I am privileged to have become part of the international teaching team for fantastic global ministry called Living On The Edge.
This has taken me to the Middle East, various places I never expected to be, in the last year. As I have met with leaders and taught these lessons there I have realised these truths are so applicable to the church in the West right now that I want to help bring them and team members from the ministry to the UK as part of next year’s LAUNCH – which we are now planning for venues in London, Manchester and Scotland for June next year (watch this space for more!).
I always want to implement rather than dare to just instruct or join the ranks of armchair experts so I am going to start posting some of the thoughts from the teaching notes that I have made, so they will encourage and help other leaders too.
If you don’t want to miss this – make sure you subscribe to the blog so it comes via email, and do connect to Living On The Edge and LAUNCH to find out more.
HOW Do Churches Measure Success?
(What’s your main measure?)
What we measure determines what we think success is.
Most churches still tend to measure by the ABCs:
ATTENDANCE, BUILDINGS and CASH (Offerings)
These are useful, but not optimal – or even biblical!
Being BIG, WEALTHY and INFLUENTIAL does not necessarily mean a church is healthy (as we have seen so graphically and too in recent years).
HOW Does God measure success?
THE GREAT COMMISSION – Make Disciples
Then Jesus came to them and said all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the father and of the son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.
Matt 28:18-20
Measure 1 = Lost People are coming to Christ.
THE GREAT COMMANDMENT – Mature Disciples
“The most important one,” answered Jesus is this, “Hear Oh Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this, love your neighbour as yourself”
Mark 12:29-31
Measure 2 – FOUND people are growing in maturity (Eph 4:11-16) – I would add MULTIPLYING here, because surely mature disciples multiply disciples.
THE GREAT COMPASSION – Meeting Needs
“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.
Matt 25:34-40
Measure 3 – MEETING some of the DEEPEST NEED in the community God has placed you into.
When you have a church that is meeting all three measures, you will be a HIGH IMPACT CHURCH.
Personal reflection:
This teaching put into words something I’d been trying to get my head around for some time.
I think over the years Ivy had moved from the ABC’s listed above (although we became good at that, which is the kind of thing that gets you invited to speak at conferences if you’re a leader it seemed at times like a few putting on a great show for the many) we shifted focus more on making disciples and maturing them via our Discipleship Pathway resource and model – so by the grace of God we’ve been able to make disciples, mature and multiply with many people in various places.
However in recent years especially as we have started a work in the community more including through ladybridgeconnect.org – feel free to check that out – we have really seen the joy of making an impact on a locality by meeting some of its deepest needs.