#1 The Change in Distance and Direction = Desired Destination
When I began to work towards my unrestricted pilot’s license, the main task at hand shifted from basic management of the aircraft to navigating by a method known as dead reckoning. Although there were a number of basic short and long wave radio beacons, the method involved a set of coordinates on a map and some calculations based on airspeed and the compass. In order to confirm our calculations, we would establish way-points. These would usually be large towns or unmistakable landmarks. As a result, our track would usually end up looking like a series of doglegs rather than one straight line.
I need to point out that this was before the introduction of GPS. We were not permitted to use GPS as a primary navigation aid. We would have our flight details carefully drawn on an aeronautical chart. We would be keeping a close eye on features on the ground that would tell us we were on or off track. In those days we used to be required to submit a flight plan which would include mandatory reporting and involve something we called SAR-WATCH. If an aircraft failed a mandatory report within a certain parameter, the Aviation Authority would begin Search And Rescue (SAR) procedures. The task for cross country pilots would be to make sure the dead reckoning calculations in the air were consistent with what we saw on the ground: the right direction and the right progressed distance.
The same phenomenon is true of Christian purpose and ministry. One of the major contributions Jesus made to the idea of human purpose was to reveal the fact that God had been working through the nation of Israel to pre-empt and prepare for his coming. The law and the prophets consistently testified to this. The fact that Jesus could give a Scripture overview about his life, death and resurrection on the way to Emmaus (Luke 24) and the fact that the New Testament refers to the Old Testament over 800 times is further testimony. But Jesus was also the beginning of a new era, often referred to as the “last days.”
Jesus speaks of a time when God will bring this era to its consummation or final judgment. This season also has its purpose in the plan of God. As we are told, the kingdom of God would continue to advance until God has brought all things “under the feet of Jesus” (Ephesians 1:22). We are also told in the book of Revelation about what things will be like in the end of time: “Look, God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people and God himself will dwell with them and be their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. He who was seated upon the throne said, “I am making everything new” (Revelation 21:3-5).
In other words, we have a destination, a set of coordinates made known by God. The rule of Jesus fully come. We don’t have to wait for that time to gain experience of it, Jesus said the kingdom of God was advancing through his ministry and would continue. So we can measure any set of circumstances by measuring distance: “To what extent has the kingdom of God come in this situation?” “Do we see more of the kingdom today than we did last year?” The advance of the kingdom can only be measured by Christ-likeness and Christ-likeness can only be measured by the rule of Jesus happening in the lives of those who have chosen to serve him. This metric has to do with the church.
We also have direction, our coordinates. Those coordinates have to do with the task Jesus gave to the church. That task was to see that the gospel of the kingdom was proclaimed to every place where people lived and to every different people group (Matthew 24:14 but there are at least six occasions where this command is given in the gospels and Acts). This metric has to do with communities. We can measure the target everywhere. It represents the population in a location in a given generation. Currently there are approximately 460,000 people in Canberra where I live. Even generous estimates would say that the number of people who have not experienced the gospel would be in excess of 400,000. So we can measure the progress of the church by the growth in the percentage of those 400K who get to hear the gospel, say in a calendar year.
There will be no progress if we don’t see change in the degree to which the kingdom of God is being lived by the church. Nor will there be progress if the number of lost people who get to experience the gospel has increased.
I don’t know of any people anywhere who are courageous enough to measure their progress by these two metrics. Instead, we have opted for a cyclic pattern of doing the same things over and over again, things that produce almost no change to the advance of the kingdom and certainly have no capacity to impact the masses of lost people who live around every church building and meeting place.
I would love to partner with the people who are willing to attempt a simple scorecard, so we can celebrate progress and weep and repent at the lack of it.