God’s Mission Is Not To Save Your Church

by Mark Tidsworth, Founder and Team Leader

God’s mission is to save the entire world.

Primary Assumption of the Missional Church – God is on mission in the world, unveiling the kingdom, while reconciling and healing the world.

Often there is a request driving the stated request. When we are called to consult with congregations, they don’t state their request as, “Please help us save our church!” But when we listen carefully, this is their unstated concern.

And, wouldn’t you feel the same way if your congregation was facing its demise? Christ-followers in these congregations carry many deep life-giving experiences in their hearts as a result of being part of this congregation’s life. Now they want their children or grandchildren to have similar faith experiences with this particular faith community. The desire to pass on a healthy faith legacy to the next generation is strong, and is often expressed through wanting one’s church to survive and thrive. These are natural and healthy motives.

But when we look through an incarnational and missional lens, then we recognize that God’s mission is not to save your church.

While this desire for one’s church to survive and thrive is so real and poignant that it hurts, and while we might carry great empathy for those in these congregations, we also must ask ourselves, “Is saving our church also God’s goal?”

Missional theology moves our focus beyond ourselves to the larger canvas of God’s movement. God is on mission in the world, unveiling the kingdom while healing and reconciling. Whether a particular local faith community resonates with God’s mission and joins it is another question. As harsh as it sounds, it is helpful when a church can move beyond itself and realize that God’s primary mission is in the world.

God’s primary mission is not to save any particular local church. God’s mission is to save the entire world.

NOTE - Next week’s article will describe a shift churches make when moving beyond themselves to join God’s invigorating and life-giving mission to reconcile, restore, heal, and renew this world. To learn more about these shifts, see Mark’s book Shift: Three Big Moves For The 21st Century Church, Pinnacle Leadership Press.