When a church member, ministry, department, community group, or campus has an idea for a new project, how should a pastor decide whether or not to take it on?

Rely on the Holy Spirit

For starters, we must rely heavily on the wisdom and guidance of the Holy Spirit and possess a clear understanding of our God-given mission:

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age (Matt. 28:19–20).

At Mars Hill Church we are working to make disciples and plant churches in order to fulfill the Great Commission of Jesus—as well as his prophecy in Acts 1:9, “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Separate Good Ideas From Bad Ones

Theology and mission (the primary filters for any proposal) are found in the Bible. When it comes to implementation and methods, however, God gives us as leaders a lot of freedom to establish best practices and separate the good ideas from the bad.

As part of this decision-making process I filter proposals through this framework:

In order for a proposed idea to fly:

• The mission must align with our biblical mandate.
• The vision must be clear, compelling, and theologically sound.
• Leadership must be identified to lead, promote, and communicate the vision.
• A reasonable strategy must be designed that addresses how the vision will be accomplished.
• Good management of the resources (time, money, people) must be apparent to guide the project to completion.

Strong projects (and organizations, for that matter) give adequate attention to each of these five key ingredients. A proposal worth implementing addresses each one.

Missional Ecclesiology

Re:Train professor Gregg Allison explains the missional church in his blog series on Missional Ecclesiology.