Knowing where you are going is the first step in getting there.
Where you're trying to get to has serious implications on how you get there. While it's a bit pre-mature to have a full-blown discussion on Mission, it is important, I think, to discuss what a "balanced scorecard" looks like for church planting. I propose a healthy church should routinely do four things:
1. Reach not-yet believers
2. Make mature disciples
3. Create deep kingdom community
4. Multiply
Most churches are good at one of these. Rarely do you see groups excelling at all four. Let's consider the consequences of not pursuing all four:
Some excel at reaching not-yet believers, but cannot mature them. These churches are akin to a single mother who keeps having kids and is constantly handing them off to different orphanages. Not only is this unhealthy, but not maturing Christians is to ignore the Great Commission which tells us to make disciples...teaching them to obey".
Other groups may do well at making mature disciples yet fail at creating a deep kingdom community. These churches are akin to a mother having children but always sending them straight to boarding school. They may be learning how to obey and be disciples, but they aren't experiencing what it is like to be part of a family. They are not experiencing the love of the gospel, and they are not experiencing the church as a family.
Still others do a good job at creating kingdom community and may also excel at making mature disciples, but struggle reaching not-yet believers. This is a dangerous place to be because it is so comfortable for us. We feel like we're growing. We love our community. Yet, we've kind of created a great Christian Country Club that is not fulfilling the mission of God.
I suggest that to neglect one of these is to introduce distortions into the picture of the Kingdom which Jesus came to bring. While no one church will master all four, I pray the Holy Spirit will increasingly give us a hunger for all four. I want to be jealous for what Jesus came to bring on earth, and while we, also, will not accomplish all four on our own, I pray we will have a holy discontent that drives us towards more fully displaying the impact of the gospel.
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