Make it Transformational: A Blog for Champion Discipleship

In this month's Mission Increase Foundation workshop, we'll be teaching about what marketing looks like for a parachurch organization. There has been some great discussion already around this topic, but there is one particular conversation I’d like to bring to you for consideration...

Which comes first--knowledge or action?  In other words, does a person need to be educated about your cause before they take action?  Or, do they take action and then learn about it?

Contemporary marketing would say that people need to know first so that they can be persuaded to act.  But how much knowing is necessary before we can act?  You’d almost think that we were waiting to become experts before we took our first step!  And, organizations are happy to continue feeding us information until we feel up to par to act.

How about for us, the parachurch?  As an extension of the church, what is our role toward the body?  Feed them information until they feel confident, or comfortable, or willing to act in a cause that all Christians are commissioned to partake in as laid out in scripture (which, by the way, may never come)?

You might already sense where I stand on this, but let me give you a short history lesson before I spill the beans completely.

Believe it or not, this quandary takes us back to the rise of the Hellenistic era! I appreciate how Alan Hirsch explains it in his book, The Forgotten Ways Handbook.  He explains that "a Hellenistic view of knowledge is concerned about concepts, ideas, and the nature of being." And so what you find under a Hellenistic approach, and what we see today, is an emphasis on gaining knowledge, learning, and spending time in the classroom. This is in stark contrast to a Hebraic view, which is the approach we find Jesus employing.  The Hebraic approach is "primarily concerned with issues of concrete existence, obedience, life-oriented wisdom, and interrelationship of all things under God" as Hirsch puts it.  Jesus didn’t set up a physical classroom for people to learn how to be a disciple of him – he made life itself the classroom.  His disciples learned as they watched and as they did themselves. Sometimes they succeeded and sometimes they failed (like not being able to drive out demons in Mk 9!), but they were learning and being sharpened through each of their experiences.

Here's another thing to consider...in his book, The Change of Conversion and the Origin of Christendom, Alan Kreider explains how the early church was concerned about people going through the motions to be part of the church, and so they were sincerely interested in people’s motives and sincerity.  One of the things that they did was ask people to begin changing their way of life before they were accepted into the community.  It might sound crazy (or legalistic!) but Kreider explains, “Christian leaders assumed that people did not think their way into a new life; they lived their way into a new kind of thinking.”  They did this in order to nurture and strengthen communities whose values would be different from the rest of the world.  Could it be that someone could know all about what it is to be a Christian without ever being one?  Could it be that someone could know all about your cause without ever really championing it?

So, is knowledge important? Yes, but it can be weaved into the process of inviting people toward action so the result is “informed action”--just enough information to take the first step, and the beginning of a journey of growing and learning through continued action.  The result hopefully is a body of believers growing and learning what it means to be a disciple of Christ through their work and service in the kingdom cause you yourself are championing.

Certainly giving is a critical and God ordained part of ministering to others, as He instructs us to give generously in II Tim. 6:18, but what about donors who actually get their feet wet alongside you serving the community you have been called to serve?

Paul tells us in Eph. 4:12, that we are to equip one another for works of service and throughout scripture we read references to healing the sick, feeding the poor, preaching to the people, clothing the naked, and on and on. There is no lack of worthy service opportunities needing to be done in our church and community.

We read that only about 2½% of Evangelical Christians tithe on their income. I wonder what % of Christians actually donate their time to "works of service". Think about how many of us spend time in our own church on Sunday morning engaging in works of service. My guess is that it’s greater than 2½%, but I haven’t read any stats on that number. It would be an extremely hard number to track and even define. Would you include time spent coaching your daughter’s soccer team or only time outside of normal work life dedicated to activities more defined as "Kingdom causes?"

My conclusion is that God is asking us to make "works of service" a priority in our life -- as giving financially should be. Most non-profits work hard at encouraging their donors to give financially, but how many recognize the importance of helping donors grow in their spiritual walk through actually engaging in healing the sick, feeding the poor, preaching, clothing, visiting, etc.? Coming alongside the staff and really helping the injured Samaritan in his time of need?

I wonder why God didn’t ask us to give 10% of our time, as well as our money? I know for many, it’s extremely hard to let go of their money, but for me, I am more guarded of my time. I have been pondering the concept of giving away at least 10% of my time toward "works of service" and am thinking through the benefits and blessing to me, as well as those I might be serving. Selfishly, I am excited about what it might do for me. It’s a legacy I would love to pass on to my son. If only I’d started sooner!

It’s never too late. I would love to see ministry leaders encourage direct participation of donors, in addition to giving financially, as a primary objective. Their involvement would do amazing things for the ministry and likely transform the donor’s life in the process.

Let me tell you about Heather. She was invited to join the annual banquet committee by one of the board members of the local rescue mission. She was interested, but didn’t know much about the mission, so said she’d like to volunteer for a few days to get a taste of what goes on at a mission. She recently stated, "I came into the mission on Day 1, came back on Day 2 and 3, and am still here 1 ½ years later. It changed my life, now I can’t leave."

May the Lord grant you many "Heathers" as you invite others into works of service so that "the body of Christ may be built up and until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ." Eph. 4:12-13

Greetings! For my next several posts I've asked various ministry leaders to blog about their experience connected with Mission Increase Foundation (MIF). I talk about MIF all the time so I thought you might be interested to hear the perspective of others. One note... It is important that you understand that these posts are not about the specific work of MIF, but are about the specific work of God through MIF. Big difference in my mind because it's always about Him! We're just glad to be along for the ride!

This post is from Kay Allen, Executive Director of 1st Way Ministries.  Take it away, Kay...!

"Our team from 1st Way Ministries – our Board President, Vice President and Development Chair – recently attended the Strategic Planning workshop offered by Mission Increase Foundation.  We were impressed with the turnout (80 in this particular workshop and 140+ in four Strategic Planning workshops during the month) and wished we had arrived earlier so we could have networked with other leaders.  Next time!

"What a workshop! 

"We learned a great deal about strategic planning but one concept hit us hard... We came to believe that our most urgent need was to implement the fasting and prayer model that Jonathan outlined to gain clarity of God's vision for our ministry.

"And we weren’t the only ones.
 
"A colleague of mine, Tonya Gruzynski, Executive Director of the HOPE Ultrasound Mobile Unit which serves women in need throughout Phoenix, also decided to implement the fasting and prayer model with her team.
 
"And following the workshop I had a meeting with the President of the Arizona Right to Life and, after I shared all that we learned from the workshop, she loved the fasting and prayer model so much that her team is now in the middle of fasting and praying to gain God's vision for their new Board.
 
"The workshop covered a lot of material and it was all helpful.  But realizing that having God’s vision as the main keyhole through which we look for all of our ministry activities was a brilliant and timely idea for me, our organization, and so many others.
 
"Thanks to Mission Increase, and to Jonathan and his team, who have helped us greatly to “begin again” and, this time, we feel as though we’re on the Righteous Path! 

"What a great organization!  I love what Mission Increase is doing and it’s exactly what we need now!"

A new fan,
Kay Allen
1st way Ministries

During the month of May our Mission Increase Foundation workshops focused on the topic of strategic planning. During this workshop we communicated that every organization needs to know what God has called each one to accomplish.

Your vision (that picture of what God has envisioned for your organization to fulfill) is that picture by which everything you do is measured and evaluated.

But, as I have spoken this month to many organizational leaders, they often get vision confused with mission.

Once your vision is defined, you then develop strategies for moving your organization toward that vision (your strategic plan). Included in this strategy/plan would be the development of your organization's mission statement.

Your vision is broader and future oriented....it’s the goal on the horizon. Your mission is more focused.…it’s how you will get to the horizon.

Most ministries I have consulted with this month seem to have a decent grasp of their vision, but not their mission and why this statement is so important.

Dr. Steven Covey, The 7 Habits of Highly Successful People, says, “Mission statement work is the single most important work because decisions made there affect all other decisions.

Jeffrey Abrahams, 101 Mission Statements From Top Companies, says, “Whenever and wherever men and women have endeavored to achieve something purposefully, a statement of mission or purpose is pronounced. It precedes the first step in a long march. And it is etched in stone over the entrances of great buildings. People, by their very nature, seem to ennoble a task by endowing it with a stated mission."

In other words, your mission statement needs to be that statement of how your organization will get to where it wants to be and it defines your organization's purpose and primary objective. The bottom line is that it’s the….What Do You Do, How You Do You Do It, and For Whom You Do It.

I would also venture to say your mission statement should be short, memorable and visible.

If your leadership team, staff and donors ever need to be affirmed in what you are about, this one statement can be the tool to get them back on track and keep them motivated to accomplish what God has set before them.

My challenge to you today is to not just word smith your way to a good mission statement, but work towards a statement that could be a motivational tool (that driving force) for helping you see your strategic plan come to reality.

If your board is challenging you to expand your ministry’s grant writing efforts, take two and a half minutes to view this Chronicle of Philanthropy video of grant makers speaking to some of the common mistakes made by grant applicants.

The insights shared in the video emphasize the reality that the work you do before you start writing grants is actually more important than the proposal itself. Yes, the process of creating a qualified short list of funders is vital. But even before you begin the grant seeking process, ask yourself this all-important question: Does my ministry have a fundable project?

Grant makers are interested in funding initiatives that have a likelihood of long-term success and impact! Here are some questions to help you test if your project is fundable:

1. Does it advance your ministry’s core mission? Too many organizations ‘chase dollars’ by creating programs that lack alignment with their mission. This is called ‘mission drift’ and funders will have little interest in supporting such projects.
2. Is there appropriate support from your board and staff for the proposed program? “Go for it, if you can find the money” doesn’t constitute appropriate support, by the way.
3. Do you have the staffing and expertise to complete the project?
4. Are you able to demonstrate a reasonable plan to sustain the project after the grant money is gone?
5. Is your project substantively different from other similar projects/programs in the community? If so, what niche will it fill?
6. Have you explored opportunities for collaboration with other agencies doing similar work in your community? Collaboration on projects sends a sends a strong, positive message to grant makers, according to this Chronicle of Philanthropy article.
7. When do you need the money? If the answer is now or in the next couple of months, grant writing is not your best source. Given grant deadlines and foundation board schedules, assume it will take 9-12 months for a foundation decision, and perhaps longer until the grant check is cut.

Your ministry is most likely to receive foundation grants when you develop fundable programs. Big ideas can breed new programs and initiatives, but they also need to have the likelihood of success and measurable impact.

If you’ve learned from past grant seeking mistakes, feel free to post your comments or learnings.