Thursday, May 3, 2012

Getting Back on Mission

In Luke 19:10, Jesus explained why He called a rich man out of a tree and had dinner with him.  It was his mission. He came to seek and to save those who are lost.  Matthew tells us that as Jesus went about doing church stuff (teaching, meeting people's needs, etc) He was never distracted from his mission.  When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. He said to his disciples, “The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields.”


John remembers that Jesus prayed a powerful prayer to his Father asking for protection and care for Christians.  In the middle of that prayer He said, "Just as you sent me into the world, I am sending them into the world."  We, those who are Christians, have the same mission as Jesus.   


It is easy to become distracted from what is important because of what seems to be urgent.  It is easy to make activity so routine that we focus on programs, schedules and tasks and forget the mission. The mission is the "why" we do "what" we do.  


How can we refocus on our God-given mission?  First, everything that takes place in the church needs to be tested with an alignment question: "How will this help lost people come to Christ?"  Even the outcome of a marriage seminar ought to be to help reach people struggling with marriage to understand God's love for them and His design for them and their marriage. Marriage is an evangelistic tool to show what a divine union looks like.


Another great way to help the church get back on mission is to engage in a church-wide Transformational Church Assessment and Discovery.  Make 2012 the year your church got back on track with the most exciting mission the world has ever experienced.