Relaunch 4

This post is the 4th in a series of posts that seek to Relaunch Fellowship with new fuel and fire to reach this community for Christ. Please refer to the previous 3 posts for context.

Fellowship has the potential for exponential growth but will be limited by barriers that can be identified and overcome. Leaders must identify the barriers that keep Fellowship from reaching its potential and to formulate plans to overcome those barriers. The leaders of the church will be given tools and training that will enable them to communicate with their mentees and propagate the demolition of barriers that inhibit growth.

Since the church is explicitly commanded to “make disciples,” the leadership of the church must be committed to this task. “The most effective pastors are missionaries at heart. These pastors have an unceasing restlessness about them that can never be fulfilled until this spiritual engagement is finished. This quest has been continuing for thousands of years as leaders have developed future leaders to take on the cause of constantly invading the enemy stronghold to reclaim those for whom our Leader died.”[1] These leaders must be developed with proper preparation and training.

In the context of the great commission it is interesting to note in a prefatory way that the disciples in verse 16 are not the original twelve (οἱ δώδεκα), but the faithful believing eleven (οἱ ἕνδεκα).[2] Before Jesus gets to vision he makes sure He is speaking to the “right people.”[3] The “right people” on this bus were the ones who He had invested His life in and they had responded to His investment by a commitment to His commands. This vision of the church’s purpose and mission will not be fully realized by anyone who is not fully committed to it. Leadership is key to the future growth of the church. Jesus spent an entire night praying before making the final selection of His twelve disciples. This only came after a period of living with them night and day and knowing their character as well as their actions. This project does not address the selection of leaders but assumes that these leaders have been selected with the understanding, “Enlisting asks people, “Would you like to go there with me?”[4]

“We must recognize that Jesus himself walked for years with a small band of followers, and they still looked like the B-team when he left this earth.”[5] It is to imperfect, indecisive, hesitant, and uncertain disciples that Jesus entrusted the spreading of the Gospel to all the world then as now. Are we not all like the father who told Jesus, “I do believe; help my unbelief.”[6] Even today, as I work with leaders I must recognize that everyone is a work in progress, hopefully, including myself. I take heart in the fact that “What marks Christianity as distinct is that it is truly a people movement: every believer (and not just some presumed religious elite) is an agent of the kingdom and is called to bring God’s influence into all the realms of human existence.”[7] The mission of God to reach the world is for every believer and not the sole responsibility of the paid staff. 

We do not have it all together as a job requirement but on the job training will help us to see great results both personally and corporately. You are vital to Fellowship accomplishing our purpose of "helping people find new life in Christ." As we discover God's plans to relaunch His church into a wonderful future, will you go there with me?

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[1] Hugh Halter and Matt Smay, AND, the Gathered and Scattered Church (Grand Rapids, Michigan, Zondervan, 2010),  97.
[2] Mark 9:24

[3] Allen Hirsch and Lance Ford, Right Here Right Now, Everyday Mission for Everyday People (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Books, 2011), 36.

[4] Paul D. Borden, Direct Hit, Aiming Real Leaders at the Mission Field (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2006),  38

[5] D. A. Hagner, Matthew 14-28, Word Biblical Commentary, ed.  Ralph P. Martin, Vol 33B (Dallas: Word, Incorporated, 2002),  883.

[6] Jim Collins, Good to Great (New York, NY: HarperCollins, 2001), 41.

[7] John Kramp, On Track Leadership (Nashville: Broadman and Holman Publishers, 2006), 3.