If you asked me what a deer looked like, I could give you a description so vivid that you just might end up smelling fresh venison in your own mind.  Previously, we defined our never-changing endeavor in every aspect of our ministry as making disciples.  The subsequent question then is “what is a disciple?” or specifically, “what does a disciple look like in Scripture and in our ministry?”  This is a question of Vision.  Most ministries never begin to flesh out this massive question that will ultimately form the paradigm through which all of your subsequent ministry functions should be filtered.  Quite simply, if you don’t know where you are taking your students, you will never get them there.  Conversely, if you know where you are taking students, you always do whatever is required to move them there.

Vision, it appears, is the single biggest factor in what determines a good ministry from a great one.  The nature of the vision, usually dictates the efficiency of the ministry.  Lance and I have discovered at least 4 mandatory Biblical elements that require a specific Vision in every ministry: Worshipping God through gifts and disciplines, Knowing God through His Word, Connecting with God’s People, and Impacting God’s World with His message.

Where are you specifically taking your students?  If I were a Freshman entering your ministry, where would you want me to be when I was a Sophomore, Junior, and Senior?

Can you see it?  More importantly, can they?...

We said in Part 1 that the Church is only concerned with God’s values and that these values are explicitly set forth in the pages of Scripture.  So what does God value?  Well, Genesis 1 declares that God created man in His image to commune with/depend on/find complete joy in Him alone, proving that He values His relationship with His creation.  This is destroyed because of man’s sin in Genesis 3.  Jesus, then speaking after his atoning death, burial, and resurrection, gives God’s Mission for his Church in Matthew 28:19-20 – Make disciples by baptizing them and teaching them to observe Christ’s commandments to us.  This idea is perpetuated in Acts – the disciple-making will span the entire globe through the establishment of the local Church.  The Mission of God, as set forth by Jesus, is for those given to him by the Father, to obtain eternal life through faith and subsequently being fully known and intimately acquainted with the Father, and His son, Jesus (Jn 17:1-3).

Our Mission, therefore, is simple: make disciples who know God, and Jesus, intimately and deeply, through the abiding of His word upon the heart, which in turn leads them to bear fruit – making other disciples.  If the church is to value what God and Jesus values, then they are to produce disciples who are infatuated with the word of God, and love them to the very core of their being.

Are you truly making biblical disciples who are making more disciples?  If the Mission of God isn’t moving forward in your ministry, what is keeping it from doing so?

There are some things that you value more than others.  Perhaps you value a Chevy over a Ford, Coke over Dr. Pepper, or perhaps Grape Jelly over Strawberry.  Whatever the case may be, you have personal values that reflect who you are as a person.

In the same way, every Organization has certain critical Values that are unique to each one.  For some, it is to be extremely profitable and for others it is a deep desire to change the world.  Others seek to provide a great service that satisfies an extreme need in a particular country, regardless of any expected profits.  Whatever results from these sets of Values is the direct objective needed to make these values a tangible reality.

The Church, however, is by nature very different from secular organizations.  It is God’s idea and His creation.  Humans didn’t come up with it and they certainly can’t build it by themselves.  Therefore, its Values are decided by what God, its Creator, values.  If God values it, then the Church should and if God doesn’t, then the Church shouldn’t either.  If we are only concerned with God’s values, then we must look to His word alone, as it alone dictates to us what He desires and values.  God, through Scripture, determines our values.  The emotions, desires, or any other thing that comes from the depraved human mind and heart simply do not.

What and whose values do your ministry articulate to the outside world?  The answers may just surprise you…