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February 23, 2017

A “MVP” Church

By Daniel Im

A “MVP” Church

Every sports team and league has a MVP. The most valuable player title goes to the player that elevates their team through their presence and performance. For instance, if it wasn’t for Tom Brady—his presence (leadership) and performance—the New England Patriots probably would not have come back to beat the Atlanta Falcons in the most recent Super Bowl. That’s why they named him the MVP of Super Bowl LI (51).

While every team looks to their MVP’s presence and performance to elevate and enhance the team’s ability, God desires every church to be a MVP Church, one that excels at making disciples.

But what constitutes a MVP church? (Hint: MVP doesn’t stand for most valuable player here.) In the latest Ministry Grid training video, Eric Geiger explains how a church can create a M.V.P. strategy to aid in effectively making disciples who make disciples.

Determine your MISSION

I know that in the business world, many use the word “mission” to describe what their business will do in order to accomplish the vision. In the church world, it’s difficult for me to begin with vision as the why behind the church’s existence. Have you ever heard church leaders talk about the “Vision of God?” Not really. In the church world, we begin with the “Mission of God.” The mission of God is the “why” behind the church’s existence. Christopher Wright summarizes it this way, “it’s not that the church has a mission, but the mission (of God) has a church.”

Therefore, churches must determine their mission. At the core, the mission of the church—in light of the mission of God— is to make disciples (Matthew 28:18–20). Many churches create pithy, memorable mission statements explaining why they exists such as, “So people far from God can find hope in Jesus.” Another church’s mission statement notes, “They exist to reach, teach, and equip people to know, love, and serve Jesus.” Regardless of the language, it’s important for churches to determine their mission of why they exist.

Describe your VISION

The next step after determining the mission is to describe one’s vision. Once again, think of it this way: the mission is why we exist, the vision is what we are going to do about it. In other words, vision is the specific biblical activities or actions churches envision disciples doing that will ultimately lead people to participate in Gods’ mission.

To read the remainder of the article, and to watch the Ministry Grid training video, click here.

This video is part of Plus Membership. To get full access to it, and much more, I encourage you to become a Plus Member. Click here to see all the benefits of becoming a Plus Member.

Tweetables:

• Do you have a MVP strategy for making disciples?
• The mission of God is the “why” behind a church’s existence.
• Vision is the specific biblical activities churches envision disciples doing that will lead people to participate in Gods’ mission.
• It’s important for people to see how the church’s programs fit within the overall vision framework for disciple-making.
• As a MVP enhances a team’s ability to win, so too do churches that create a MVP strategy enhance its ability to make disciples.