Give Us a Place to Stand and We Will Move the World

When a church sees itself as the vehicle, and sees God’s kingdom as the objective, church leaders are required to think differently than the leaders who are focused on church growth. The “kingdom” leaders will see the church’s objectives as two fold. First, they are committed to their church’s growth. But the motive for growing their church is not to have a bigger church. Rather it is to have a bigger and more powerful “base of operation.” We can’t move the world if we don’t have a place to stand.

To restore passion in the pews a church must be willing to shape its local mission strategy based the ministry callings of its people. Should a church have a ministry in a local jail? The answer is “yes” if there is someone in the church who feels called to that ministry and “no” if there isn’t. That requires a willingness to decentralize its ministry strategy, because you never know where the ministry callings of the people are going to take you.

Primarily it is the lay people who can position the church where the ministry opportunities are; the staff’s primary responsibilities are at the base of operation. To see the church as both a place to stand and a launching pad to move the world will require a serious shift in thinking by those who are teaching in the seminaries, leading the denominations, the non-denominations and those preaching in the churches.

The primary objective of a church’s mission statement is to send a message that this church is calling friendly to everyone.