Mission vs. Model. Again
Who We Are And What We Do
The biggest distraction around building strong churches that can meet this moment is our inability to distinguish between the Mission and the Model. I’m planning a whole lot of entries this summer to move the Disrupt Church project forward, but without understanding this, nothing else will make sense.
The mission is why we exist. It’s our raison d’etre. It’s at the very core of who we are.
Models are all the ways we get where we’re going. It’s how we live into our mission. It’s what we do.
So, Who We Are vs. What We Do.
Imagine this for yourself. Maybe you’re a teacher. Is being a teacher the very core of why you exist? Or, is teaching one of the ways you live out of your values and, if you lost your job or retired, etc., you’d still be who you are. You might have to adjust, but your reason for living hasn’t ended. Same is true no matter what you do. Who you are is enhanced, supported, maybe even fulfilled because of what you do (from cashier to dog groomer, from parent to accountant), but the two are distinct.
The example I use often is the one about the drilling company. (If you’ve heard this one a hundred times, scroll on down.) A company produced drill bits. They found a revolutionary way to do this and their drill bits were really the best and they grew into a strong and stable company. But, at some point, others found ways to make drill bits that were at least as good, and the company was losing money. They brought in a new CEO who held a company-wide meeting. He started with the question, “Why do we exist?” to which the people said “To make drill bits.” “No,” said the CEO, “We exist to make holes. We do that by producing drill bits. We’ve gotten so committed to the drill bits, we’ve forgotten what we’re really here to do.” With that, the company started rethinking everything, focusing on the primary question of “How do we make better holes?” If I remember correctly, that company designed something related to laser drilling and transformed the industry, again.
My point is this: before we do anything else, we have to know why we exist.
Do you exist so that people can light candles of joys and sorrows on Sundays at 10:30? If so, there’s no changing that. Or, do you exist to build spiritual communities of joy and resistance grounded in progressive values of radical inclusion? If so, maybe you can rethink things like those candles – or whatever else you’re so attached to, you can’t possibly meet this moment.
Before anything else, know your mission. It’s amazing to me how difficult it is for people to name this for their churches. They read mission statements, which inevitably say nothing. They boil it down to “we’re here to help people” which always leaves me scratching my head. (I mean…so is the United Nations and customer service at the IRS, but I’d suggest we do, in fact, differ from them both.)
If you’re working with a partner or starting a Disrupt Church in your congregation, start here. Why do you exist? Everything else is optional.