A strategy is simply a plan. On Thanksgiving my mission was delicious smoked turkey so I wrote out a strategy for how I would accomplish my mission.
- To avoid dry, flavorless turkey I planned to brine my turkeys. Brining adds moisture and flavor to the meat.
- To avoid rubbery skin (common when you smoke poultry) I planned to finish my turkeys off in the oven at a much higher temperature.
- To avoid overcooking I planned to take the turkeys out of the oven at 161 degrees. Even after you remove a turkey from the oven the internal temperature continues to rise another four degrees, and turkeys are done when the white meat is at 165 degrees.
- To avoid losing the flavorful juices I planned to avoid cutting the turkeys for at least 30 minutes once they came out of the oven. If you started cutting the turkeys right away all the tasty juices run right out of the meat.
As you read the book of Acts you quickly see that the apostle Paul had a strategy, a plan, for making disciples.
- He would pick a destination.
- He would find the Jewish synagogue.
- He would preach Jesus as God’s promised Messiah.
- From the converts he would establish a Christian church.
- He would stay awhile teaching the new converts.
- He would appoint elders to pastor the church.
- He would head to his next destination and do it all over again.
Every church needs a strategy, a plan, for how to fulfill Jesus’ mission of making disciples. Jesus gave us the mission in Matthew 28:19-20 when he said “…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…” There are three things here:
- Jesus said make disciples (“go and make disciples”). That is: help people get saved.
- Jesus said mark disciples (“baptizing them”). That is: help people be marked as followers of Jesus through water baptism.
- Jesus said mature disciples (“teaching them”). That is: help people grow spiritually.
The mission is the same for every church. What changes from church to church is the strategy (how they go about accomplishing the mission). Here’s how we do it at New Day.
- We make disciples disciples primarily through our Sunday services.
- We mark disciples through regularly scheduled water baptisms.
- We mature disciples primarily through New Day University.