Tag: mission

Avoid mission drift

Along a brutal stretch of coastline battered by storms stood a tiny rescue station. A shack. One boat. A handful of volunteers who watched the sea with vigilance. Whenever storms rose, they launched. Whenever ships broke apart, they rowed into darkness and cold. Many were saved.

Over time the station grew. More volunteers joined. More boats were purchased. Comfort increased. Complaints arose that the building was too crude, so renovations followed. A bigger hall. Better furnishings. Carpet. Slowly, the rescue station became a club. Fewer members wanted to head into the storms. Crews were hired instead. A ceremonial lifeboat stood in the entrance. The mission remained in the symbols, not in the behaviour.

After a major shipwreck, dozens of half-drowned people were dragged inside. They ruined the carpets. Members were horrified. Showers were built outside so the rescued could clean themselves before coming in.

Debate erupted. Some suggested abandoning the messy work of rescue altogether. A few insisted this was the very reason the station existed. They were voted down. They formed a new station down the coast.

History repeated itself. Again and again. Today the coastline is lined with clubs decorated with nautical symbols and a lifeboat in every hall. The storms still rage. The shipwrecks still happen. The drowning still drown.

The problem was never the sea.

It was the drift of the rescuers.[1]

A fairy tale? Maybe. I don’t know. But I do know the reality to which it points. Churches that are planted to save the lost. Christians who venture out into the storms of life to offer a lifeline to drowning people. The church grows. Then people get busy serving in the church. The ministry takes time and calendars get full. There are people to care for, small groups to run, kids to teach, youth to wrangle, rosters to fill, conflicts to resolve, committees to manage, budgets to meet, vacancies to fill, buildings to maintain, crises to overcome. 

Over the years I’ve been involved in planting churches and pursuing ministry with the intention of reaching people who don’t know Jesus. We want to see people saved. We’re a lifeboat to rescue the lost, not a pleasure cruise to satisfy the saved. But the pressures of ministry grow. Our priorities bend toward the insider, while the outsider is increasingly forgotten. Our timetables and budgets shift inwardly. We lose our sense of urgency, and the lostness of the lost, and the wonder of glorious gospel, and the reality of heaven and hell. 

I think that I have been one of the causes of mission drift. I’ve taken my hands off the rudder and floated with the currents and tides. I’ve been knocked around by the winds and the waves, and I’ve failed to keep our church on course. The pressure and overwhelm of issues in the church that I can see, has sometimes blinded me to the lostness of others that I can’t see. There have been periods when regular, planned, resourced, intentional, outreach hasn’t happened at all.

Jesus promised “I will build my church” in Matt 16:18. This sounds like a focus toward outsiders, reaching out with the gospel, to see people saved. However, if we translate Jesus as saying (literally) “I will edify my church”, then it sounds much more like Jesus is planning to grow the church into maturity. Similarly, in his great commission (Matt 28:18-20), Jesus calls his followers to “go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”. This sounds like a call to evangelism. But then he adds “teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” and this sounds more like edification. 

The truth is that Jesus is building his church in numbers and maturity. The same gospel word does both. People are saved by responding to the gospel in faith and repentance, and the church is strengthened as believers continue to respond to the gospel in faith and repentance. Outsiders come to Jesus through the gospel and insiders grow to be like Jesus through ongoing faith and repentance. And here’s the thing: as Christians grow more like Jesus, so they grow in their love for the lost. As Jesus came to seek and to save the lost, so the maturing church goes to seek and to save the lost.

It is an immature church that is satisfied with looking inward and meeting its own needs. The healthy growing church will be focused on Jesus, on following his plans and purposes. It will demonstrate its maturity by its love for outsiders.

Are you growing into maturity in Christ? Who are you seeking to see saved? 

Do you belong to a healthy church? How is your church showing the love of Christ for those who don’t know him?

The letters of the New Testament reveal how a passion for the holiness of God’s people does not overshadow the importance of rescuing the lost. In his very pastoral letter, to a very messy church in Corinth, the Apostle Paul maintains his priority of working to see people saved:

So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God – even as I try to please everyone in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved. Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ. (1 Corinthians 10:31-11:1)

[1] Paul Brennan and Dave Jensen, Evangelism in the Local Church, Made Alive Press, 2026, pages 21-22.

5Ms, 4Es, CGS2, and clarity of purpose

When you join with a group of people, a club or an organisation, it’s helpful to know what they’re on about. Join the surf club so as to save lives in the surf. Belong to the P&C to raise money for the school. Sign up with the library so as to borrow books or get free internet. Join the church so as to…

churchWaste your Sundays? Dabble in religion? Make God happy? No. No. No. If you don’t go to church, then there are far better reasons than these to consider. Church is intended to be a gathering of Christian people and people who want to check out what being a Christian is really all about. Ideally, you will meet real people who’ve become convinced that knowing God and having a genuine relationship with Jesus is the most significant thing there is. They will engage on real issues in a real way. It might even surprise you. You could find your life changed in a positive way for ever. Many have.

But again, sadly, you will find some who are simply going through the motions. The same ritual week after week, and no-one has paused to really consider why.

For those of you who are Christians, what’s the answer? What is the church on about? When people visit your church website, what does it look like? If you visit a church, what do you expect they will they be doing and what will they expect of you? If you ask the minister, what will he say is going on, and will it be the same as what the regular members say? Do people know why they belong? Do they know where the church is going, what it values, what’s most important? And if you choose to do more than turn up, do you know how to get more involved? Does the church want your involvement? Do they have a spot for you? And is it obvious?

There’s lots of talk among the churches I know about mission and vision and values. Sometimes it can sound a little corporate and crass. Other times it can seem a bit like applehood and mother pie. And sometimes it reminds me of a little girl wanting to dress up in her mother’s clothes—they look good on mum, but they’re ridiculous on the little girl. But sometimes they help. They really do.

Careful, clear, thought out, simple expressions of who we are, why we are, how we are, where we are, and where we’re going. Clarity, visibility, simplicity, logic—these are powerful things when it comes to getting people on board. I wonder how many church transfers, church shops, and church disillusionments happen because they can’t work out what the church is on about or how to get involved.

One model that has been growing larger on the church landscape in recent years is the 5Ms. Adapted from the Rick Warren, Purpose Driven Church, the Ms stand for Magnification, Membership, Maturity, Ministry, and Mission. This approach sees the Christian life expressed in magnifying God for his glory, welcoming people into the membership of Christ’s body and this church, growing one another into maturity in Christ, equipping one another to serve our brothers and sisters, and to reach out to our world in mission. It’s a continuous and repetitive journey. Every part belongs to the Christian life. There’s a logic in the flow. It’s anchored in the Scriptures. It provides shape and direction for the ministry of the church. It creates pathways for people’s participation. There is nothing sacrosanct about the 5Ms, but they help to keep focused on what matters matter most.

My early ministry years were spent shaping a ministry around 4Es. We were committed to Evangelism (introducing Jesus and calling people to turn to him), Edification (building each other into Christian maturity through the word of God made active in love), Equipping (training one another in Christian service), and Exporting (encouraging people to go into the world, literally, with the message of Jesus).

CGS2A few years back, having read Simple Church by Gieger and Rainer, we decided to align our church mission around CGS2 (though we never reduced it to CGS2). Connect, Grow, Serve, To the glory of God—that was our plan. Our church existed to build connections—connections into our community, connection with God through people responding to the gospel of Jesus, and connections with one another through regular fellowship. We existed to grow in spiritual maturity—through people responding to God’s word, coming before God in prayer, building one another in small groups, and applying the word in their lives. We existed to serve one another—to take the corporate and ‘one another’ language of the New Testament seriously, by actively investing in each other, serving the church in specific ministry teams, and reaching out to love our neighbours. And we wanted to do all this 2 the glory of God—not to us O Lord, not to us, but to you, be the glory forever and ever.

What’s your church on about? Is it clear to people? Are people consumers or providers? Are they passengers or participants? Do you know what you’re doing and why? Does it flow from the Scriptures? How is your church shaped? Does it make it easier to get involved? Are people working together in alignment? If you don’t know, then start a conversation.