Almost all of us understand the importance of mission. After all, one of the guiding statements that has propelled many of us into our calling is the Great Commission. My favorite version of this is Mark 16:15 which says it clearly and simply, “And (Jesus) said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.” It is this command that invites us to join Jesus on the mission to go and preach the Gospel.
It was Apollo 13 that gave many Americans an understanding of the phrase mission critical. As Apollo 13 was only a few days into its mission, an oxygen tank exploded and crippled the aircraft. In a matter of minutes everything on the aircraft became negotiable so that the astronauts could make it home safely except for several systems that were deemed mission critical meaning that without these systems the crew would have no chance of arriving home safely. It was these mission critical systems that became the priority of the crew.
Men and women, it is time to be reminded of our mission critical – reach the unreached with the gospel. Most of you are probably wondering if I forgot that the target audience of this post was pastors – I did not. But allow me to call us back to this as the singular mission critical element of our calling – going into all the world with the gospel to reach people. As we are going, we must be reminded that we still have further to go. As we are reaching, we need to be challenged to reach further. As we shepherd, we must remember that we have more to shepherd.
As Apollo 13 reminds us, “Failure is not an option.” Statistically, we know that approximately 150,000 people die each day. Of those 150,000 people about 8% or 12,000 die with the gospel, the rest die without Jesus. What then are we to do? How should we respond if we are to push back against this?
Two simple obstacles to be addressed and overcome are: innovation and tradition.
We must continue to innovate and develop. What got us to this point will not get us past this point. The methods, tools, and ways of reaching people have worked, but the future is ripe with new opportunities to innovate and reach further than ever before. From the life of Jesus, we can clearly see that His message never changed, but His methods varied greatly depending on audience, proximity, and culture.
It is also important to properly place our past into context. When rightly understood, the past becomes a springboard—not an anchor. Tradition is healthy so long as it serves as a basis point – even a true north but circling back and forgoing other options and ways forward because they do not fit into tradition or align with past decisions is not. Bob Iger said this regarding the tension between tradition and innovation, “You can’t allow tradition to get in the way of innovation. There’s a need to respect the past, but it’s a mistake to revere your past.” We must respect the past but revere the Lord and what He is doing today and desires to do tomorrow.
Two accelerators that can help us move beyond and past these obstacles are: clarifying our personal mission and vision.
One way forward to achieving the mission is gaining clarity on our personal mission. Why did God create me? What has God called and equipped me to do? Who has God called me to be? When we walk through this and allow God to speak to us, we will find clarity, conviction, and a renewed passion to live out the mission. A proper view of ourselves and our own fallenness can serve to remind us who we were before Christ, and inspire us to refocus and to reinvest in the mission to see others come to know Christ.
Where there is no vision the people cast off restraint. Vision is the unifying factor that galvanizes us to move and motivates people to follow and serve. When was the last time you dreamed about what God could do in your ministry? When did you last see a big and scary vision of the future? Vision emboldens people to go with you. When JFK was visiting NASA, he encountered a janitor who was sweeping the floors. JFK asked him what his job was. The man’s answer – I am helping us get a man on the moon. He understood the vision of NASA and embraced it to the point that regardless of his job, he was executing the vision. The vision was so compelling that every person was part of it. That is the need for today in our lives and ministries.
Healthy things grow. God did not design His church to fade slowly into obscurity. Rather, let’s reimagine, reinvest, reignite a focused call to missional strategy. Let’s come back to what is mission critical: reaching the lost. Let’s lead with urgency, invest with purpose, and pursue the unreached with greater intensity than ever before. The mission demands it. The future depends on it. The Gospel compels us.
Take one step this week to clarify your calling. Reflect. Pray. Write it down. Then go—reach, innovate, and lead with fresh vision.
