Why Tailored Mission Strategies?

This blog is about Christian mission but the concept is best illustrated if we start by thinking about how we choose and purchase clothes.

You can find lots of choice in stores these days and if you shop at supermarkets you should be able to find something that is right for you at a good price.  It might even fit fairly well.  Of course if you went down the route of bespoke tailoring someone would work with you to produce something that you feel good in and something that is a perfect fit everywhere.  The downside of that is that it will cost more.  But if you are someone who goes for bespoke tailoring you know how much better that is.

Let's get back to the subject of Christian mission.  There are a whole range of mission programmes on the shelves including social action programmes and evangelistic programmes.  Shop around and you will find something that will seem helpful for your church at this time.  I would be happy to give you some pointers if that's the route you want to take.  But imagine if you could develop a mission programme specifically tailored to your church and location.  Now imagine that this can be achieved for a very modest outlay.

What are the main advantages?

Here are just a few of the benefits...

• It maximises the engagement of the whole core congregation;
• It creates a strong sense of local "ownership" so your members will not feel that something has been imposed on them;
• It enables confidence in mission engagement;
• It works in any Christian tradition;
• It can be developed whatever the theological position;
• It can be tailored to fit a church of any size;
• A stress-free way to become more missional;
• It develops Christian discipleship and a sense of awareness of each member sharing in God's mission;
• It will be relevant for your local community.

Take a look around this blog to find out more about taking a tailored approach to developing localised mission strategies.

Theology of Tailored Missions

Most Christian leaders - and most thoughtful Christians - are aware that God is a God of mission.  It is known as the missio dei.  God has a purpose that relates to his world in which we live.  All Christians are called to share in that purpose in some way.  There are a few things that stand in the way of this being fully realised.

"Church" is the context in which we not only enjoy fellowship and engage in worship, it should also be the place where individual gifts are recognised, and where they can be developed.  It should also provide the context in which they are being deployed.  However, there are scores of things that take up our time and other resources within church life so that mission is pushed down the agenda.  Many of these are valid activities, so we are often doing what we ought to do but at the expense of the one thing we should be doing.

Passages such as 1Corinthians 12 that speaks about the "body of Christ", Romans 12 and Ephesians 4 make us aware that there is considerable diversity when it comes to the gifts and roles given to various Christians.  Helping people to recognise their gifting, or how their gifting has developed or changed can be demanding of our time.  Most rural church leaders are already overloaded with work so if this task depends on them it might not get done.

If we do go down this road of affirming gifts and roles could there be a danger of things getting out of control?  Yes if we are not prepared to manage the process properly.  But dare we let the Holy Spirit really work in our congregations to release more ministry?

Discovering how the different gifts work together is another challenge.  If it is true that God has a unique purpose for every individual Christian within his mission then it follows that every local church is a combination of these uniquely enabled Christians.  If the sovereignty that bestowed these gifts also put them together in a local church then this also has a purpose - a unique collective purpose for every individual church in God's plans.

Our starting point for developing tailored mission strategies must therefore be to discern what God has put together and how the various parts complement one another in a common aim.


See additional theological reflection below.

God's Part - Our Part (theological reflection)

For many years I had a strong emphasis on the part that God plays in evangelism.  Texts such as "Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord" (Zechariah 4:6) were commonly quoted.  I am now inclined more to believe that we far too frequently ask God to do for us what he is wanting us to do for him.  That is not to say that we should engage in evangelism, or any other aspect of mission, relying only in our own ability. The Holy Spirit's anointing on our efforts is vital, and there are elements that are entirely down to God.  However, what God expects of us is well worth exploring.

Have you ever wondered exactly what the parable of the minas (Luke 19) is about?  A man has ten servants to whom he entrusts one mina each. He tells them to put what he has entrusted to them to work but leaves to their judgement how to do that.  In other words he delegates responsibility and autonomy.  On his return each servant has to give account for how he has acted on the instructions.  We read of two whose mina has made a substantial profit.  They are rewarded.  Then one man comes who has kept the mina safe for fear of failure.  He is judged for his failure to follow the instruction given and so suffers loss.  The aspect of delegated autonomy is interesting.

In Luke 16 we read of a parable Jesus told about a shrewd manager (Greek: oikonomos).  Oikonomos is a word that commonly describes a household manager employed by a wealthy person, but the Bible also uses it in to describe a senior civil servant - possibly a city treasurer (Romans 16:23-24).  In other words, someone managing resources that are not his own.  Management always implies delegated responsibility, delegated autonomy, and ultimate accountability.  In the Bible passage the manager is fired for inefficiency.  He uses his autonomy to reduce amounts owned to his master so that he gains favour with the debtors.  In the process he probably helped his employer's cash flow.  His master comments that if he had shown such initiative sooner he would not have been fired.  Once more it is about autonomy.

Paul uses the word oikonomos relating to his own ministry role, the role of local church elders, and the ministry of the gospel.  In connection with his own ministry Paul states in ! Corinthians 4:2 that it is required [of an oikonomos] that he is found faithful.  That is that he demonstrates that he is worthy of the trust shown by the one who delegated the responsibility and autonomy.

If as Christians, called into discipleship and mission, we perceive this as a trust from God, and that we have autonomy, then we need to apply ourselves to the task in as professional way as possible.  To what extent are poor outcomes, church decline and weakness in mission the consequences of our failure as managers of the tasks in hand?  Are we crying out to God to do for us that which we have failed to do for him?

When I undertook a university course in management it shed light upon my own theology of mission.  The work of Rural Mission Solutions and particularly the process of developing Tailored Mission Strategies grew out of that.  My management training had an emphasis on regenerating failing businesses by employing the right strategies.  I had not realised it at the time and had enrolled on the course to improve administrative skills.  However, it has proved incredibly appropriate and helpful.

We cannot succeed without God but can do better if we learn to manage properly.  Can we help you in your work?

Barry Osborne

Centre for Rural Mission

4 Clarence Street

MARKET HARBOROUGH

LE 16 7NE

barry@ruralmissions.org.uk