RELATIONSHIP OF STEWARDSHIP TO DISCIPLESHIP #2

 

Last week, in talking about the relationship of stewardship to discipleship, I talked a little about the mission statements of churches. Even once you have a mission statement you’re happy with, you need to review it regularly to make sure it still “fits”. Things change: people, membership, community, world…when these changes happen, the mission statement may need to change too.

When I spoke about mission statements answering the question of “so that… what?”, I encourage you to consider if your mission statement takes you outside the church walls.

When I’ve talked about discipleship, I sometimes focus on our church windows. Some of us have stained glass windows, and they are gorgeous; great bits of history from the past. But…you can’t see through a stained glass window, can you? Sometimes I think discipleship is like that. We are focused so much on ourselves and our churches, that we don’t see around us.

We need to throw the windows open, the doors open! But… not just stand in the doorway and say “come on in.” We have to go outside too, once the doors are open and encounter others, see others, listen to others. In fact, others need to become us. There has to stop being an “us” and “them.” And this type of discipleship is intricately woven into the fabric of stewardship. You cannot have one without the other.

So…does your church’s mission statement take you outside? Just as you must look outside, so must your mission statement. Where is your church’s mission field?