Ask anyone who has to formulate a plan for leading another group in accomplishing a task and they will quickly reveal their need for some sort of “strategy” to be in place for accomplishing the task. Such is certainly the case when considering the task is Missions and the parties involved include the church and the missionary.
For centuries the Biblical mandate to spread the Gospel has been sounded both near and far. Missionaries have responded to God’s calling to go. Churches have also taken up the mandate to a degree. Unfortunately, too often these have failed to get together in this work and the result has been less than desired by both.
There are three key ingredients to consider in our topic – Partnership, Mission, and Strategy.
First, is the concept of Partnership. This isn’t anything new, it has been around since the days of creation. Businesses use it everyday. Ball teams depend on it. But when it comes to the relationship between the church and the missionary, it looks more like a divorce.
Second, is the concept of Missions. This often carries the idea of purpose and need. It is sometimes confused with Vision which denotes Seeing the Goal. Mission is more the How we will accomplish the task. The major need, purpose, goal, and task about which we spark is undoing this divorce between Church and Missionary.
Third, is the concept of Strategy. That is the plan that brings together the resources needed with the step by step actions to be taken.
We need to ask ourselves who, what, when, where, how, will we work to bring about a Partnership Mission Strategy in our church? The goal is to unite the church and missionary and getting them to see themselves as Partners on the same team seeking to win the lost. Most churches feel they have this base covered and they have no need for improvement. I would say to these ask your missionaries how much a part of the church they feel they are, apart from a monthly check. Ask the members if they know any of their missionaries and if they do, how much do they know about them. Check the level of involvement between members and missionaries. These are some tests of Partnership.
The reality is that every Christ Follower is to be a missionary. The Partnership Mission Strategy about which Here2There Ministry speaks and teaches is really about the entire work of the church. Missions is to happen at home and abroad.
