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In the early 1700s, a North American explorer was guided by a map
drawn by cartographer Herman Moll. This map would be recognizable
to modern eyes, except for one thing----it showed California as
an island.
Once you believe
in a map,
it's very difficult to change.
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This error was the result of good Cartesian reasoning: Spanish
explorers coming from the south encountered the tip of the Baja
Peninsula; voyaging north, they sailed into the Strait of Juan de
Fuca. Connecting the first point to the second, they created the
Gulf of California.
When missionaries were sent from Spain to convert the heathens
in New Mexico, the map's accuracy came into question. Landing in
California, they prepared to cross the Gulf their maps showed. They
packed up their boats and carried them over the Sierra Nevada and
down the other side. They found not sea but the longest, driest
beach they'd ever seen, the Sierra Desert.
When they wrote home protesting that there was no Gulf of California,
the map makers replied: "The map is right; you must be in the wrong
place." This misunderstanding persisted 50 years until a high-ranking
missionary persuaded Spain's king to decree changes in the maps.
Once you believe in a map, it's very difficult to change. If the
facts are wrong, you are relying on a map that's wrong too. At times
our "mental maps" must be challenged. Our perceptions about the
world shape how we think about ourselves, our churches, others around
us, and the future. Mental maps may be blinders----preventing us
from acting effectively (adapted from Global
Business Network Website).
There are three primary orientation or "mental maps" in the
church today.
1. The maintenance-oriented mental map.
The maintenance-oriented map leads a church to be more inward-focused
on its members' needs than on reaching out and meeting the needs
of the lost and hurting. The church wants to keep things as they
are. Fear of change freezes this church into a maintenance mentality
that slowly chokes all life.
2. The program-oriented mental map.
Program or structure drives all activities. This church confuses
methods of ministry with core principles for ministry. This leads
to the notion that certain methods, contents, curricula, and processes
are sacred and subsequently principles are lost. This church is
not likely to equip people to handle daily life's problems and pressures.
Its worship of methods ultimately causes it to die of irrelevance
and obsolescence.
3. The purpose-oriented mental map.
In this church methods are not sacred; purpose and principles
are. Form follows function. This church values both core tradition
and effective ministry results. It remains committed to divine revelation
yet seeks to remain culturally relevant. It is sensitive and attentive
to the needs of people but tuned into the purposes and leading of
Christ in its midst. It continually evaluates, strategizes, and
adapts ministry. It is renewed and energized by a clear understanding
of its mission and goals, combined with a deep awareness of its
dependence upon and partnership with God for results.
Rules for the Map of the Future
Keep God's mission central in your vision. The Great Commission,
"Go and make disciples," must be central. The church that loses
this passion ceases to be Christ's church. When the reality that
God has chosen us to fulfill His mission comes alive in us, our
ministry becomes joy. God has no plan B. We are His plan to demonstrate
His character, nature, and power to others. We have been chosen
by God to bear His image and fulfill His purpose of reconciling
lost people to himself.
We can keep God's passion alive and central through regular times
of meditation and solitude with Him. Allow the Holy Spirit to energize
your heart with God's passion. Rediscover in God's Word the nature
and purpose of the church.
Set your sights on achieving results in ministry. One of
Jesus' last prayers to His Father, was, "I have brought you glory
on earth by completing the work you gave me to do." (John 17:4,
NIV). Jesus brought glory to His Father because He focused on results,
"completing the work you gave me to do."
The goal is to see people become fully devoted followers of Christ.
Be intentional in ministry. Implementation is the key. People who
repeatedly hear and discuss the principles without practical application
soon become passive and pious. Focusing on this goal will keep the
church relevant without compromise.
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The church has given
verbal assent to the doctrine of the believer's priesthood
but has failed to make it a reality in practice. Equipping
and mobilizing laity is not an option. It is a mandate.
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Fix your eyes on equipping and mobilizing people. This is
one of the most significant guide markers for the church of the
future. The church has given verbal assent to the doctrine of the
believer's priesthood but has failed to make it a reality in practice.
Equipping and mobilizing laity is not an option. It is a mandate.
Time and resources must be committed to developing people to use
their God-given gifts in service. The effective church in the 21st
century will be an equipping center, not a ministry center.
This will require a change in the concept and role of leaders as
well as the laypeople. Leadership must become decentralized while
providing a clear vision, mutual accountability, and guidance that
assists people to the next step in their spiritual development.
Lay members must assume responsibility for ministry. The church
will place less emphasis on formal structure and more emphasis on
informal, temporary leadership structures. Team ministry will be
more than a hierarchical pastor-elder team. It will describe the
church culture that encourages and allows people to serve in their
gift areas and diminishes the distinction between clergy and laity.
Volunteer ministry programs will be replaced with intentional strategies
to equip people to serve according to their gifts and calling. Mentors
who can help people discern and develop their gifts will take priority
over spiritual gift assessments that give people knowledge but little
application.
Continuously scope out and adjust to the terrain. The future
landscape will be different. The church is traveling down a path
of continuous cultural change and must remain flexible. Amanda Bennet
in The Wall Street Journal said, "It's really a wake-up
call. With the galloping changes that are taking place----demographic,
geopolitical, global----if you think you can run the business in
the next 10 years the same way you did the last 10 years, you are
crazy." (Amanda Bennet, "Many of Today's Top Corporate Officers
Are the Right People for the Wrong Time," The Wall Street Journal,
October 27, 1992, B1, B4. as quoted in Shawchuck, Norman and Heuser,
Roger: Managing the Congregation. Nashville, Abingdon Press;
1996, p. 56.) If we think that we can do church in the next 10 years
the same way we did the last 10 years, we are crazy. The believer
who tries will be consciously ineffective and incredibly frustrated
or unconsciously ineffective and piously contented. Although biblical
principles remain solid, methods will change.
The point is clear, culture is changing. The church must remain
committed to core principles but flexible in its methods to navigate
the varying terrain successfully.
The church whose mental map is purpose-oriented will utilize
these guiding points to chart its course and make its ministry effective.
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