A 3M By-Product for the Basic Point

The Minnesota-based company 3M produces 55,000 products with its nearly 80,000 employees. Perhaps one of its most well-known products is "Scotch Tape." Scotch tape is wonderfully helpful with its transparent ability and adhesive capacity. Who does not appreciate Scotch Tape, especially at Christmas time?

I would like to recommend a new by-product of CrossPoint Church and I am borrowing the 3M concept in hopes that it will stick. The by-product of CrossPoint needs to be an increasing amount of prayer. A church that does not pray is like a person who does not breath. Furthermore, the more prayer there is in church, the more life there is in a church. CrossPoint is experiencing a significant degree of new life and excitment and I know we want this to stick.

So, I am recommending prayer as a greater by-product of CrossPoint, but I would encourage a 3M approach towards prayer so that the popularity of Jesus sticks. Without a 3M by-product, the popularity of Jesus would be about as long as a failed participant on American Idol.

So, what do I mean by the 3M approach? There needs to be three primary prayer foci for the church - The Members, the Ministries and the Mission. However, we must avoid what many churches do. Many churches are highly committed to the first and second "Ms" - Members and Ministries. Then, what I find, is a very distant, and sometimes non-existent category being the third "M" - the Mission of the church, i.e. to make disciples for Jesus Christ.

What happens when churches have only a 1M or a 2M emphasis upon prayer? The church becomes know for and captivated by its Members or its Ministries. This is evident when prayers for the church focus almost exclusively upon member needs and ministry recruitment. Simultaneously, the popularity of Jesus plummets because he is relegated to a God we use, rather than a God who captivates our hearts.

My recommendation for CrossPoint is for us to focus more exclusively upon the Mission of CrossPoint in our prayer lives. Let us be intentnional about carving out time to pray for the Mission of CrossPoint - to make disciples. Let us take time with our family, during our commute to work, before we go to bed, with our spouse or each night before dinner to pray specifically that God's Spirit would enable us to more effectively make disciples. This needs to be the all-encompassing point of CrossPoint. As we make disciples, Christ will be glorified as He remains center-stage and the central point of CrossPoint.

Thank you in advance for your prayers for our Mission. I look forward to seeing how Christ answers these prayers and changes us in the process. Perhaps when 3M prayers become more the by-product of the current 300+ members of CrossPoint, then maybe thousands more can come to know Christ.

Beams Away!