By Sean Richards, Director of Mobilization

Every so often, my wife and I sit down and assess our budget. We ask important questions like, “Are we disciplined and faithful with our current budget?” and, “Do we need to make some changes to address current realities?” But the most important question we ask is this: “Does our budget reflect our overall goals and purposes?”

As believers, it is imperative that we assess our own lives, churches, and ministries from time to time. When we look at our spiritual and ministry goals and strategies, are we being disciplined and faithful to reach or adhere to them? Do we need to adjust how we prioritize our time and resources based on current realities? The most important question we need to ask ourselves is this: Do our goals and strategies reflect God’s overall purpose for the Church?

That last question requires us to ground ourselves to God’s overall plan. That grounding refocuses us on the big picture and allows us to be more effective when developing our spiritual and ministry strategies and goals. So, what is the overall plan?

In God’s story, we are living in the part when God is reconciling his image-bearers back to himself. God chose to use those already reconciled to be the message-bearers to those still separated from Him. Jesus specifically gave believers the task to take this message to all peoples throughout the world. This lines up with Jesus’s answer when asked which of the commandments was the greatest: love God and love others. God is glorified by his image-bearers being reconciled to Him. Trying to bring God glory shows our love for Him. When people are reconciled to God, they are set free from sin and death. Sharing the Good News with others also shows our love for them. The Great Commission Jesus gave to believers is in line with the Great Commandment He also gave.

Now, when we assess our goals, strategies, and current direction, do they align with the specific task Jesus gave to Christians, the Great Commission? If we looked at our budgets, schedules, and goals for life and ministry, would the findings clearly reflect the priorities of loving God, loving others, and taking the Gospel to all peoples? If not, it’s high time to make some changes.

One challenge that may arise in prioritizing the Great Commission is figuring out a strategy or direction to go based on where things currently stand. You may be wondering if there is someone or something out there to help. That’s where mobilization comes in.

As the Director of Mobilization for BMA Global, I am a resource that exists to help you personally and organizationally to be more intentional and involved in the Great Commission. “Mobilization” is the act of assisting and facilitating a collective movement toward a common cause. In mobilization there are three ways to increase impact of a movement; focusing the efforts and resources, increasing overall involvement, and coordinating smaller groups with a similar focus to work together as a larger movement.

I’ve been an Arkansan for 20 years now, but I was raised in northern Iowa. That being said, I grew up with snow being a regular part of life so I’ll explain how mobilization can increase the impact of a movement using snowfall as a metaphor.

If a storm drops an inch of snow along its path, there would be no impact for folks where I grew up. However, if somehow all of that snow funneled down to fall on one small town, there would be a substantial loss of life and property. Or, if instead of an inch of snow, the accumulated snow along the path increased to two feet, there would collectively be a similar loss of life and property as the previous example, but the impact would be spread out over the path of the storm. A storm’s impact can be increased if the same volume of snow is focused on a small target. It can also increase the impact by simply increasing the amount of snow on its current path. Either of those scenarios combined with multiple snow storms coming through and hitting the same area within a week would compound the impact with each additional storm that comes through.

Mobilization can increase our Great Commission impact in those same ways: focusing our efforts, increasing our involvement, and coordinating with others who have similar strategies. I desire to be a helpful resource for people, churches, and ministries in the BMAA by assisting them in those three ways to maximize their impact in the Great Commission as they Send, Go, Sustain, and Welcome.Is it time to make some changes to better reflect God’s purposes? Do you want to level up your involvement, focus, or collaboration? I’m here to help, so contact me today at sean@bmaglobal.org.