Nothing significant will happen among the unreached without greater collaboration among Christian leaders, churches, and mission organizations.
- Some tasks are simply too big for any one organization, no matter how well-run or well-resourced they may be.
These efforts require a network of likeminded groups, all working from their respective strengths in pursuit of a common goal.
- Why and when are networks needed?
Networks are needed when organizations go after a God-sized goal that is larger than any one of them, but which aligns with the purpose of each one.
It’s the purpose that keeps them moving in the same direction, working together toward that shared goal. What’s especially important is that the purpose is clear and compelling. It must be clear so each agency or person knows what they can contribute and potentially gain by participating.
Has God given you a dream to achieve? A vision to fulfill? A cause to conquer? A burden for breakthrough in some area of ministry?
- Take a look around
You are likely to find many others who share the same passion. Time and time again, we have seen that the dreams stirring in one person’s heart are the same dreams stirring in another person’s heart. That is what missional partnerships are all about.
Whether your ministry context is a neighborhood or a nation, mission partnerships are born when the vision is too big, too complex, or requires resources too great for any individual or single ministry.
Vision is the driving force that shapes a partnership. Partnerships are not first and foremost about structure, or money, or theological statements. Partnerships are first and foremost about vision.
If we really start listening and looking around, we often find that multiple people have exactly the same vision, at the same time, in the same place.
There are, of course, times when God gives a special vision to a single individual for a unique purpose. But seeing how God works through His people in the world, it is very likely that whatever vision you have is meant to be shared by others.
- Clouds, Rain, Rivers
- It starts out in the clouds. The clouds represent the vision in the heart and mind of God. The vision is God’s vision. God was on mission in the world long before us.
- Then comes the rain. This represents the way that God distributes the vision to individuals … a little here … a little there. Different people, in different places, at different times, come to have an individual vision for something God wants to do. Sometimes it is crystal clear. Sometimes it is only a sense or leading
- Then comes the river. This represents the way the individual visions are coalesced into a collective
vision. Rivers are powerful and movement of water can cut the “hard” rock into deep canyons.
So, the next time you reflect on what God is calling you to do, look at the clouds, the rain, and the rivers and consider how might God also be calling others to the same big vision.
Is there anything we might do better together than on your own?
