Most churches fail at vision/mission. Here’s why …

Numerous churches fail when they try to establish “vision” and “mission” for the church. The primary reason for this failure is due to leaders applying a business model to the concepts of “vision” and “mission” rather than a biblical model.

Here’s the mistake many church leaders make. Working up a structure for a business — new or old — is fairly simple and well-established. You craft the following items to give life to your organization:

• • Vision.
  • Mission.
  • Core Values.
  • Goals.
  • Objectives.
  • Strategy.
  • Action plan.
  • Execution.

The problem with this business model is that “vision” and “mission” are in the reverse order for what is needed for the church. In the church, “mission” must precede and drive “vision.”

A business is a human-created organization. Thus, to start a business, the founder must have a vision for the purpose of his business; that vision isn’t going to come from anywhere other than what he sees for the purpose of his business. From that vision, he can craft a mission, add core values to be committed to, and continue with the structure-building of his organization.

But the church is very different!

The church was created by and for Jesus Christ. It’s HIS church! It is His vision for the church that is fleshed out in scripture. And because He has a very specific purpose for the existence of the church, Jesus Himself provided us with a mission for the church. That mission gives us a clear definition for the purpose and priority of His church.

Because Jesus provided the mission for the church, mission comes first to give us purpose and definition. From there, we can add vision, which is very different in the church than it is in business. A vision for a business is the man-made view of why the organization exists. However, in the church — since we already have the mission from the Creator of the church — vision is seeing how a local church body is to go about executing the mission already given to the church.

When church leaders try to create their own “vision” of the church, and then craft a “mission” based on their vision, they are tweaking the original purpose and priority of the church as already provided by the church’s Creator … all because they are following a business approach to leading in the church.

To further complicate things, church leaders then compound their tweaking of Christ’s structure for the church by adding their own “core values.” What values could be more “core” to the church than what scripture says is essential for salvation?

So a structure for the church would be more like:

• • Mission (already provided by Jesus Christ).
  • Vision (how the local church body will execute the mission).
  • Core values (what scripture says is essential for salvation).

Then leaders can add Goals, Objectives, Strategy, Action Plan, and Execution in their planning for ministry designed to accomplish the mission.

To wrap up, let’s look at how the Apostle Paul provides us with a great version of Christ’s mission for His church, with a vision for executing it. This is found in Colossians 1:28-29:

“So we tell others about Christ, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all the wisdom God has given us. We want to present them to God, perfect in their relationship to Christ. That’s why I work and struggle so hard, depending on Christ’s mighty power that works within me.”

Notice Christ’s mission for the church tucked in the middle of Paul’s writing, “… We want to present them to God, perfect in their relationship to Christ …” That means going into all the world to reach the lost for Christ, and then discipling them.

How does Paul execute this?

• • “So we tell others about Christ …”
  • “… warning everyone …”
  • “… and teaching everyone …”

And how does Paul accomplish this?

• • “… with all the wisdom God has given us …”
  • “… That’s why I work and struggle so hard …”
  • “… depending on Christ’s mighty power that works within me.”

Restructuring the church with a man-made vision that drives a man-made mission robs the church of it’s original structure as provided by its Creator. Church leaders need to place the mission of the church, as provided by Christ Himself, at the forefront of the local body of Christ, and then continue to build a biblically appropriate model of ministry.

Scotty