“After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and people and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” Revelation 7:9–10
Our God is on a mission to redeem a people for Himself through the work of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. One Day, all who belong to Him will dwell with the God of their salvation in the “land of everlasting delights,” as the Valley of Vision beautifully says. For the last two thousand-plus years, the Church has labored to see God’s Message of mercy extend to the earth’s far corners. This work, empowered by the Holy Spirit, continues as much of the world still has never heard the Name of Jesus.
We must strive to give every man, woman, and child repeated opportunities to hear and respond to God’s Gospel.
The end will come, as Christ teaches in Mathew 24:14, when the task is completed. We must pray as we work because we depend on God from start to finish. We must be fueled by the conviction that God will bring history to a close precisely as He promised. But, we must also strive to wisely steward all our assets to see the mission advance worldwide and in our cities, towns, and neighborhoods. What God wants done should be the driving force of everything we do as congregations and our primary focus as leaders.
All congregations in the world are a part of God’s plan. Each one exists in a particular place, a specific geography that is a part of this world. These contain people whom The Lord desires to have repeated opportunities to hear and respond to the Gospel. God’s primary instrument through which this happens is all of Christ’s people. As church leaders embrace the mission mandate for a place, they see how their local congregation is part of what God is doing in their surrounding geography in keeping with His global work. Therefore, they have what missiologist Dr. Dwight Smith, founder of Saturation Church Planting International, calls an “outside-in” thinking. This means we look at our ministries from a broader perspective than just how many people we gather and how many programs we offer.
Dr. Smith, when reflecting on when he pastored a local congregation, wrote:
“Outside-in thinking, on the other hand, made me evaluate our church in
accordance to the Gospel purpose of the Church, in the midst of the realities of
the whole community in which we live, and in cooperation with the broader
Body of Christ in that same community. The core question became, are we
delivering the Gospel measurably to the community in which we live? And that is
the question that is easy to measure.” Renovation: A Survey of the Design In The
Life Of The Church pg. 24
- What would it look like if every gospel-centered congregation took responsibility for their specific geography to give every person there a chance to accept or reject Jesus?
- What would the effect be in a congregation whose leaders “evaluate their church in accordance to the Gospel purpose of the Church” amid their surrounding community?
- How would success be measured?
- How would church leadership function differently if there was an outside-in versus an inside-out ministry conviction?
These and other questions are essential to consider with our Bibles open. Often, elder and staff meetings can focus most of their energy on things that occur inside the walls of their buildings over and against seeing all that is done as a part of God’s mission for His glory and for the sake of those who live around us.
So, what are some outcomes we can work toward that show we own our geography in keeping with the Gospel purpose? There are many ways we can tackle this. However, these six questions can help us assess whether or not we are thinking from an outside-in perspective in a healthy way.
- Has A Geographic Circle of Accountability Been Identified?
The first step is to define a specific geography as the primary mission field; this is your circle of accountability (COA). Rather than focusing on reaching a demographic, geographic intentionality causes leaders to prayerfully and intentionally take responsibility for a place.
This means the task may be in collaboration with other congregations. It does mean that church leaders work to ensure that the gospel is postured to reach every man, woman, and child in the COA. This requires church leadership to measure effectiveness beyond looking primarily at attractional church metrics.
- Is Lostness Being Reduced?
This question may cause a wide range of reactions depending on theological conviction. However, this is an important one for church leaders to consider. Are people in the COA becoming followers of Jesus Christ? Even more foundationally, are people in the COA having repeated opportunities to hear the Gospel? Measuring Gospel proclamations within a given geography is a crucial indicator of missional effectiveness.
As this happens, we trust the Lord will do His work to build His Church. It may take time to see fruit, and sometimes, that fruit may be small. However, as time progresses, is the Gospel being proclaimed, and are there people responding in the geography for which we have taken responsibility?
- Is the Number of Empowered Disciples in the COA Growing?
Christ’s people must be equipped, empowered, and released to be on mission in the COA. This can be done through planned programmatic outreach but should primarily be done through the everyday lives of believers who are His witnesses.
Imagine the evangelistic impact in a neighborhood if believers were trained and matured in sharing Christ with their family, friends, neighbors, and co-workers. Imagine how the Lord could work if dinner tables, back decks, front lawns, lunch rooms, and other daily spaces were the primary spaces for sharing the Gospel in partnership with preaching and teaching.
Seeing the increase in the number of mobilized believers carrying the hope of Christ throughout a specific area should be an important matter of attention for local church leadership.
- Are There Enough Gospel-Centered Expressions in the COA?
For evangelization to occur, the gospel must be accessible to those who call it home. This can be accomplished in multiple ways, all of which work together. One is through Christ’s people, as stated above. Another is to ensure enough gospel-centered expressions are spread throughout the COA.
A gospel expression is any gathered group of believers united around maturing in faith and reaching those around them with the Good News of Jesus. It can be a small group, missional community, church plant, or church partner.
One helpful metric is having one congregation (or gospel expression) for every 500 to 1000 people. A commitment to making the gospel accessible to every man, woman, and child means we move to a go-and-tell model instead of just a come-and-see one. This means we need more mission outposts throughout our circle who are going to the world rather than expecting the world to come to them.
- How Many Leaders Are Engaged in God’s Mission in the COA?
Setting a goal for how many gospel-centered expressions are needed for a circle of accountability helps determine the number of leaders required to accomplish that goal. Each expression should contain leaders who are leveraged for the full equipping and releasing of Christ’s people for the glory of God and the good of their place.
These leaders must be identified, trained, released, and followed up with so that each gospel expression is healthy. Congregations need leaders who serve internally to build up the body. Still, leaders are also required to carry the mission outside the walls of our buildings and into the communities that need to be reached. However, all leaders need to work toward seeing what God wants to be done in and through His people and in their circle of accountability.
- Is There Regular Prayer Occurring for the COA?
Congregations depend on God for everything, and saturating a designated geography is no different. Much like Psalm 67, our prayers need to be infused with petitions for everyone to praise the name of our God. Ongoing prayer for the Lord to work in the hearts of those who live in our COA should be a part of the life of all congregations.
This can be enhanced through prayer walking, asking small groups to pray for specific streets, and how we pray in our Sunday morning services. We should continue to pray that the Lord would open doors and give boldness to declare the Gospel. Let us seek the Lord to provide more and more leaders. Can congregations play the role of the persistent widow from Luke 18 for the sake of their circle and their role in it?
There is much here for leaders to process. Owning a geography and laboring to see God’s will be done in it are not things we take lightly. They demand more than mere programmatic adjustment and building more significant buildings. They cause us to look critically at what we believe God has revealed about what He wants, how that shapes our ministry convictions, and how that impacts our philosophy of ministry, leadership, and mission.
As this becomes settled in our minds, standing on God’s Word, may our methods rise. We may not be so easily satisfied with full rooms and relevant aesthetics. May we not be so easily discouraged by small numbers, insufficient resources, and challenging mission fields. Instead, may we be convinced that God will do what He said. May we be committed to measuring success by what the Scriptures reveal. May we be faithful to the people who live right around us for their good and the glory of our God!
