What is the church? This is a question that some of us in the church rarely consider, as it is so easy to simply get caught up in what was there when we walked through the front door of a church building for the first time and not to consider whether or not this is actually what Jesus wants his body to do.
Over more recent years it seemed to become an unwritten law that every church must have a mission or vision statement,an aim or purpose of intent (we have a mission statement at RPC…or is it a vision of a mission?). This can be helpful in giving an idea of what a particular church sees as it’s vision so you know whether or not you want to join them. It also serves as a way of expressing what various churches see as their main role/function and tells us something of their theology.
Following are some possible NT church mission/vision statements that I have not seen in churches today.
1 – Our aim is to suffer, just as Christ suffered before us.
2 – Our mission is to die to ourselves by submitting to Christ and to others.
3 – Our purpose is to be a sacrifice to God by the way we live our lives, not for ourselves but for Him and those he places within our reach. (C.f. Romans 12:1, 1 Peter 2:4-5)
4 – Our vision is to be the real and living body of Jesus here on earth. With the help of the Spirit we aim to take up where Jesus left off!
5 – To work together in complete unity with the rest of the body of Christ, united through the Holy Spirit. (C.f. Acts 2:43-47, 1 Corinthians 1:10-17 & 12:11-27)
6 – To be committed to living out a unity not reliant on hierarchy to function, but rather the gifts given to each person through the Holy Spirit. (C.f. Matthew 23:6-12, Mark 10:42-45 & Galatians 6:3)
7 – We seek to be a group of people who accept others as Christ did, without judgement and condemnation, but love and forgiveness. (C.f. Luke 7:36-50, Matthew 7:1-5, Luke 6:37-38, Romans 14:1-23, 2 Corinthians 2:5-11 & Galatians 6:1)
8 – We aim to not let an unhealthy obsession with the written word cloud our desire to know the living Word. (C.f. JOhn 5:39-40)
9 – Our vision does not include reducing the body of Christ to buildings, programs or times of the day.
10 – We aim to declare the Kingdom of God as something we do here and now as much through our actions as through our words.
I am sure there are other possibilities that people might be able to suggest. I hope this is not seen as simply a way of poking fun at the mission/vision statements of others – like I said, we have one too! I hope that it encourages us to stop and think about who we ARE supposed to be!
No related posts.
I especially appreciate the inclusion of #8 – without a live relationship with the Living Word, the rest of those aims will simply be Life-less.
Amen!
Oh Please do make fun of them! This was my business for 18 years with many organizations…leading them through strategic planning. I even lead a few churches through this process. I was ashamed of that later on, though. I finally realized that the business model mapping is not for the Body of Christ. Actually, it is one of the biggest problems we have.
God is the One Who has the ‘vision’/mission. It is right there in the Word. We already have one that we ignore!
It is another reason why the issue of Leadership has gotten so big. It is nothing but a transfer of worldly thinking to the Body.
Scripture teaches that there are only servants in the Body. The more mature Christians who are elder, etc will be the most lowly because they are more aware of just how sinful they are. The more mature in Christ, the more aware of our depraved position and the understanding of Grace.
But I vote for the first 3. But because they are hard truths, they would empty the pews.
I often think of this verse when I see the focus on vision/mission in churches:
But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: 2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, 4 traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!
Who is He talking about? Vision statements are the work of people. Not the Holy Spirit. Can we even imagine the power of the Holy Spirit if we truly united in seeking His guidance as a Body?