God's missional plan is the salvation and sanctification of
the world (Eph. 1:9-10). This mission is best achieved when the Body of Christ
operates as a fully functional ecosystem. Christ, is the head of the church, and
believers are being fitted together with an expectation of a harmonious and
interconnected togetherness. Ernest Best describes the way this spiritual
ecosystem should function:
"If one member fails to exercise his gift, that hinders both the growth of the whole and the individual growth of each member (no member can grow apart from the whole). The growth of each member is involved in the growth of the whole and the growth of the whole in the behavior of each member."[1]
Essentially, God’s missional plan is best achieved when we cultivate an ecology in which every member can contribute to the mission, while still retaining their individual identities. Growing churches identify talent, invest in avenues for development and deployment with and eye toward replication. The mission is clear (Eph. 4-13).
[1] In
Stephen D. Lowe and Mary E.
Lowe, Ecologies of Faith in a Digital Age,
(Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2018), 59.
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