Relationship or Mission?

What is the tie that binds us in the church? What should be our deciding factor when it comes to vision, strategy, or our long term purpose? Among many I know or have served with in ministry, this question boils down to two options or vantage points.

One viewpoint would suggest that our relationships should be our driving force. And to give credit where credit is due, this group is not opposed to mission by any means. In fact, this view point can in many ways champion mission... especially in that there is a focus on doing mission together with those you are close to... those one has a relationship with. This viewpoint is very present tense focused: what does it mean to be the church NOW. All of this makes perfect sense and there is good reasoning, even Biblical support for this perspective.

The other viewpoint (and the one that I am partial to) is that mission should be our driving force. This vantage point suggests that the spreading of the Good News of Jesus surpasses even our relationships. That is not to say that they are in conflict with one another, not by any means. But this ideas suggests that mission, the Great Commission, is why we the church exists. This view of things is very future focused: who will a part of the church THEN? This, too, has Biblical precedent... and for good reason.

Why is one above the other? Well, for one major reason (and a few lesser ones): Our relationships change... Our mission never changes...

Imagine if the early church defined the nature of their existence on who they knew or had relationship with? Would there be a church today if that was their perspective? I doubt it very much. No, instead, mission was the driving force above and beyond relationship. That is why the early church was able to send people, resources, and prayers to and for people they did not know. The people of Macedonia did not know, hang out, grab coffee, disciple, or lead anyone from the church in Jerusalem. Yet still they gave... why? Because there was a prevalent understanding among the early church on mission.

This is the primary difference between the church in Jerusalem and all the churches that followed. One focused on each other and it's own community, that being the church in Jerusalem. The others, from Antioch on, focused on mission... that is to say, those outside of their community. One model is never replicated again in Christendom (Jerusalem) and the other was multiplied over and over again (Antioch). One did not send resources or people regularly, the other did so as it their life depended on it.

Is mission done apart from relationship? Absolutely not! In fact, it was from the mission that relationships developed -- without people, missions cannot be done. Kimme and I came to Baltimore from New Orleans because God had called us there... it was being on mission that drove us here to a people we did not know. Christians from all over (that we had relationship with) gave of their time, resources, and prayer to see that this work was completed... many of these people are not known by Horizonites. Let me speak of a few:

Mrs. Barbara Beck.
She owned one of the first 20 stores that sold Apple Computers back in the early 80s. In fact, of the first 20, hers is the last one standing. What did she do? Well, she initially gave $10,000 to begin a video ministry at the church I was serving in back in 1997. From that came much of the video stuff we now do @ Horizon. It was because of Barbara Beck. Not only that, but she purchased at least one lap top for us, put money down toward another, and in 2000 gave Horizon the old Blue G3 desktop that to this day still produces a lot of our graphic art from Designer [Ted]. At least once a year I give Mrs. Beck a call to say thank you for her gift towards missions, because I know her gift keeps giving. She keeps paying it forward even to this day.

Paul Morrell, Jr.
Paul is the reason at least %25 of the people that come to Horizon (both Owings Mills and Towson) have ever come to visit on Sunday morning. Probably a handful of people know Paul, but for sure very little @ Horizon know his name. He is the artisan behind both versions of our SoulHorizon.com site, and one time Horizon even owned the domain kidhorizon.com to which he created that site as well. Paul gave of his time and also financial resources due to his desire to help a new church plant in Baltimore.

Tad Thompson:
Tad was once the youth minister for a church in Bentonville, Arkansas. I doubt that a handful actually know or remember his name, but he - like the people above and below - is another reason why the people that now attend Horizon, attend. Tad and First Baptist Bentonville's youth brought tremendous resources to help get Horizon off the ground. They first brought about 80 kids and sponsors, loaded up two buses full, and handed out 10,000 Horizon brochures to all of the people in Owings Mills. They gave us the money to produce this piece which Clay so skillfully made and with it, we had over 635 people register for our very first block party. From this event came a couple, Nik and Krem, that were of Indian descent. They had been having dreams about becoming Christians for two weeks. Then, they received a flyer about a block party from a Christian Church. They considered it a sign. They came not knowing what to expect. On the Sunday following, they came to Horizon. In two months, they both received Christ and became Christians and were our first to be baptized. Tad's group came out the following year as well... this time, we managed to produce a 16 page color magazine with incredible launching results. What compelled Tad and this church to do this? Mission.

Two anonymous givers in 2003:
Once during an announcement at Horizon in Owings Mills I asked if anyone knew someone that would like to give Horizon $10,000. There was an outburst of laughter. :) And to this I explained that I wasn't kidding. Horizon was about to risk it and start a new work in Towson, and though we had enough get some things, we were not really able to purchase everything we needed. And on top of all of that, there was an issue of cash flow. Though we had the money for some things, we could not spend it because we needed the cash flow to remain strong in order to avoid bounced checks.

The very following Sunday, there was a gift for the amount of $10,000! After services, I was told by someone in the church (that will remain nameless) that he wanted to meet with me the next day. We met in the food court of the Owings Mills Mall and he proceeded to tell me how when I shared that request two Sundays prior that he really sensed that God was telling him to give the $10,000. I said, "Surely you heard the announcement; we received the check yesterday." He explained that he did, but that didn't release him from that calling. He reached in his pocket and pulled out a check for $10,000! That was $20,000 raised in 8 days, and double what was asked. Later that week, Tad (mentioned above) managed to give the amount needed for us to get a quality projector. SO... every dollar we needed for beginning Towson was raised in 8 days from people of mission. Amazing.

A man named Phil:
I won't mention his full name because he would never want me to share it. Again, only a handful know of him. But even if they don't, they will remember the incredible color magazine that Andrea Battaglia made for Towson's launch. Guess who enabled us to do this? Phil. Not only that, but last year the BCM/D that sends funds towards our salary phased out all of the catalyst church planters, of which I am one. I needed to raise $22,500 -- namely because Horizon was not yet ready to take on that much of a load as they do now. Phil and I met for coffee. He explained that he and his wife had heard of our need, and he said that they wanted to pay the difference. Can you believe it? And frankly this is only a fraction of the ways he and his wife have blessed Horizon... but I am seeing that I am writing a book here. Phil and his wife are people devoted to seeing the mission fulfilled... to seeing people that have yet to hear of the Good News of Jesus have that chance. They give generously.

Over 40,000 churches:
As a Southern Baptist church plant, one thing that many of us do not realize at Horizon is that we are indebted to about 16 million people that attend 40,000 churches. Why? Because these 40,000 churches believe in mission over relationship. They give to the Cooperative Program, which in turn gives resources to missions, training for missionaries, and to equip missionaries all over the world. Together, churches of all sizes -- from 11 people to 15,000 -- are able to be a part of something bigger than themselves: mission. In this endeavor every prayer and every cent is equal, the weak and the strong are equal when it comes to mission. Have we yet to learn what Jesus meant with the widow's mite? I think so...

It was humbling to know and realize when Kimme and I bought our first home in 2000 that we didn't really own it. It was owned by people all over the world that we didn't know that gave so that we might serve here in Maryland.

All of this is why I was so deeply saddened by Horizon's decision to divide resources, divide mission, and go our separate ways. The prevailing understanding at the time was the because we didn't have adequate relationships with one another, we could not share the load together. Instead, we decided to go from "all in" to 6% in. And even now it would seem that this has even changed. Guys... in 5 years Horizon will not be the same. Try even 1 year! The relationships will change. People move. People die. People come and go. And when we are not centered on what our mission is as a church, the relationships that come 5 years from now will not know about the mission that began 6 years ago: to begin a movement of church planting reaching from DC to Boston. Instead, they will have some good hang out time with some friends (which is awesome) but they may never know they are a part of a church meant to reach the NE for Jesus Christ. The people in Boston are waiting on us, they just don't know it yet. Will Horizon get there? I truly hope so! That's what I have labored for and that is what the people above (and many others) have given and prayed for.

I find that my greatest regret in all of our discussion last year about Horizon's future is that I didn't have the wisdom at the time to fully articulate the issue at hand. To be honest, I was a bit distracted at the time with other issues.. but unfortunately the issue was divided into what seemed two categories: relationships or money. And when something is painted like that, who would vote for money over relationship? That would sound extravagant, if that was really what the issues were about. Indeed, the REAL issue was (and is) between relationship and mission. Notice that in every case above about people Horizon didn't know that's impacted them greatly I mention money. Well, that's because each person followed the example of the early church: they sent resources toward people they didn't know to help accomplish the Great Commission. Money is not the focus, Mission is... but it's easy for us to see budgets and get confused about what the real issue is.

Jesus said: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28.18-20

Does it take resources to make disciples? Baptize? To teach? No, it does not... Neither does it take websites, guitars, sound equipment, video projectors, Retros/Luaus, mass mailers, storage space, coffee, doughnuts, bagels, laptops, cameras, rental space, printers, ink, paper, or children's equipment... yet these are things that churches need. Is it any wonder why Paul made such a focus on giving towards missions? He did so because being on mission can provide the means to help a local church spend the time it needs to on building healthy relationships... that is, to make disciples. Missions also means sending the people that will make disciples... And hopefully, following the example given by people they do not know, these new disciples will be part of what God is doing outside their sphere of relationships and help others hear the Good News of Jesus Christ!

Well, I could write about this all day and night. It's what I have been thinking about and praying about both day and night for the past two years.