Who's the Boss - Vision, Part 1

Who's the boss? Who calls the shots? Who decides? Who's in charge? Common questions in almost every arena of life ... even in the church. Different denominations handle those issues in different ways. Since I became Director of Missions of HBA, I have been amused to hear some folks describe my job as being "in charge of 62 churches". Boy, do they have that wrong! And not just from a practical standpoint (as if anyone COULD be in charge of 62 Southern Baptist Churches), but also from a ecclesiological standpoint (I have to throw in a seminary word once in awhile just so you know I went). In other words, it is not just a question of could an individual be in charge of multiple congregations, but also of should an individual be in charge of multiple congregations. To use a lesser known seminary phrase ... that just ain't right! You see, that is not what the association is about. I spent several weeks highlighting the Values statements on the Mission Wall of the HBA Mission Center. For the next few weeks I want to highlight the final poster on the wall ... the one that says Our Vision. Not only do we need values to drive the ministries of the association, we should also have a common vision of what a cooperating congregation looks like. So here is statement #1.

Autonomous congregations that are determining their own course, values, and mission under the direction of the Holy Spirit and submitted to the Lorship of Jesus Christ.

Who gets to tell a local congregation what their mission and ministry should look like? The Director of Missions? The president of the SBC? No and no. The pastor? Afraid not. So who's in charge? Well, let's break the statement down a little: Autonomous - that word means self-governing. In other words, no one outside the local congregation gets to set the agenda. Congregations - that word indicates the church gathered. In other words, no one individual inside the local congregations gets to set the agenda. Determining their own course, values, and mission - that phrase means that this congregation is on a journey of mission and ministry together that is unique to this particular congregation. So that means that they get to do whatever is right in their own eyes, right? Nope. We stopped reading too soon. Under the direction of the Holy Spirit - that phrase means that this unique course, values, and mission will be birthed through much prayer, seeking God, searching the heart of God as revealed in His word, and observing how He is moving in the world. The Spirit of the Living God is the director. And one final phrase ... submitted to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. There's the answer to the original questions. He's the boss. He calls the shots. He decides. He's in charge. So where do the association and the DOM come in? Tell me where God is leading you and then we can talk about how we can assist you in getting there.