Develop a Compelling Missions Program: Part Two
We need to establish our cause in the local church (Genesis 24:1-4).
Pastor Alexey Ledyaev, the founder of New Generation Churches and Billion Soul co-chair/Eastern Europe, from Riga, Latvia, has pioneered more than 700 churches throughout Eastern Europe, Russia and in the United States. He has stated, “If we go after our impossible, we will reach our maximum; if we go after our maximum then we will reach our average; if we go after our average, then we will get nothing!” As spiritual leaders, we must have a compelling cause to motivate us and to activate our congregations. This cause will drive us and provide us with focus. Eleazar had a God-given cause in the Bible. Each step he took moved the whole earth into alignment with God’s plan for His world.
Is fulfilling the Great Commission the compelling cause of our life and our congregation? We attract what we are, not what we want. If we become wrapped up in the Great Commission, we draw great, visionary people into our lives. Dr. Bill Bright, the founder of Campus Crusade for Christ, used to say, “Small dreams never inspire the hearts of great men.”
We can be a wandering generality instead of a definite specific. The overarching purpose for the local church in particular and the global church in general, is for God’s servants to get a bride ready for God’s Son. This Bible-based purpose cannot be misconstrued into a purpose reserved only for missionaries or church planters. Every Christian and every minister has been commissioned to get a bride ready for Christ! This is our measuring rod. We have to ask ourselves how much we do, or our church does, that has nothing to do with fulfilling the Great Commission.
Beware of vague goals. If you do not where you are going, then what does it matter if you arrive on time? If you do not have a definite cause, you are like a ship without a rudder and a compass on a dark night. Our goal must be specific enough to write down.
Beware of unworthy goals. People can be rich and famous and still not be successful. Pastors can have large churches and ministers have huge ministries and still not be successful. What is success? Well, failure could be defined simply as succeeding at the wrong things. When a person tries to achieve success without God at the core, that person can fail miserably or succeed even more miserably. Failure is often succeeding at the wrong things.
Be sure to have a God-given goal. Does the thing that moves you, move God? Does it create enough motivation for you to say, “This one thing I do”? Does the cause of your life demand your very best? Is there anything in your life that requires every ounce of you for it to be successful? Can you honestly ask God to bless your path and give you success for your cause? Can you honestly get on your knees and ask God to help you accomplish your goal for His glory?
I challenge you to go after your impossible and strive to double the size of your missions program, which includes:
Sowing – A growth rate of 11 percent will transform your missions giving in seven years.
Saving – Take your average attendance over the last two years. It is reasonable to expect every member or attendee to win at least one person in the next two years.
Sending – Every missions-minded church moves from production to reproduction, from giving to going and from winning to sending. Set visionary goals for:
– 10 percent of your average attendance to be sent into fulltime ministry.
– 5 percent of those going into fulltime ministry to plant churches in the United States or among the unreached in specific world regions.
Dr. D. James Kennedy, the founder of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church, used to lead his people weekly in personal soul winning. Some leaders criticized his methods, saying they were outdated. His classic response was, “I will keep doing my outdated methods of personal soul winning with success rather than incorporate your ways of doing nothing, until you get it right!”
James O. Davis, Founder of the Billion Soul Foundation
© 2009 Church of God World Missions
