Capturing Your Biblical Calling
Church ministry can be filled with activities that seem disjointed and disconnected. We wonder sometimes, “What’s the big picture?” “Where are we headed?” “What’s our biblical purpose?”
People who write and speak on envisioning use different terms in various ways. I use the phrase MVP-C Statement for Mission, Vision, Passion, and Commission. I’ll be the first to acknowledge that MVP-C is not inspired. It’s simply my current best attempt to organize and communicate a practical theology that assists God’s people to catch and cast God’s plan for ministry.
Through the congregational process of envisioning God’s ministry, we discover why we do what we do. Envisioning involves determining our biblical reason for existence (Mission), detecting our unique future focus (Vision), capturing the essence of who God calls us to be (Passion), and mapping out how to move from here to there (Commission).
Mission tells us where we should be according to God’s Word. Vision pictures where God is leading us. Passion tells us who we are on our journey. Commission provides the road map to travel from the present to the future.
Mission: Your Universal God-Given Calling and Purpose—God’s Compass
The mission statement process examines what God calls every ministry to be. It clarifies God’s timeless purpose. Mission is a Word-saturated, Bible-focused process of answering the questions: Why do we exist? What is our purpose? What does the Bible say about how we should minister in this area? Mission answers are universal, timeless, and clearly revealed in God’s Word—they are always true for everyone.
Biblical mission provides the theological foundation for ministry. It is God’s compass pointing true north. To use God’s compass, mission statements seek to finish the sentence: According to the Bible we exist to… Or, According to the Bible the mission of our church is to…
Vision: Your Unique Ministry Dream and DNA—Your Fingerprint
In the vision process, you travel from the present (mission) to the future. You move from the universal and biblical (mission) to the unique and contextual. Your mission focuses on the purpose of your church or ministry, while your vision focuses on the projected future state of your church or ministry. You ask, How do we move forward as we advance His mission? How has God shaped us to complete His mission?
It is helpful to picture vision as a future dream that seeks to glimpse a better future. When they opened the Epcot Center in Florida, someone leaned over to Mike Vance, Creative Director of Disney Studios, and whispered, “It’s really too bad that Walt didn’t live to see this.” Vance replied, “He did see it. That’s why it’s here.” To focus on this better future, vision statements seek to finish the sentence: It is our dream to…
It also helps to picture vision as a church’s DNA or fingerprint. No two are alike. That’s why in the vision process we ask, How does our unique congregation use its distinctive gift-mix to fulfill our special calling in our specific community? It’s also why I’ve launched three very different biblical counseling ministries in three very different congregations.
Vision answers are idiosyncratic—they apply uniquely to your congregational ministry team in your setting. Vision orients your congregation to your sovereign gifting and to the profound thirst of your community. Frederick Buechner portrays it powerfully, “The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.”
Passion: Your Captivating Ministry Identity and Imprint—Your Heartbeat
Mission is our universal calling—where God wants us. Vision is our unique future—where God is leading us. Passion is our captivating identity—who we are as we serve Christ together. Picture passion as a pithy phrase capturing and communicating the essence of who we are as we fulfill God’s calling and our ministry dream.
Passion communicates what we’ll die for and therefore what we’ll live for. Passion is our UPS: Ultimate Purpose Statement. For my own ministry, RPM Ministries, I’ve captured it as: Changing Lives with Christ’s Changeless Truth. For my own life, I’ve captured it in one word: Coach. I’m writing this book because the passion of my life is to coach people to coach others also.
Passion statements answer the question, How do we convey our mission and vision in a compelling way? Passion answers are creative, imaginative, and memorable. Passion statements typically develop out of a time of prayerful joint pondering where someone has something of an “Aha experience.”
Commission: Your Strategic Ministry Action Plan—Your MAP
In my consulting ministry, I’ve found that few people start with a mission process that is focused on biblical theology. I’ve also discovered that most churches end the process before the commission statement. The lack of a biblical foundation is a major reason some churches resist even starting an envisioning process. The lack of a strategic plan (commission statement) is a primary cause for some churches sensing that the envisioning process was wasted time.
The commission statement addresses how, in practice, you fulfill the mission, vision, and passion. That’s one reason I place the hyphen after the MVP. A well-crafted commission statement maps out how we become an MVP ministry.
A commission statement provides the strategy for how you’ll get from here to there, how you’ll “pull it off,” and how you’ll keep your ministry going and growing. Picture the commission statement as a signpost, directional markers, or a GPS. It’s your MAP—Ministry Action Plan.
Our commission, like His, should answer questions like, What is our strategy? What is our action plan? How are we going to work cooperatively to fulfill God’s call? Commission answers are practical while remaining big picture. They don’t describe every step (that’s more tactical than strategic). Instead, they outline the journey by providing sign posts. To convey this practical-yet-broad perspective, commission statements seek to finish the sentence: We will seek to fulfill our mission, vision, and passion through…
Join the Conversation
How could the MVP-C process bring focus to your ministries and unity to your congregation?
