Mission Strategy Map 9: Application

This is the last one of the series: a few tips on how to implement in various contexts and some other sources to explore.

Established Churches

Sometimes, churches have structures that are more developed than their people, because an earlier generation made it further along the map, but the current congregation is not there yet. Here are some questions to consider.

  1. Mobilizing – How are you helping your members move into mission?
  2. Connecting – How does your church help members meet unbelievers?
  3. Witnessing – How does your church encourage evangelism?
  4. Gathering – How are you helping people host effective discipleship groups?
  5. Equipping – How are you teaching disciples to make disciples?
  6. Growing – How do you bless people to pursue their own ideas for outreach initiatives?
  7. Multiplying – How are you starting churches like yours in other locations?
  8. Partnering – How are you working with other churches and organizations toward your vision?
  9. Extending – How are you working in other countries or cultures?

When you get to the stage where you don’t have a solid answer, that might be the one you’re in. (A weak answer would be, “well, we say it from the platform, and send out emails, there’s material on our website and we provide some funding”. A solid answer would be there are actual people with real roles serving these purposes.)

Disciple Making Movements

Some of the language I’ve been using isn’t consistent with DMM models. Here’s a way for DMM’s to find their place on the Map. This is for a whole movement, not one group.

  1. Mobilizing to an unreached people group
    • DMM training vs addition based or reproducing mission mobilizers
  2. Connecting via access ministries or language learning
    • temporary access ministries vs ongoing programs or mission trips
  3. Witnessing until someone is receptive to the gospel
    • Person of Peace vs individual converts or recruiting Christians
  4. Gathering the first discovery Bible study group
    • With unbelievers vs just Christians or helping out at church
  5. Equipping the first group to run by itself
    • Hear and obey vs knowledge based or training without follow up
  6. Growing as group members find persons of peace
    • Starting new groups vs attracting people or centralized training
  7. Multiplying disciple makers three generations deep
    • DMM training vs church planting or leading programs
  8. Partnering as a family with other networks
    • Network of groups vs conference of churches or program partnerships
  9. Extending beyond their country and culture
    • Self-supported vs agency supported or participant fundraising

Organizations

  1. Mission
    • This is your assignment from God: what to do. It is the seed that contains a deposit of all the things that are coming in the future.
  2. Values
    • You can list a bunch, but the helpful thing is to have two that are in tension with each other, like the lost and the church, or here and overseas. The classic example from business is the employee and the customer. It should be impossible to choose which is #1. The tension invites us to look to Jesus every time we make a decision.
  3. Vision
    • This should be what people can envision; what they can see with their eyes 5-10 years from now. Concrete, observable activities. It should be 3 generations of multiplication, matching the rows on the map.
  4. Structure
    • You org chart should be an overview as simple as a board, a leader, administrators and the people-leaders. It’s the flow of authority that matters, not the specifics.
  5. Path
    • Developing people is not a straight path, but it’s helpful to think of the order of: apostle (sent), prophet (see), evangelist (tell), pastor (community), teacher (what to multiply). Less than 5 steps skips things. More than 5 steps is complicated. (9 stages is for organizations, not individuals.)
  6. Results
    • Make a list of the things you always talk about as measures. Then put them into a 2×3 grid of your values x vision. If they don’t fit, something needs to change, because if your values and vision came out of your history, then you’re stuck with them and should measure based on those. But if you’re convinced of what you want to measure, then maybe you need a different perspective on your history.
  7. Multiplication
    • The reason this is a Sabbath stage is that you are confident in your identity as an organization and you can rest in it. This is a pre-requisite for partnering. I reconfigured Jim Collin’s Hedgehog Concept to match Sabbath rules: “Best in the World” is what you received that you can’t buy, “Deeply passionate about” becomes what’s assembled that you can’t work for, and “Drives your Economic Denominator” is now what you give than can’t be sold.
  8. Partnerships
    • Two verses to think about in giving and receiving love: “…Love the Lord your God with all your HEART and with all your SOUL and with all your STRENGTH and with all your MIND…” Luke 10:27 and “…grasp how WIDE and LONG and HIGH and DEEP is the love of Christ…” Ephesians 3:18
  9. Reproduce
    • Everywhere you attempt to share what you’ve learned, they need to go through the same stages in the same order that you did. But you can plan for it to happen 9 times as fast (just one stage for you).

Appendix: Research Sources

  • Jim Collins (Built to Last & Good to Great) — this was a big influence; really appreciate his research
    • 1 Clock Building, 2 Genius of AND, 3 Core and Progress
    • 4 Level 5 Leadership, 5 First Who… Then What, 6 Confront the Brutal Facts
    • 7 Hedgehog Concept, 8 Culture of Discipline, 9 Technology Accelerators
  • Master Plan of Evangelism (Coleman)
    • 1 Selection, 2 Association, 3 Consecration
    • 4 Impartation, 5 Demonstrate, 6 Delegation
    • 7 ––?, 8 Supervision, 9 Reproduce
  • Organizational Life Cycle (Ichak Adizes) — his ending is less inspiring, because his goal is not to die so that others may live
    • 1 Courtship, 2 Infancy, 3 Go-Go
    • 4 Adolescence, 5 Prime, 6 Stable
    • 7 Aristocracy, 8 Re-crimination, 9 Bureaucracy & Death
  • Software development — this was my playground, running dozens of projects through paradigms until I could predict completion dates
    • 1 Initiation, 2 Scope, 3 Requirements
    • 4 Initial Design, 5 Detailed Design, 6 Construction
    • 7 User Acceptance, 8 Pilot, 9 Roll Out
  • Bible History
    • 1 Adam, 2 Noah, 3 Abraham
    • 4 Moses, 5 Kings & Temple, 6 Synagogues
    • 7 Jesus & Church, 8 Protestant Reformation, 9 Today
  • Making of a Leader (Clinton)
    • 1 Sovereign (to conversion), 2 Inner Life (min task test), 3 Entry
      4 Training and Guidance, 5 Relational Learning, 6 Discernment
      7 Life Maturing, 8 Ministry Philosophy, 9 Raise Leaders
  • Creation Story
    • 1 Light, 2 Sky & Water, 3 Plants, seeds and more plants
    • 4 Sun, moon, stars, earth, 5 Birds & Fish?, 6 fruitful, increase, fill, subdue, rule, eat
    • 7 Rest, 8 –, 9 –
  • 7 Habits (Steven Covey)
    • 1 Be Proactive, 2 Begin with the End in Mind, 3 Put First Things First
    • 4 Think Win/Win, 5 Seek First to Understand, then to be Understood, 6 Synergize
    • 7 Sharpen the Saw, 8 Find Your Voice (later book), 9 –
  • Hebrews 11
    • 1 Faith, 2 Seek Him, 3 Sacrifice
    • 4 People of God, 5 Strength, 6 Refusing
    • 7 Love, 8 Grace, 9 Reverence
  • The 9 Stages of Natural Development (Doug Penner, 1996) — this is the underlying paradigm
    • 1 Obvious, 2 Hidden, 3 Relational
    • 4 Manage, 5 Build, 6 Delegate
    • 7 Goal, 8 Vehicle, 9 New Life

By Doug Penner –

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