Succeeding
Success.
How do we know if we are succeeding? Well, what is our vision? It is is that we are a multiplying movement of churches who bring the kingdom of Jesus Christ to relevant reality where we live and everywhere we go.
What will our mission mean as it is lived? That we are a movement of church-planting churches that exists for the world the Lord Jesus Christ came to save. We are disciples who know our part in His ‘glocal' body, who are cared for by His servant leaders, who make sure that no one gets left behind. Empowered by the Holy Spirit, we will serve His purposes in multiplying the Church to the glory of God.
How will we know we are attaining the vision and mission? Well, God measures fruitfulness. (see John 15 and elsewhere) How will we know if we been fruitful in the King's field?
To answer that we turn, with missiologist/church planting coach Ed Stetzer, to
II Corinthians 5:14-21:
For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.
From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Are we fruitful?
Fruitfulness is even possible because Jesus was made by the Father to be sin on our behalf - making us the righteousness of God [!].
Second, what is fruitfulness marked by? Four things:
1. We see people the way God sees them. (v. 16) While we confess our selfish tendencies, and our tendency to not see people purely the way He does, do we, the people of Kingsfield see people differently? Yes we do.
2. We join God in actively, intentionally reconciling people to God. (see v. 18-20) We do this with each other - by actually knowing each other well enough to point each other repeatedly and faithfully back to Jesus. We also become a more sent people. God sent Jesus, who sent His Spirit, who is in us as we are sent. Our relationships with people deepen - and we see people as those to whom God has specifically sent us.
3. We are ambassadors. (v. 20) The church is the revealing of God's wisdom in the world (Eph. 3:10): Not just the Sunday gathering, the Church in the world, the all-the-time Church, is the 'embassy of heaven'. So whenever people are among us, they ought to have a sense that they are 'tasting' a bit of heaven. How are we 'doing' at this aspect of fruitfulness? How is our proximity with people, as a people? Where would God have us live, play, converse ... with people IN the culture, such that we 'take' the embassy of the King to people?
4. Knowing that it is all -- ALL - because of the Cross of Jesus Christ. (see v. 17) Because of His life, death, resurrection, and life given to us, we are new creations. We are IN Christ.
Over time, as we gather and scatter as the people of God (the 'Jesus Christ-ians') we will all feel the impact of the Spirit of God in our communities. To Jesus Christ be the glory!