The three elements of the C3 Vision Triangle are Contents, Context and Containers. Last week we noted that:
Contents is the most non-negotiable of the three vision elements, the top “point” of the triangle. Contents are biblical, theological and doctrinal and are at the heart of our Christian beliefs. Therefore, they are non-negotiable.
Visually think of today’s element, Context, as the lower left point of our equilateral triangle. Context refers to the various people out in the communities around a given church that this church has identified as its primary mission field. The church’s vision, grounded in the Great Commission, is to go and make disciples. Of whom? We are go and make disciples among lost people in our communities – our ministry Context.
The objective of a Great Commission church is to deliver the Contents of our faith to our Context, making the gospel crystal clear so that the individuals of our Context will have the opportunity to respond to the call of Christ. We extend the outward call, the Holy Spirit extends the inward call, and when those two calls connect, conversion takes place and a new kingdom citizen is added to the family of God.
In short, the strategic development of a church should center on its commitment to delivering this outward call to every lost man, women and child of the ministry context. The Holy Spirit will surely take care of His end. Step one is to identify the geographic and demographic “targets” of our Great Commission ministry. Evangelism will not happen by accident or through an assumption that our church folks will learn more and more Bible and allow that knowledge to spill over to a lost community. Nice idea – but functionally unsound, resulting in the failure of most churches to reach out and evangelize.
With geography and demography nailed down, strategy then shifts to the How-To’s. How do we get the gospel within earshot of lost people? These How-To’s will vary from church to church, so there is no way to prescribe a one-size-fits-all strategy for every church to follow. Know your context and that will inform your strategy.
One special note: I’m often asked about diversity. One of the trends of the day is for churches to embrace diversity and to try to break down barriers and build bridges in an attempt to reach people on the outside of the church who are different from people on the inside of the church. Here’s how I see it. If your community is diverse, that diversity should be reflected in your congregation.
Know going in that things inside your church will likely need to change. To reach across demographic divides, you will have to go much further than simply saying that folks that are different from the congregational makeup are welcomed. You’ll have to consider whom you bring on staff, whom you mobilize, equip and empower for leadership, what style adjustments to worship will be needed, etc., etc., etc.
In other words, for a homogeneous congregation to become diverse, it must die to itself and give itself wholeheartedly to such an endeavor. If you’re not ready for that, you might need to rethink your engagement with this trend toward diversity. You might begin by making disciples of those who are more or less like you. That would be a wonderful first step as, even then, you will need to learn how to be incarnational.
