Imagine yourself standing in front of the church congregation on Sunday morning ready to give a motivating sermon. As you look to the seats, you see smiling faces across the room and realize how that God is about to prepare his people for a new work. You are about to communicate this message to them knowing that it may or may not be well received.
The message is about joining God in His mission. You are calling them to be missionaries in their neighborhoods, workplaces, and places of recreation. Every Sunday they are to regather and celebrate the work God is doing as they join him the rest of the week on mission. Then they scatter back into culture.
Every Christian a missionary. Every Christian a disciple maker. That’s the new work and message you deliver.
Can you imagine it? Even if you are not the lead pastor of your church, you can get a glimpse of the power behind this message and ministry culture. In fact, it’s actually a pretty common message in places of the world like Europe and China where the Gospel goes forward despite persecution and cultural battles. But do we in America call our people into this type of mission? Do we actually believe that every single believer is to live like a disciple-making missionary where they live, work, and play? What if we did? What if we actually called our people to this?
What counts as ministry?
Obviously, we understand serve days with our church, men’s ministry BBQ gatherings, youth group all-nighters, and many other church related ministry programs. All provide serving opportunities and ministry opportunities.
But what about the things we do away from the church campus the rest of the week? Do you believe that eating a meal with neighbors holds ministry weight? What about serving your kid’s soccer team pizza after the game or bringing your entire office coffee?
What counts as ministry? Are we to give intentionally building relationships with those far from God ministry weight? If the answer is “No,” then why not? Does it interfere with your church’s mission? Would it require to much effort on your part? If the answer is “Yes,” then how are you investing in this type of ministry? Will you commit to equipping them for this type of ministry? Will you place ministry dollars toward this missional lifestyle and then celebrate it on Sunday? What we talk about and celebrate tends to be where we place value.
How do we do it?
The equipping piece is actually the easiest part. Teaching someone willing to reach others with the Gospel isn’t very hard. The tricky part tends to be convincing people that this is what Jesus is calling us to. If a church member has been hearing all of their life that their role is to attend on Sunday, give regularly, and serve in a church ministry, and now they are being asked to reach their co-workers for Christ, then there’s going to be some tension…and rightfully so! Church culture will determine how fast (or slow) implementing a missional culture and strategy will take.
Fiducia is an expert when it comes to missional engagement. We help churches and organizations rethink their approach to outreach. Our latest training process, LEAP, helps equip life group leaders become missional and then train their groups in the ways of mission. If you’d like help rethinking the way your church approaches culture, consider how activating your life group / small group ministry could impact your church. The best part is that all training can be in person OR online. LEAP training is launching fall of 2017 and will change the way your church view’s mission and discipleship forever. For any specific questions or for more information, go to LeapGroups.org.
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