Step #1 - Spiritual Discernment 

            “Instead of asking God to bless what you are doing, do what God is blessing.”  

In my last blog article, I wrote about common dysfunctions of missions’ ministries. I hoped it could help churches in the same way that Patrick Lencioni’s Five Dysfunctions of a Team has helped business organizations avoid the habits that destroy their effectiveness.

However, the real challenge is not just spotting and deconstructing dysfunctions. We also need to construct healthy missions ministries proactively. That is more complicated. It is always easier to clear a field than it is to raise a bountiful crop. It is easier to demolish a dilapidated building than it is to build a beautiful and functional structure. And as I indicated in the last post, there is no single good model of healthy missions ministries. But they do all share some common traits. 

In this post, I’ll share the first principles/steps churches need to observe when constructing their missions ministries. 

Steps Toward a Healthy Model 

Here is a summary of the main points that I’ll unpack over the next three blog posts. Below is an explanation of the first step. 

1.    Start with spiritual discernment before strategic planning. 

2.    Ensure vision and values alignment between the congregation and their missions ministry. 

3.    Ensure structural soundness (The 3-Legged Stool or People/Place, Partners, and Plan) 

Step 1: Spiritual discernment should always precede strategic planning

Americans love to be decisive and action-oriented. We want to decide what to do and get going. However, since the mission does not belong to us, and because we follow the lead of the “Lord of the Harvest” (Matt 9:37-38; Luke 10:1-2), our first steps should be to pray and listen. The Apostle Paul told us, “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Eph. 2:10). God prepares the way before us, and we follow in his steps. In John 4, Jesus told his disciples that the fields were ready for harvest when they had just arrived in Samaria. How did that happen? Because God had been preparing the field before they arrived. 

All people need Jesus, but not every people or place is ready for harvest. We need to be asking God to direct us to the places he has been preparing. I’m not talking about the opening prayers before a planning meeting; I’m talking about seasons of prayer and discernment. A season like this should involve the entire congregation ideally. For suggestions on how to get your whole church involved in prayer and discernment, reach out to us at MRN and we will be happy to share ideas. 

Discernment involves paying attention to what God is doing right now. What are the parts of the world that are beginning to be open to Jesus? For example, the Muslim world has dramatically opened to Jesus for the first time in 1400 years. It is important to pay attention to global trends and identify populations that show signs of being ready for harvest. There are several books, journal articles, and websites that can be helpful in doing research. For example, we’ve found Paul Borthwick’s Western Christians in Global Mission and Fritz Kling’s Meeting of the Waters to be very helpful in recognizing what God is doing in our day. The Joshua Project has a useful website to identify unreached people groups. We can refer you to journal articles that can give you more precise information about the status of God’s mission in various regions of the world. 

Discernment means paying attention to whom God has brought near you. People groups that have left their home region and relocated to new places, especially because of war, terror, or trauma, are typically far more open than those in settled, stable cultures. Do a little research into what people groups God has brought near you. Census data for your city is easy to find online. Reach out to immigrant populations, especially refugee groups, near you. If you can serve them well by loving them in Jesus’ name, build trust with them, and lead some to Jesus, you can follow the lines of relationship they have back in their home country to take the gospel there as well. 

One great way to do this is to start a FriendSpreak program through Let’s Start Talking. Free English classes that use the Bible as a text not only serve people who are needing to speak English better, but also create a platform for spiritual conversations. Globalization and immigration may be generating political tension, but they have provided great opportunities to reach the world without leaving home. So, if you want to know where God is calling you to go, notice who he has brought near you. 

Discernment also means building from the foundation up, not the roof down. If we don’t understand the God of mission, what the scriptures say about what he is doing, and if we are fuzzy on what the mission is, we will flounder around when it comes to understanding our role in that mission. Then we need to clarify the values and mission of our congregation within that foundational understanding before we set goals, develop strategies, and begin to act. The image below shows the way we describe this at MRN and you can use this link to find an “RMM training video” that will help explain this model. 

In my next blog post, I’ll discuss the second step in building a healthy functional missions ministry: alignment with your congregation’s vision and values. I’ll be unpacking more of how to use the RMM model in the posts to come. 

As always, if your congregation would like help walking through this process, please reach out to us at mrnet.org.