I am Daniel Whyte III, president of Gospel Light Society International, and this is the “Strategic Christian Leadership” Podcast, Episode 76. The simple purpose of this podcast is to help Christian leaders understand how planning and strategizing is important to carrying out the Great Commission.
Our Bible verse for this episode is Philippians 2:3 which says, “Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.”
Our quote for this episode is from Vince Lombardi, who said, “Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence.”
In this podcast, we are going through the fine books: “Advanced Strategic Planning: A New Model for Church and Ministry Leaders” by Aubrey Malphurs, “Deliberate Simplicity: How the Church Does More by Doing Less” by Dave Browning, and “Humilitas: A Lost Key to Life, Love, and Leadership” by John Dickson.
Our topic today is part 11 of “Chapter 4: Developing a Biblical Mission: What We Are Supposed to be Doing” from “Advanced Strategic Planning: A New Model for Church and Ministry Leaders” by Aubrey Malphurs. He continues as follows:
Actual versus Aspirational
A church may have an actual as well as an aspirational mission. The actual mission is where its values are taking it as described above. However, if this is an incorrect mission, the church will need to embrace a Great Commission mission. When the churches where I consult discover this, they quickly adopt a Great Commission mission. However, it is imperative that a church understand that when they adopt the new, correct mission, it is only aspirational—it is what they want their mission to be, not what it actually is.
The problem is that many assume that the new mission is now their actual mission when in fact it is still aspirational. It will not become their actual mission until the church changes its goals and owns the mission, which takes time. How can the church accomplish this kind of change so that it embraces the new, correct, biblical mission? The answer is to examine their actual values. They may need to change some values or, better, embrace those that will lead it to the correct mission. A list of these values is found in Acts 2:41-47, and the key value in that list is evangelism, which actually serves as bookends for the other values (see verses 41 and 47). I would go so far as to argue that if a church does not hold evangelism as a core value, it cannot become a Great Commission church. Correct core values are the key to adopting in time the correct, biblical mission.
Developing a Mission
Once you see the necessity of having an effective and biblical congregational mission, you are ready to move to the next step. This involves immersing yourself and your team in the crafting of a dynamic, strong, memorable mission for your church. This section begins with selecting the right personnel to develop the mission, addresses several guidelines for developing your mission, and then walks the team through the development process.
The Personnel for Developing the Mission
Which people in an organization should craft a mission statement for the church? The answer is easy. It is the strategic leadership team. They are tasked with developing the mission as well as developing its vision and discovering the church’s core values.
The Mission Guidelines
There are four guidelines for developing your mission statement.
1. DETERMINE THE CHURCH’S MISSION In the business world a leadership team asks, What business are we in? Though not a business, essentially the church is asking the same question: What business are we in? The answer in the business world varies from company to company and will change. The answer for the ministry must neither vary from church to church nor ever change. As already stated and fully developed above, God has mandated what he wants his church to do: make disciples (Matt. 28:19).
2. WRITE YOUR MISSION STATEMENT Next, you must put your newly developed mission down on paper, as a written statement. In his book Learning to Lead, Fred Smith writes, “In my view, nothing is properly defined until you write it down. Writing forces you to be specific; it takes the fuzz off your thinlcing.”(391If you cannot write it down, you probably do not have a well-thought-out mission.
— PRAYER —
If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior, here’s how.
First, accept the fact that you are a sinner, and that you have broken God’s law. The Bible says in Romans 3:23: “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”
Second, accept the fact that there is a penalty for sin. The Bible states in Romans 6:23: “For the wages of sin is death…”
Third, accept the fact that you are on the road to hell. Jesus Christ said in Matthew 10:28: “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” Also, the Bible states in Revelation 21:8: “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”
Now this is bad news, but here’s the good news. Jesus Christ said in John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
Just believe in your heart that Jesus Christ died for your sins, was buried, and rose from the dead by the power of God for you so that you can live eternally with Him. Pray and ask Him to come into your heart today, and He will.
Romans 10:9-13 says, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
God bless.
Strategic Christian Leadership 