Here’s a personal mission statement and ministry strategy you might want to adopt …

Most Christians have never made time to seriously and thoroughly think through, and pray through, what their personal mission and ministry strategy is for serving in God’s kingdom.

That might be one reason why so many are so ineffective.

On the other hand, the Apostle Paul could state with conciseness and specificity:

• • Exactly what he wanted to accomplish.
  • What he did to accomplish it.
  • And how it was carried out.

We find what could serve as Paul’s mission statement and strategy for ministry at the end of the first chapter in Colossians:

“So we tell others about Christ, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all the wisdom God has given us. We want to present them to God, perfect in their relationship to Christ. That’s why I work and struggle so hard, depending on Christ’s mighty power that works within me,” Colossians 1:28-29.

THE MISSION
It’s the second half of Colossians 1:28 that comprises the specific mission Paul was out to achieve:

” … We want to present them to God, perfect in their relationship to Christ.”

Central to Paul’s serving Christ was a passionate desire to present everyone before God as “perfect” or mature disciples of Jesus. He wasn’t aiming just to make converts, but to preach the Gospel so that people would respond by surrendering their lives to Jesus and become His disciples, and then to see those followers of Jesus grow to spiritual maturity in their relationship with Jesus Christ.

Paul’s personal mission statement reflects exactly what Jesus said was the Commission of the church: to go make disciples, and then teach (or “disciple”) them (see Mt. 28:18-20).

THE “WHAT”
Fortunately for us, Paul includes with his personal mission statement at least some of what it is he did in an attempt to accomplish his mission. That part of his ministry strategy is given to us in the first part of Colossians 1:

“So we tell others about Christ, warning everyone and teaching everyone …,” Colossians 1:28.

Notice what Paul emphasizes here:

• • “… we tell others about Christ …”
  • “… warning everyone …”
  • “… and teaching everyone …”

Many today like to bandy about a quote inaccurately credited to St. Francis of Assisi which goes, “Preach the Gospel at all times and use words if necessary.” This is a well-liked quote because it provides cover for those who have been wrongfully taught that you can proclaim the Gospel just by “letting your light shine” before men, or in others words, living out the Christian life in lieu of actually proclaiming the Gospel.

You can’t.

Ed Stetzer recently posted to Twitter this truth: “You can’t preach the gospel without words any more than you breathe without air.”

People cannot understand the Gospel by osmosis, or just by how you live your life. They can’t understand the problem of sin and the work of salvation and reconciliation God accomplished through Christ without it being told by use of words. That’s why Paul’s strategy for making disciples and presenting those disciples as mature followers of Jesus before God included:

• • Telling others about Christ.
  • Warning everyone.
  • And teaching everyone.

Those are the things Paul did to accomplish his mission of making disciples who would grow to maturity in Christ.

THE “HOW”
Paul tells us it was this goal of presenting everyone to God as mature in Christ that drove him to work so hard at this task:

“That’s why I work and struggle so hard …” Colossians 1:29.

Paul knew he had to pour himself into this work, but he also knew that would never be enough. While he worked and struggled to accomplish his mission, he didn’t rely on his own efforts. The real “how” of his ministry is also given to us here:

“… with all the wisdom God has given us …” Colossians 1:28.

“… depending on Christ’s mighty power that works within me,” Colossians 1:29b.

God uses us to proclaim the Gospel message, but the outcome depends on the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit. Paul didn’t rely on his human effort, but on God’s wisdom, and the power of Christ working in him.

CONCLUSION
In Matthew 28:18-20, we see Jesus commission His church to go make disciples, and teach all that He commanded. How do you do that?

In 2 Corinthians 5:18-20, we see that every Christian is appointed by God to be ambassadors for Christ who are given the ministry of reconciliation and the tool of the Gospel message. How do you carry out a ministry of reconciliation?

It seems like Paul had worked out answers to those questions, formulating a concise mission statement with an effective ministry strategy. It might be one you want to adopt for your own life as a disciple of Jesus, unless you have a better one …

Scotty