Partnership in missions…common calling, common goal

Just a little recap…God initiated the idea of partnership in his redemptive plan. Missio dei or God on mission is a great way to describe it. Thanks, Marty. I hadn’t thought of that phrase for a few years. God on mission, in the flesh, giving us a living, breathing example of what it means to be incarnational. To the casual reader, there’s a lot of Christian subculture words here. They are good words with deep meanings. Investigate them.

The recap continues with the example of individual/individual, individual/church, church/church, church/denomination, and denomination/denomination partnerships. If you’re wondering how two churches or two denominations can partner together in missions, the answer comes in points three and four of this article.

3. Common calling in mission partnerships.

The apostle Paul speaks of a Macedonian call to share the Gospel in a specific place to a specific people. That call was shared by Luke and Silas. The Scripture clearly points out that the calling was to share the Gospel with the Macedonians.

One of the mystical components of the work of the Holy Spirit is how he pulls together people of like minds to reach specific people groups. The common calling in mission partnerships takes place through prayer, the study of Scripture, and participation in vision trips to places where one believes God may be calling to join him on mission.

For example, I resonate with two distinct different groups. One group that I have a heart for is the postmodern American culture. God has placed in my path others that have a desire and innate ablity to reach this specific group of people. There are many others that have a desire that all people come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ but they do not have the same passion or skill set to reach postmoderns. Another group I have a heart for is a people group in North Africa called the Beja. I cannot tell you specifically why I am drawn to this people group. I can only tell you that there is a distinct call from God to be on mission on their behalf. Not everyone is willing to go to North Africa in a predominately Muslim setting to be on mission. There are, however, those with a common calling that I partner with.

4. Common goal in mission partnerships.

Common calling is accompanied by a common goal in mission partnerships. In mission partnerships, the common calling to a specific people group is the result of a God given unity to believers. The product of that unity are common goals that God gives to the partnership.

I say to potential partners (this gets me in trouble with people from churches with congregational polity), “God doesn’t give mixed signals to his people.” If God calls you into a partnership, he will not tell you one thing and those that partner with you another. God isn’t schizophrenic. He does not author confusion. God authors unity.

These all with one mind were continually devoting themselves to prayer, along with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers (Acts 1:14, NASB).

May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 15:5-6, NIV).

There will be leaders that rise up and take the initiative in administrative and logistical areas in any partnership. There will be differences in opinion in those areas, to be sure. If a partnership is truly being led by the Spirit, those differences in opinion will quickly fade under the deep sense of God’s hand in the common calling and goal.

Partnership from a mission perspective

The word used for partnership in the New Testament is koinonia. For those of you that are seasoned veterans of the Scripture, you will recognize this word is also interpreted as “fellowship”.

The three instances* in which koinonia is used in conjunction with missions are:

• common gift, contribution (Romans 15:23)
• partnership in the Gospel (Philippians 1:5)
• partnership in the ministry to the saints (2 Corinthians 8:4)

*The root word is also used in 2 Corinthians 13:13 in the sense of communing, partnering, or fellowshiping with the Holy Spirit.

Two of the uses (first and last) deal with partnering in giving to the work of missions and very well may have been the same common fund collected for the church in Jerusalem. Nonetheless, it gives the present day church a precedent of cooperating in giving to missions. The second of the uses deals specifically with partnering with other Christians in the sharing of the Gospel toward the accomplishment of the Great Commission.

The Lord Jesus sent out the disciples in twos. That is clear evidence that partnering with other individuals is an important part of being missional. It is also a prerequisite for empowered prayer…where two or more are gathered, etc. The partnership of Paul with Silas and Barnabas are other instances where individuals partnered with each other for the purpose of sharing the Gospel.

Churches partnering for the purpose of strengthening other churches and sharing the Gospel is evident in Paul’s letters to the Romans and the Corinthians. It is a clear example of the Gentiles within the Church giving aid to and partnering with the Jewish contingent within the Church.

While the language of the Scripture is not in imperative form, there is a solid precedent for partnership in missions. That being said, mainline denominational Christian churches and independent churches that currently do not partner with other churches are missing the mark. Empowered mission work takes place when believers partner together. The growth of the Gospel is also more rapid efficient when partnerships take place.

How partnerships can take place between individuals, churches, denominations and even sending agencies will be discussed in the next two sections of the article.

Biblical basis for partnership in missions…on being missional

I am taking a break for the next week from writing the daily devotional. In its place, I will be making good on a commitment I made to write a manuscript for a presentation on missions that I presented this Spring.

Hopefully it will serve a two-fold purpose: 1) I will keep my word to some friends and co-workers. 2) It will begin to generate a mission mindset at The Journey Church and with others who might read the musings herein.

I truly think it will be as challenging for you as any devotional I would write (or not). Prepare to be challenged to look outside your world to a world that is dying without Christ.

My guess is that the manuscript will be read (when completed and if distributed) by church leaders and churches of a more traditional mindset. My prayer is that they will begin to replace the word “missions” with “missional”.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The purpose of this article is to revisit the Scriptural call of God for partnership in mission. God’s call is for local churches to partner with each other and with individuals to increase their effectiveness in sharing the Good News at the local, regional, national, and international level.

This goal of this article is for church leadership engage in Biblical partnership and influence the people they lead to: 1) challenge people to be missional like Jesus 2) understand the common calling the local Church has to mission partnership 3) find unity in the common goal of the Church in mission partnership 4) embrace the common doctrine in mission partnership 4) adopt an attitude of equality in mission partnership 5) openly communicate within the mission partnership.

1. On being missional…like Jesus

To truly understand partnering with other Christians in the work of mission, one must begin with the ultimate example of mission partnership that is embodied in the Incarnation. The Incarnation, God on mission as human, should be a revelation to us that God fully intended the work of redemption to be a partnership (John 1:1-14). Jesus was and is the embodiment of God on mission. Jesus showed us that to truly be a God-follower, we must follow His example of missional.

God chose to set the example of partnership by working with and within humanity to accomplish His redemptive plan. Jesus called on us to carry out the Great Commission through his incarnational or ‘missional’ example.

In recent history, there are individuals and a scarce few churches that have exemplified the missional example of Jesus . In my opinion, there is no Christian denomination in existence today that embodies the missional church.

That’s why it’s important that we understand the first biblical example of partnership in mission is God in partnership with humanity in his redemptive plan. The primary example we must embrace in being missional human beings is that of Jesus Christ. Why God would partner with humanity in his work of love and grace will remain a mystery…at least until the Second Coming. Until then, it’s not for us to figure out but simply to obey. We must follow the perfect example of being a missional God-follower given to us by the Master in the New Testament. We will fall short of that example, to be sure, but the grace extended to us in our shortcomings is simply one more facet of helping pre-Christians understand the loving nature of the Heavenly Father. I believe that can be summed up in the word “authenticity”.

There are a lot of things we can learn from Jesus’ example of being missional. We should be willing to understand the cultural aspect of those God puts in our path. We should have an ability to understand the spiritual sickness that underlies the presenting problems of social aberrations. We should have a willingness to approach and socialize with those that are far from embracing the principles of God’s revelations of Scripture. We should be willing to share the Gospel and all of God’s principles in a way that is relevant to whatever culture God may send us. Jesus modeled a missional relationship with God in each of these ways. Jesus called us to do the same when he said, “As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”

Understanding the primary model of partnership in missions that Jesus gave us in his incarnational/missional lifestyle is the foundation that all mission work should be built. Embracing that primary example of partnership given to us by God is a secure beginning point explore what the Bible says about local churches partnering with other individuals and churches.

Tomorrow: The meaing of partnership and biblical examples of individual and church partnerships.

a prequel to Partnership in Missions for my emergent friends…

God chose to set the example of partnership in missions by working with and within humanity to accomplish His redemptive plan. Jesus called on us to carry out the Great Commission through his incarnational or ‘missional’ example.

In recent history, there are individuals and a scarce few churches that have exemplified the missional example of Jesus. In my opinion, there is no Christian denomination in existence today that embodies the missional church.

There has been a resurgence of the missional church. But missional people and missional churches operate under the shadow of the institutional Church. The institutional Church, and the denominations within it, have done a disservice to many Christians in creating and teaching a “corporate America” mindset in doing the work of mission.

The denominational stockholders are encouraged to invest in the local church. The local church, in turn, pay a franchise fee to the denominational mission institution or “sending agency”. Professional missionaries are screened and hired by the sending agency and are then supported as the sales force of their denomination. They come home regularly to give reports. The sending agency of the denomination publishes their annual report in the hope of increasing their revenue base. The institution feeds the institution. Some mission work takes place, for sure, but effective mission work suffers.

There is need for a wholesale change in denominations to adopt missional thinking. So that missional people don’t come off as elitists or whiners, it’s important that missional people are an example to the institutional church by modeling partnership in mission work. A wholesale change in thinking by a denomination will take many years of influence, so that means that people that have recaptured the missional thinking of the early Church should work with their respective denomination while partnering with others to accomplish the Great Commission.

So what if you’re like me and you just can’t do the denominational thing anymore? Keep some of your denominational contacts. Then look for like-minded people to partner with in missions. There are plenty of movements out there, just keep your ears and eyes open. Above all, keep being missional.

Biblical basis for partnerships in missions…on being missional

I am taking a break for the next week from writing the daily devotional. In its place, I will be making good on a commitment I made to write a manuscript for a presentation on missions that I presented this Spring.

Hopefully it will serve a two-fold purpose: 1) I will keep my word to some friends and co-workers. 2) It will begin to generate a mission mindset at The Journey Church and with others who might read the musings herein.

I truly think it will be as challenging for you as any devotional I would write (or not). Prepare to be challenged to look outside your world to a world that is dying without Christ.

My guess is that the manuscript will be read (when completed and if distributed) by church leaders and churches of a more traditional mindset. My prayer is that they will begin to replace the word “missions” with “missional”.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The purpose of this article is to revisit the Scriptural call of God for partnership in mission. God’s call is for local churches to partner with each other and with individuals to increase their effectiveness in sharing the Good News at the local, regional, national, and international level.

This goal of this article is for church leadership engage in Biblical partnership and influence the people they lead to: 1) challenge people to be missional like Jesus 2) understand the common calling the local Church has to mission partnership 3) find unity in the common goal of the Church in mission partnership 4) embrace the common doctrine in mission partnership 4) adopt an attitude of equality in mission partnership 5) openly communicate within the mission partnership.

1. On being missional…like Jesus

To truly understand partnering with other Christians in the work of mission, one must begin with the ultimate example of mission partnership that is embodied in the Incarnation. The Incarnation, God on mission as human, should be a revelation to us that God fully intended the work of redemption to be a partnership (John 1:1-14). Jesus was and is the embodiment of God on mission. Jesus showed us that to truly be a God-follower, we must follow His example of missional.

God chose to set the example of partnership by working with and within humanity to accomplish His redemptive plan. Jesus called on us to carry out the Great Commission through his incarnational or ‘missional’ example.

In recent history, there are individuals and a scarce few churches that have exemplified the missional example of Jesus . In my opinion, there is no Christian denomination in existence today that embodies the missional church.

That’s why it’s important that we understand the first biblical example of partnership in mission is God in partnership with humanity in his redemptive plan. The primary example we must embrace in being missional human beings is that of Jesus Christ. Why God would partner with humanity in his work of love and grace will remain a mystery…at least until the Second Coming. Until then, it’s not for us to figure out but simply to obey. We must follow the perfect example of being a missional God-follower given to us by the Master in the New Testament. We will fall short of that example, to be sure, but the grace extended to us in our shortcomings is simply one more facet of helping pre-Christians understand the loving nature of the Heavenly Father. I believe that can be summed up in the word “authenticity”.

There are a lot of things we can learn from Jesus’ example of being missional. We should be willing to understand the cultural aspect of those God puts in our path. We should have an ability to understand the spiritual sickness that underlies the presenting problems of social aberrations. We should have a willingness to approach and socialize with those that are far from embracing the principles of God’s revelations of Scripture. We should be willing to share the Gospel and all of God’s principles in a way that is relevant to whatever culture God may send us. Jesus modeled a missional relationship with God in each of these ways. Jesus called us to do the same when he said, “As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”

Understanding the primary model of partnership in missions that Jesus gave us in his incarnational/missional lifestyle is the foundation that all mission work should be built. Embracing that primary example of partnership given to us by God is a secure beginning point explore what the Bible says about local churches partnering with other individuals and churches.

Tomorrow: The meaing of partnership and biblical examples of individual and church partnerships.