Connecting Imago Dei with Missio Dei while Avoiding Pitfalls

In the last post, we started asking ourselves: What if our strategy around mission trips focused as much on the participants’ spiritual health as on our destination? Could we even go as far as to use Short Term Mission Trips as an internal evangelism tool for our organization?

I’ve been calling this the Mission-Centric Engagement Strategy (MCES)… mainly because it sounds official and all things need an acronym.

Before we dive into an overview of the concepts behind this, I want to acknowledge a legitimate concern around this concept that has been raised. One fear I’ve heard is that, while this approach of engaging non-believers might benefit the team members themselves, would it be at the detriment or expense of the local community or partner?

It was such a great conversation that, although there are other concerns we will address in subsequent blogs, I wanted to discuss it here briefly. Ultimately, our goal is to provide healthy serving for a population/people group/partner that lasts beyond the time in which we are in the field. As you are aware, doing this well involves a lot of self-sacrifice and coming alongside the partners that are already in the field and have relationships with the local community.  

Remember this is an intentional strategy for some portion of your trips, not “all” trips or service opportunities. So, how do you choose?

1. First, start with your partner. Select which partner would be a good fit even if you had a mixed team. 

2. Next, include your team leaders from the very beginning and let them know why this trip is a good fit for this type of approach. 

3. Then, train the team well. Since you have folks coming from different backgrounds, make sure that you mention the overall end goal repeatedly (Healthy serving) and provide ways for them to learn this process themselves. We would strongly advocate for a theological basis to Missions (God’s heart for the world) and education on how to live that out well. For example, you can have the team read books like “When Helping Hurts”, or “Toxic Charity”, etc. The benefit goes beyond this trip and in the realm of service altogether, but opens up each participant to how they can enact those principles within their daily lives as well.  

Over the past several years, the strength of certain training programs prompted this entire MCES concept. While a team participant prepares for their trip, they often receive theological teaching, emotional encouragement, leadership development, and other field-readiness training that has a positive impact on their life regardless of their past faith journey. 

If you find yourself doubting the effectiveness of your own training in your organization, we will discuss more ideas in a later blog, but I would challenge you to find one element of your current training program and improve it for next year. Don’t try to change everything at once, but do one small thing incrementally, and you will be amazed at how much that makes a difference in your leaders and teams.

For today, let’s dive into a quick overview of the concepts behind this Mission-Centric Engagement Strategy I’m proposing. 

Why “Mission-Centric?”

As a technology leader, when I start looking at a large project, I often like to challenge myself or my teams to think about the end first. For example:

• What will the user encounter?

• What will they take away from the trip?

• How will we report on this?

• and so forth…

By envisioning the end result, we can often save ourselves effort by not distracting ourselves with many other features; Ideas that won’t actually matter for the end product.  

What I love about missions is that we already know the end of the story and we know its purpose. It is found in Revelation 7:9-10:

“the great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, trip, people, and language” worshiping God.  There has been a lot said on this passage by people way smarter than me, so allow me just two quick thoughts on this… First, this isn’t some mystic vision, but reality.  This is where the story will really start!  Second, the goal is worship. We often misplace that worship here on earth, but in reading this, I recognize that missions are the mechanism to get to the end goal, which is worship in the Kingdom. John Piper once put it this way, “One day, missions will come to an end, but worship will endure forever!”

We acknowledge that missions have never been, nor ever will be, about ourselves. It is always about God and His heart for the world and turning others to worship Him.

So if that is the end… where did it start?  

In the very beginning! We see God’s heart to reach “all people” through his promise to Abraham in Genesis 12:1-3 where He says “and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

Do you know what the Hebrew word is used for ‘all’?  It’s not a trick question… it means “All!”  (it’s “kol” for you Hebrew geeks, pronounced like “coal”, meaning “all, in totality”).  But the point is, there isn’t anyone who ever existed that wasn’t on God’s heart.

So from the very beginning to the end, God’s heart is to reach every tribe, every nation, every language and bless all people through the good news of Jesus Christ.  

That is why we must start from a position where the Mission of God to reach EVERYONE is in the center of everything we do.  

If we are going to achieve lasting impact, we need to engage and equip folks in ways that align with each individual’s purpose and design. My hope is that a Mission-Centered Engagement Strategy can bridge the gap between the Imago Dei (the image of God within us) and the Missio Dei (the mission of God in the world), particularly for engaging children, students, and adults in a church or ministry setting.

The 30,000-Foot View: Connecting Imago Dei with Missio Dei

We are all uniquely created to participate in God’s mission. Each individual, regardless of age, carries a set of interests and skills that are not merely coincidental but are part of a divine design. However, for many, there exists a significant gap between recognizing the image of God within and utilizing this inherent spark in service of a greater mission. As I stated previously, we often misplace this in work, relationships, etc. 

Closing this gap often involves a process of rediscovery and creation where others guide or disciple us to understand, at a foundational level, how we can leverage God-given skills, experiences, trades, and passions in ways that create lasting impact:

• Rediscovery: Every person bears the unique imprint of Imago Dei. By peeling back layers of personal brokenness —often only possible through the transformative love of Jesus Christ and life within a healthy community— we can uncover passions and purposes essential for missional living. The most effective way is often within relationships where we can be reminded of our identity and challenged to live within that reality.
   

• Creation: We are not only created uniquely but also with the capacity to create. It’s the first thing we discover about God in Genesis 1. Recognizing our inherent capability to create, true discipleship becomes a lifelong endeavor of nurturing and utilizing our God-given talents in accordance with His mission. There is a reason you have the passions and skills you have… you are here for a purpose!

Practically, this mission-based identity and awareness usually starts with steps such as self-assessment, both individually and as a team/community, to discover and remove obstacles that obscure our innate abilities and allow us to function within a healthy group. Aside from scripture, tools like personality assessments (DISC, Myers-Briggs, etc), spiritual gifts inventories, Strengths Finder, Emotional Intelligence tests, and leadership mapping can facilitate this exploration, enabling personal growth and skill development.  

By engaging in self-assessment tools and community discussions, individuals can identify and develop their God-given potential, preparing them for both local and global missions. Another result of this discovery is that they often become better equipped to operate within a team.

Mission-Centric Engagement Strategy to Expand Our Reach to All

As we navigate through the post-modern and post-Christian landscape, some of the attraction-based models – where the church uses music, preaching, and programs to draw folks in – are losing steam. There are still effective tools in place, but they could be enhanced by shifting to a mission-centric model that places mission at the core of church activity.

This shift from traditional church engagement methods to a strategy that places mission at the heart of all church activities not only invites church members to participate in missions but also attracts individuals from outside the church who are motivated by a desire to serve and make a difference.

So, could a shift towards missions as a broader term draw more people into God’s family everywhere?

Next Week: We’ll look into the upcoming generations and how they might be wired for missions.

In the meantime… Start with yourself. Ask yourself:

• How has my own identity been shaped by the understanding that I am made in the image of God?

• What skills, talents, passions, experiences, trades, or education have I viewed as just the result of my hard work or circumstances? Could God be shaping me towards a significant impact in the world?