adequate perceived physiological needs must be met before one can moveon to next level of need. Physiological needs include food, water, shelter, clothing, exercise, and even appropriate affectionate touch.

2. Safety Needs: People must feel safe and secure before they will open up enough to enable the opportunity for significant change. Safety needs include physical safety, emotional safety, intellectual safety, social safety, and spiritual safety. Any sense of being attacked at any one point of these safety intersections will move someone to lock themselves up tight away from any chance for impact.

3. Belongingness & Love: People have an innate desire to feel like they belong somewhere—that they fit in to a greater picture of community. As well, they ultimately need to feel loved and appreciated for who they are regardless of what they look like or how they act. Without either of these, one cannot afford trust.

4. Esteem: Esteem can be seriously affected by one’s sense of belonging and love, therefore, if one senses belonging and love, likely they will have a higher self esteem. One’s sense of accomplishment also impacts their esteem—if one feels unaccomplished, they will likely have lower self-esteem. If one finds a task difficult it can also seriously affect their ego.

5. Need to know and Understand: Once people feel safe, loved, and self-confident, they will begin to be more curious and interested in attaining knowledge and understanding. It is at this stage that people are most open to learning and most capable of remembering what they’ve learned. A person with low self-esteem is likely to feel incapable of understanding and, therefore, unwilling to try.

6. Aesthetic Needs: When people feel like they know and understand enough to be comfortable with life and meaning in it, they begin to seek more physical/emotional comfort by surrounding themselves with objects of beauty. This is physical/emotional comfort because it creates a physical “feel-good” emotional sense of satisfaction. These needs can be found in art, music, decoration, places of beauty, and even people or images of people that are aesthetically appealing. Consider this need in light of American Consumer culture—consider our houses and our need to enjoy them; our cars and our desire for their design and what we think that says about us; our cultural icons and our addiction to their fame. Our knick-knacks and collectibles. Form has taken over function. Worship is key here as well—it’s why people feel most comfortable engaging in worship that appeals to their particular sense of musical preference and why this becomes such a heated debate. We all need to understand that we are all different, and we can celebrate those differences by allowing adequate room for various forms of worship whether we are engaged by them or not.

7. Self-actualization: Once we’ve filled our aesthetic needs and begin to realize that all our previous needs seem fleeting, we finally begin to look inward. We begin to look inside ourselves to determine whether we believe ourselves to be “good” or “worthy” or successful. These words have numerous meanings to millions of individuals. We continue to seek out our “true” identity and attempt to realize our full potential. Often this stage begins to creep up most quickly when we are faced with our ownmortality. We begin to ask ourselves if we’ve lived a life worth remembering hoping that we will be immortalized in the memory of the life we lived. Once we realize the futility of this concept we begin to look at the final need.

8. Self-transcendence: Once we realize our own finite existence, we begin to come to grips with the need to connect with something greater than ourselves. We realize that self-centeredness ends in death, but contemplate that something greater might be possible. We seem to have this innate recognition of a higher power. This is when our search for the existence of a Higher Being truly begins, and when people are most eager to meet and connect with a “god.”

The implications for ministry are enormous! If we hope to empower a person to seek a life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ, we must:

…first empower them to have their physiological needs met,

…address their fears,

…engage them in deeper loving relationships,

…boost their self-confidence,

…provide adequate answers to their frustrated questions,

…enlighten their perspective of beauty in the world around them and help them build beauty into their immediate environment,

…and empower them to be the best they can be while confronting them with their inability to live forever by their own means.

Then and only then can we hope to usher them into a full expression of a relationship with the Savior who provides those needs (This is not to say people can’t find faith in Christ along the way in seeing Him meet those needs through His people, but that people cannot reach their own “producing fruit” wholeness in Christ without the fulfillment of all these needs. If our goal is to “equip the saints” and bring them to maturity, that requires these needs to be fulfilled).

Yet, there are more implications here. The act of doing missions provides the opportunity for our own members to

…engage in deeper loving relationships by working alongside other community members

…boost their self-confidence by helping others and learning new skills for service

…find answers to tough questions by being a part of the solution and engaging in conversations that empower them to grow

…create beauty by making the world a better place

…be the best they can be by taking up their cross and following the model of Christ

…grow closer to Christ by engaging in His ministry and by counting on Him for support, strength, and grace.

As you can see, in meeting other’s needs, our own needs are met.

Ok, so how do we do it—what strategy do we employ to get this show on the road? First we need to lay down a foundation. That foundation will dictate our strategy for us. As always, that foundation needs to be God’s Word—therefore we need to develop a theology of Mission work. A theology of any ministry asks, “what does God’s Word say about what we are to do in this context?” and “What directions does it give?”

A Theology for Mission Work

A Theology of Mission work is an examination of what scripture says that pertains to service—what does God’s Word say Missions/Service should look like? The following is a brief outline of key passages that speak to a theology of missions.

Gifted for Purpose—Ministry

Ephesians 4:1-7, 11-16

7 But each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ’s gift…

11 The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ. 14 We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people’s trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming. 15 But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body’s growth in building itself up in love.

The Principle: God has granted gifts and talents to each individual for the purpose of sharing in the ministry and mission of the church so that the kingdom of God (the body of Christ) might be built “on earth as it is in heaven.”

The Heart of Christianity—Bearing Christ to the world

James 1:26-27

The Principle: The Christian faith isn’t about knowing the right verses, singing the right songs, or preaching the right sermons. It’s not about confidence in oneself or one’s salvation through these things. Instead, it is about being “Christ-bearers” (Christian) to a world in need. It’s about having His heart—a heart of compassion for the marginalized that moves one to urgency in service.

A Community Effort

Hebrews 10:23-24

23 Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds,

The Principle: It is in relationship within community that we find accountability to be motivated to continue the work blessed to us in the calling of Christ.

Compassion in Love

Matthew 22:37-40

37 He said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the greatest and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”

The Principle: Loving our neighbor as our self is nothing short of putting ourselves in another’s shoes long enough to understand what we would hope someone else would do for us if we were in their position and then doing that. The only thing we can do with our lives greater than this is to love God andto do that; one must love one’s neighbor in this way.

A selfless Calling

Matthew 20:24-28

24 When the ten heard it, they were angry with the two brothers. 25 But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. 26 It will not be so among you; but whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever wishes to be first among you must be your slave; 28 just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.”

The Principle: Church is not about what it does for me, but what I can do for the Kingdom of God. It is not a place to be fed as much as a place to feed others. It is not a country-club as much as it is a hospital (a teaching hospital at that). It’s not a restaurant as much as it is a soup-kitchen. It is not a bar in which to drown out your problems and sorrows as it is an oasis or well in which you can satisfy others’ thirsts and, in so doing, have your own thirsts quenched.

Ministry out of the Overflow

I Peter 4:8-11

8 Above all, maintain constant love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins. 9 Be hospitable to one another without complaining. 10 Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God, serve one another with whatever gift each of you has received. 11 Whoever speaks must do so as one speaking the very words of God; whoever serves must do so with the strength that God supplies, so that God may be glorified in all things through Jesus Christ.

The Principle: The power to serve does not come from one’s strength, but only on the strength of Christ—it is only through the overflow of Christ in one’s heart that one has the power to serve and continue to serve. Therefore, it is the responsibility of servants to drink deep in Christ to maintain strength.

Gifted for Glory

Romans 12:3-8

3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. 4 For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, 5 so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. 6 We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; 7 ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; 8 the exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness.

The Principle: Our gifts are not for our own glorification, but for the glorification of the one who gives them. Yet, it is only through the use of these gifts that God is glorified, and those who glorify God are themselves glorified. It’s like spotlighting God—the more we shine our light on Him, the more He gives us greater light to shine.

Serving within and without

Romans 12:9-13

9 Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; 10 love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor. 11 Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord.12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. 13 Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers.

The Principle: Service is as much about serving one another within the community of believers as it is serving others, but neither should be neglected for the other.

Love is something to be done, not something to be had

I John 3:16-20

16 We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us—and we ought to lay down our lives for one another. 17 How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help?

18 Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action. 19 And by this we will know that we are from the truth and will reassure our hearts before him 20 whenever our hearts condemn us; for God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.

The Principle: Love is a verb—it must be acted upon to be authentic. “They will know we are Christians by our love.” It is in providing for the needs of others that we reveal our identity in Christ.

Our identity determines our fruit

Matthew 7:16-20

16 You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorns, or figs from thistles? 17 In the same way, every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus you will know them by their fruits.

The Principle: If we are to claim an identity rooted in Christ, we must also claim responsibility to bear GOOD fruit. No fruit is as bad as bad fruit.

Serving others IS Serving Christ

Matthew 25:31-46

31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, 33 and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. 34 Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; 35 for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? 38 And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? 39 And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ 40 And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’ 41 Then he will say to those at his left hand, ‘You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; 42 for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ 44 Then they also will answer, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?’ 45 Then he will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ 46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

The Principle: When we minister to “the least of these” we minister to Christ. When we refuse to minister to “the least of these” we refuse to minister to Christ.

As a refresher, according to scripture, mission work in a local context should:

Express the gifts and maturity of the local congregation as empowered and encouraged by its leadership
Be centered on the goal of bearing the hope, healing, and provision of Christ to the world as He modeled it
Exemplify the teamwork of the entire of believers generationally and ecumenically
Be drenched in the same love with which Christ first loved us
Manifest a culture of personal sacrifice that mirrors the mercy and grace of Christ’s
Exhibit lives bursting with the power of the Spirit as people remain tapped into the source
Shine a light of glory on the one who provides and gifts for His good purposes
Model synergy as the community of believers meets the needs of its own so that they may participate in meeting the needs of others outside
Incarnate the love of Christ so when people see community members, they see the love of God
Bear good fruit by being rooted in the Word and call of Christ
Minister to the marginalized, the difficult, and the enemy.

With this scriptural foundation that defines why we do what we do and indicates how we do it we can turn our eyes to the process of formulating a vision for mission.

Developing Vision for Missions

So, where are we? Armed with a theology of service and mission, we must now consider a vision for mission, which asks, “What would this theology of mission look like employed in our community?” Consider the following example:

Imagine….

…Imagine a church regularly engaged in local mission and service projects

…one which does more to attempt to meet the needs of people who come in off the street on a regular basis rather than turning them out

…one which empowers the needy to grow in ways that enable them to meet their own needs by setting healthy boundaries, by providing access to training or education, by helping find employment opportunities, and by finding ways to reward them for growth rather than cutting them off from continued necessary support as governmental systems do

…one which seeks to offer weekend service opportunities to the congregation to help the elderly and disabled in its immediate community with property/home improvement projects (fixing leaky roofs, cleaning up disheveled yards, minor plumbing, and electrical repairs, etc.)

…one ready to help provide immediate needs to those who experience the tragedy of burned homes, or homes damaged by bad weather

…one ready to provide counseling services for those dealing with overwhelming emotional baggage or tragedy

…Imagine a church regularly engaged in statewide missions and service projects

…one prepared at a moment’s notice to send out properly equipped disaster relief teams to areas hard hit by tornadoes and floods

…one regularly seeking out opportunities to minister to communities and counties less affluent

…one which turns tragedy into opportunity to share God’s love by making a difference in the lives of those in need

…Imagine a church regularly engaged in nationwide missions and service opportunities

…one prepared to send out disaster relief teams to states that have experienced the tragedies of hurricanes, earthquakes and tornadoes

…one prepared to send out envoys of servants to Native American populations struggling to get by—peoples marginalized and virtually forgotten

…Imagine a church regularly engaged in international missions

…one that doesn’t just send money but sends its own people to investigate and bring news of the joys of success and the heartbreak of tragedy to shed light on the need and motivate more to do more and be more

…Imagine a church that does all these things, and spearheads a local ecumenical cooperative approach, where we can set aside our theological differences long enough to do the work of Christ, to strengthen our abilities and broaden our reach to accomplish these purposes.

When I imagine these things, I imagine a church I’d be proud to belong to, one I’d be proud to serve, one engaged in Kingdom Building. But how do we get there? We have to start somewhere.

It starts with me sharing with you this vision, this challenge. It starts with you accepting this challenge and building on it your own vision—not necessarily adopting my vision as-is, but in being challenged by it to seek God’s vision for your ministry in mission. It starts with a group of people who take it upon themselves to see it through. It takes movement. It takes action. It takes communication. It takes Hope. It takes the power of Christ in you.

Formulating A Strategy for Mission

Acts 1:6-8

6 So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He replied, “It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his ownauthority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

If we were to rewrite the last sentence for our church it would read, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in (your town/city here), in all (your state here)and (your country here), and to all the nations of the world.” This gives us an interesting starting point for a strategy.

1st, it suggests that we start small—what can we do here at home to minister to the community—to our neighbors? In doing this local ministry, we will get excited about what we are doing and continue to grow in strength of Spirit, numbers, gifts, and finances. It is this getting the ball rolling that will move us beyond our local community, but only after significant progress has been made to make our home neighborhood a better place. Does that mean all the work has to be complete where we are before moving on to bigger things? No, eventually ministry will naturally reach a capacity in which too many hands will be at work and in each other’s way becoming a hindrance. Then some will be called out from among us to share our calling and passion within the greater community.

2nd, it assumes we won’t stay small—there is a natural Spiritual growth that will motivate us to, as the prayer of Jabez states, “increase our borders.” As people grow and are prepared and trained they will seek new areas to make a difference, to share our hope and vision, and spread our “fire.”

3rd, it assumes we’ll never be satisfied—there’s always more work to do. Until the Kingdom of Heaven comes to earth, we can be clearing the way and preparing this world for the next. As the Lord’s Prayer suggests “Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” If we pray that prayer but are unwilling to be a part of its answering, what good are we? “Seek first the kingdom of heaven,” is about working towards its fulfillment in the here and now.

4th, it suggests that the work is not done until the whole world knows the love of Christ. Our calling isn’t a calling to ourselves, but a calling to our world starting at home and branching out until we see fruit being produced worldwide.

5th, it assumes we have no limits. With Christ’s power, WE are capable of changing the world!!! That’s an awesome honor to be invited to—called into the work of building the Kingdom of Heaven.

Questions to ask to help you formulate a strategy for mission in your context

What are the gifts (see Ephesians 4 above) God has planted in our ministry community?

Some of us are gifted to be teachers, preachers and evangelists. However, within a mission strategy, these are not the only gifts to consider. In our midst we also have plumbers, electricians, carpenters, heavy equipment operators, as well as medical technicians, nurses, doctors, and lawyers. When we think of ministry, too often we only think of the spiritual services we would like to provide to minister to souls, but we forget that when people have physical, safety, and emotional needs, as Maslow’s explained, they are not yet at a point where they are open to receiving spiritual ministry. This is where the gifts, talents, and passions of others in our congregation come into greatest service.

After hurricane Katrina, I participated in four trips to a town called Pass Christian in Mississippi. We seldom had a chance to interact with the people as we were focused on cleaning up and rebuilding. While there we all wore bright green shirts so we would be recognized by local law enforcement and other agencies and to be able to be easily identified by others in our group we weren’t familiar with. Later we heard reports of how significant those shirts were to the local people—our shirts brought them hope because they reminded the people that we had not forgotten them, and that people were there to help them when they felt most helpless. We never had a chance to preach a sermon or share a witness, but we had spoken volumes about the love of Christ because we were the sermon, we were the witness.

Finding ways to share ALL our gifts, talents, and passions goes a long way on the mission field. Teaching someone how to wire an outlet or replace a faucet in the name of Jesus may go farther to introduce someone to the love of Christ than the bridge method ever could.

What are the resources with which God has blessed our ministry community that we could put to missional use?

Often a church focusses on finances when it comes to mission work. That’s all good and well, but are there other resources the church could take advantage of? What properties (buildings, land, vehicles, equipment, etc.) does the church have that could be put to use? Consider these ideas:

Could the church host an ecumenical forum, inviting all local churches, to discuss a city-wide plan for mission teamwork in their larger sanctuary?
Could the church use its facilities host poverty experiences to help members of the community better understand the difficulties of navigating our culture while in poverty (eg. acquiring an ID without an address, purchasing a home or renting an apartment without an ID, establishing a bank account without an ID or address, etc).
Could the church use their gymnasium to offer a free safe place to play basketball on weeknights to local kids?
Could the same church simultaneously offer tutoring or counseling to those students who come to play?
Does the church have a van and some retired individuals who wouldn’t mind driving those without vehicles to needed doctor’s appointments or job interviews or other important opportunities?
Does the church have the ability to purchase houses to flip, and use that opportunity to partner skilled tradesmen with impoverished people seeking skill training to teach them how to provide for their families?
Does the church have the resources and manpower to provide low-cost/no-cost vehicle maintenance for those struggling to get by? Some churches have garages with car lifts to offer free oil changes and minor maintenance to those who can’t afford regular maintenance, as well as offer training to people so they can do their own.
Does a church have a facility that could house people after a home fire, local tornado, or even distant hurricane? Or, are there members in our community that would be willing to be put on a list of hosts for people experiencing such tragedies?

There are hundreds of ways a church can be missionally involved in its own community simply by taking better advantage of the resources at hand.

What are training opportunities our ministry community could host for our mission servants/teams?

Does the church have resources to use local needs for skilled labor as training for members to do skilled labor across the country or world? (e.g. If a mission team plans to rehab houses after a hurricane they need to know what they are doing before they get there—they can be trained to demo, hang drywall, and install cabinets and fixtures by doing the same types of things on local houses in impoverished communities at home thus helping local families while gaining necessary experience to make mission work more efficient and effective).

I had the opportunity to participate in a mission trip to help build a church camp in Hawaii. We were to build tent platforms at that camp. Before we went, we partnered with a local church camp to build them some similar structures so that we could work out any kinks in the designs, learn how to work together, and know what equipment and materials we would need when we got there. This made us more efficient and able to get more done in the short time we were there.

What are the missions our members are most passionate about?

It’s easy for leadership to simply want to start pushing their congregations towards specific mission work that they think is important, but if the membership isn’t passionate about it, it will be difficult to get traction. It’s better for leadership to take some time to listen to the hearts of its people. Through them the spirit may be speaking more clearly.

How can we be a more per-“mission” giving community to those who want to strike up their own mission idea?

If someone has it on their heart to start a specific mission and is seeking church support, is your community good at giving permission and providing such support, or is it an act of congress to get the ball rolling? Hesitancy on the part of a church kills momentum, but a church has to be careful with what people have been faithful to share. So how do you find that balance between permission giving and being responsible with resources? Any strategy should be designed to move quickly but efficiently. This will probably require an annual budget line and limit, and might include a simple application and interview process. It might also be helpful to have a list of coaches to partner with each new mission opportunity to help flesh out the idea and keep it accountable to the community.

What research needs to be done to make our strategy successful?

Too few churches do the research. Churches neglect to research the demographics of their own communities before endeavoring to do local missions. Churches neglect to research the legalities of some of the service they intend to participate in locally and abroad. Churches neglect to research the cultures of communities they intend to do ministry in, sometimes causing more harm than good. Churches neglect to research the cost and look for the best “deals” on resources or ministry partners causing poor stewardship (e.g. if you send a team to a foreign country to help drill a water well, which company has the best reputation balanced with the best cost—cheaper is not always better, but expensive is not always necessary).

What financial commitment will our community make for this mission strategy?

Once a community decides to become mission minded, it’s time to put your money where your mouth is and make a real financial commitment for the long-haul. It is also time to stop punishing ministries for being good stewards of finances. Few things are more frustrating than staying under budget and then having that budget decreased the next year because you worked to be a wise steward. This leads to overspending on unnecessary events or resources to maintain the same budget or get it increased. DON’T PUNISH GOOD STEWARDSHIP. At the same time, take some time to listen to those who didn’t use their budget. You may find they were timid and need to feel support and permission to spend their budget. Remind them of their call and your confidence in their decision making ability and encourage them to put those monies to good use. Good stewardship is excellent, but fear to spend is wasting opportunity and unfaithful to the ministry of the church.

Misconceptions about Church Missions

As a former youth pastor, I get frustrated with churches. They have a lot of faulty assumptions about youth ministry and missions. A couple of those faulty assumptions are:

1. Mission work is for teenagers:

They have all the energy and free time, so if we just give them money, our part is done.

The truth:

God is calling each and every one of us to service and missions. Granted, there are those who are elderly or disabled and incapable of many forms of service, but they can still make phone calls to raise finances, pray regularly for the success of the mission, provide mentorship by passing down wisdom from their experiences, and so on. Some will say that they only have so many weeks of vacation time. Does poverty take a vacation? Does the damage caused by earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes and so on take a vacation? That’s harsh, but it’s true. Taking up one’s cross doesn’t always feel good. Ironically, if you ask those who have given up vacations for mission work, they’ll tell you it was the best vacation they’ve ever been on.

2. Mission work will fix my kid:

If my kids go on a mission trip, it will give them a better perspective on life and help them be a better person.

The truth:

Mission work needs to be about doing missions—not fixing our kids. Many youth mission teams that go out to do work cause more damage than they do good because the students aren’t at a maturity level to set the example they’ve been asked to set. Kids that need to be “fixed” probably need to go WITH their parents to family counseling more than they need to go on a mission trip.

However, kids who go on mission trips do come back changed, but in ways their families aren’t prepared to handle—they most often come back on fire and wanting to participate more and more in church activities and ministry. Their parents freak out because they don’t understand why their son is quitting the football team, or their daughter is dropping cheerleading so they can be at church or hanging out with their youth pastor more.

By all means, youth definitely should go on mission trips, but with adequate training, preparation, maturity, and teamed up with adults that they know and look up to. But send teens to do mission work as ambassadors of Christ—not to get “fixed.” A better place to get “fixed” is likely church camp (one of the most powerful contexts for life change available to teens) or, in some situations, counseling.

3. The Youth Pastor can handle it:

We want our kids to go on mission trips, and we’re paying the youth pastor to organize everything they do—he/she can handle it.

The Truth:

Undertaking the organization of a mission/service project is a full-time job in and of itself. A youth pastor can barely keep up with building relationships with the students, addressing their counseling needs and providing mentorship or training to other leaders in the ministry. Add on top of that other programs that take up three to four nights weekly and leading a group of adult volunteers and planning other events, and one can see that adding in the development, fundraising, and training required for mission work and you have an impossibly tall order.

It’s my contention that if mission work is for everyone in the church, and it is, then there should be a group charged with providing opportunities for members to get involved in mission work that organizes or delegates to others the organization of mission opportunities that team adults up WITH students.

This serves a couple of benefits—not only does it get members of the church community into mission, but it also provides a serious opportunity for youth and adults, that they would not normally experience, to build bonds and relationships that can lead to mentorship and discipleship. It also helps students to see adults doing missions—it teaches them that mission work is for life.

I believe that students are disconnecting to the church after high school because they are used to the activity of youth ministry, and when they become an adult, there isn’t the excitement and exuberance for adult generations (I personally felt let-down entering adult ministry). It simply becomes a weekly responsibility to attend church rather than feeling like you belong to something closer knit and powerful. Engaging adults and youth alike in regular mission opportunities can help reinvigorate young adults’ faith and put them on track to be lifetime church participants.

Part of the problem is that growing churches want to reap the benefits of being a larger church while still thinking like a small church. To act like a large church, and thus reap the benefits, the groups within the church charged with oversight of the ministries within the church need to take the initiative. If the church wants to see youth on mission then the mission committee/board/team needs to take the initiative to get youth on mission. That may mean sitting down with the youth leader and teaming up, but it’s definitely not waiting for the youth pastor to see that it gets done. We are a community, a family, and a team. The youth pastor cannot handle such an important ministry on his/her own.

Conclusion:

As we have seen, God’s word clearly calls us all to be about the building of the Kingdom of God in the here and now through service and mission. With Maslow’s insight into the needs of God’s children, we can see a virtual map of how we can act faithfully to that call in meeting people where they are, helping them progress to be participants in that great calling alongside us. We have seen how scripture and Jesus’ own life-model describe what mission work needs to look like. Where all these intersect with each of our communities, we can begin to paint a vision of what missions could look like as an integral part of our ministry strategies and beyond. If we, God’s people, would simply sit down together and ask the tough questions of what work God has called each of our communities to, He would send His Spirit to open our hearts and minds to a more powerful expression of His love in our homes, our churches, our communities, our countries, and the world itself. The only question left is, what WILL we do?

The Mission Challenge

Questions to ask to help you formulate a strategy for mission in your context

Misconceptions about Church Missions

Brainstorm Ministries