MINISTRY PHILOSOPHY | MISSION STATEMENT
What kind of church is Christ Community Church? This question is often asked when people want to inquire about CCC. Some people prefer the convenience of defining a church by its denominational affiliation. Questioning a church’s affiliation is certainly a fair inquiry. However, we must go deeper. Identity based solely with a denomination is, at best, incomplete.
One of the ways a church can define its direction is through an accurate mission statement. By accurate, we mean that the mission statement is consistent with biblical truth and unique to the church it represents. Every church, whether it knows it or not, has a mission statement. For some churches, their mission statement may truly be to compete with other churches or to "always do things like we have in the past."
If a church is going to remain healthy, it must know where it is going and how it is going to get there. An accurate mission statement can help determine the direction of a church and properly identify a local body. The mission statement of Christ Community Church is:
“A Christ-dependent community equipping people to impact their world”
Our mission statement addresses the source of our strength being Christ and the purpose of our activity being “equipping” and having “impact”. How we define impact can be noted below in our discussion on “objectives.” Impacting our world implies that we are to be culturally sensitive, just as any missionary strives for as they minister in a foreign culture. The same cultural sensitivity applies when we minister in the American culture. We are to be creative as we communicate the gospel where God puts us. Our mission statement also addresses both motive and behavior. Organization and organism must both be addressed.
To understand more fully the meaning of our mission statement, let us break it down. What does it mean to be a Christ-dependent people? (Gal. 2:20-21)
Grace-motivated vs. legalism/obligation – We want to be a church that cares about who and what motivates us. Grace is to permeate our efforts. Grace is contrary to us feeling obligated to the religious establishment with it’s list of cultural no-no’s. We are motivated out of appreciation for what God has done in our hearts.
Process oriented vs. results oriented- To be Christ dependent means we care more about how we do things, the process by which we operate, than we do the results. God looks on our hearts, and we want our hearts to be as sincere as possible in our efforts. We want Christ to permeate all that is done as we seek Him and labor in light of His pleasure. We believe God will reward the faithful servant who depends upon Him even though the external, measurable results may fall short.
Biblical life teaching vs. party allegiance- Being Christ dependent means we teach as Jesus taught. Christ did not care about being accepted by any particular group, particularly the religious establishment. His words were fresh and intended for life change, not theological texts to pick at. Jesus today wouldn’t much care about whether He fit as a Reformed theologian or Pentecostal or Baptist or pre-millennial or post-millennial. He spoke about spiritual reality with the goal of life change, not a man-made system used to categorize and segment the body.
“A Christ-dependent community” - What does it mean to be a community? (I Cor 12)
Participatory vs. staff-run- The body of Christ is made of up gifted people, each one of us playing a part. Paul wrote in I Corinthians 12 that all parts are important. All parts must be functioning members. Unfortunately, many churches become top heavy with staff doing all the heavy lifting. There is nothing wrong with staff, but staff must train others to do the ministry. So, you can’t sing or teach or lead a meeting? The body of Christ has a place for you. Every person, every gift offered in humble service benefits the body. The participation of all members of the body of Christ is critical to its health.
Small groups vs. anonymity - As a community, we need to be connected with one another. If we are not relating, we are not connecting. Relationships take place better in small groups than in a large worship service. What is real community if it is not sharing our lives, praying for one another, and being with one another?
Ownership vs. consumer- When we are connected, when we play a part in our community, we take ownership. Not ownership in the sense of possession, but in the sense of having a stake in the outcome. We will be responsible for tackling issues. We will be vigilant about good spiritual health. We can easily get sucked into the typical mentality where the church exists to provide the necessary programs to keep us happy. Church is not a spiritual mall where we go and consume the goods at our leisure. Church is a community of real live people who find life in interaction, in being, in giving.
“A Christ-dependent community equipping people” What does it mean to equip people? (Eph 4:11-16)
Leadership community vs. board management/micro-managing-The best way to equip is to allow people to become part of the process of decision-making. While we have elders, the elders make a small amount of the decisions. Ministry leaders largely oversee the day-to-day ministries. Our leaders are comprised of men and women who meet on a regular basis to discuss strategy and pray together. Ministry leaders are given the authority and responsibility for their ministries.
People/character centered vs. task centered – The best resource we have in this church are the people in it. In order for a church to be healthy, we must value people and see their growth and character development as more important than the accomplishment of a task. Failure is seen as a part of the learning process as long as people are open and willing to learn. The organization or programs must serve the organism of people and not visa versa.
“A Christ dependent community equipping people to impact” (John 15:1-17, John 17)
How do we define impact? We don’t define impact by mere numbers and results because these things can take place even in unhealthy churches where Christ is not the true source. Let us consider a paradigm far more consistent with the life of Jesus.
Love expressed vs. numbers- Let us define success in terms of relationships- connecting with hurting people. Counting converts like a notch on a belt is not the whole story. We must be a church with a greater concern for the value of each individual, no matter the color, background, or issues they face.
Faithfulness vs. results- A Christ-dependent community will be far more concerned about their own faithfulness and willingness to endure under pressure than they are with how many people show up for an event. God rewards faithfulness, and over and over again we are encouraged to endure, be patient, and be steadfast. Yet in our market-driven society we are geared to do whatever increases the bottom line and provides us comfort.
Community involvement vs. political arm twisting- Some Christians do the cause of Christ far more harm than good by trying to throw their weight around to achieve a desired goal in society, whether it is to do battle with pornographers, the homosexual community, or abortion activists. Let us be the kind of church where we involve ourselves personally with those the religious establishment many times appear to fight. Let us assist the AID’s victims with care and begin to lovingly address those who suffer with compassion. Let us be there for a girl who is pregnant, offering services to help her so that options are available. Let us talk about sex in the church and help those entrapped in pornography and say, “I have been there; here is how I dealt with it.” Let us be known as the church that is involved in the community, not the church with the bullhorns and placards.
“A Christ-dependent community equipping people to impact their world” What do we mean by your world? (Rom 12:1-2, Col. 3:1-4)
Holistic mission vs. vocational calling- Every one of us has a mission. Every one of us lives in a neighborhood in a particular part of the world. We have jobs and friends. The point is that we have opportunities each day to live out the life of Christ and impact others around us. We don’t have to wait for a special calling or necessarily go to a special part of the world for God to use us. We have people in our front yard who need the touch of grace in their lives. It is not about a special place or a special time for those who are specially gifted. It is about every person who calls himself or herself a Christian being like Christ where they are.
We envision a movement, not a program. Such a movement consists of people who are willing to take risks. Who are willing to lay their lives on the line to see the mission come to fruition? We will fall. There will be failures along the way. But we will prevail because we are always changing, learning, and never thinking we have “church” down pat. We will endure, together, committed to seeing something so real and authentic that tasting the sour flavor of disappointment will not deter us from experiencing deep refreshing tastes of Christ. That taste is manifested in a community of authentic, real, broken, committed, loving, grace-filled, struggling, heaven-bound believers.
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