Stronger in Mission: Lessons from a Start-up

I enjoy business startups. Something about those early days just fits my wiring. I like getting things moving, solving problems on the fly, and watching an idea come to life. Once it’s off the ground and running, I tend to start looking for the next challenge. I think I’m good at launching the rocket, but the details that come with steering the ship can be tough to navigate.

I bring that leadership style into my role as a pastor. I am aware that the church is supposed to move. It’s built for a mission and should actually accomplish something. But church success is defined as reaching people, not just running programs. One is the business of the church, the other is the busyness that only looks like “church.” 

Over the years, I’ve learned a lot by studying mission success—both in business and in ministry. One of the clearest case studies comes from the church at Ephesus. It started like a can’t-miss startup: full of vision, courage, and results that changed an entire continent. But somewhere along the way, that strong beginning lost its clarity of mission. They kept the structure, but they lost the spark. That’s where the leadership lesson starts.

The Ephesus Startup

Most people wouldn’t think of the church at Ephesus as a startup—but that’s precisely what it was. It began with a few folks who barely understood the Gospel, in a city packed with competing ideas and religions. Paul was the founder, and he stayed there longer than anywhere else—longer than Corinth, Philippi, or Thessalonica. But what started small grew fast. A handful of people turned into a thriving movement.

When the synagogue crowd pushed back, Paul didn’t waste time trying to out-argue them. He made a smart move. He rented a place called the Hall of Tyrannus and started teaching there every day. It was the first-century version of moving from a back room to a public platform—kind of like taking your message from a local meeting to social media.

That one decision opened doors. It put him in front of everyday thinkers, business people, and travelers passing through one of the empire’s busiest cities. Acts 19 says he taught there for two years, and before long, “all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord.”

Ephesus didn’t just grow in size—it grew in strength. Newborn Christians listened closely as Paul reasoned against the philosophies of his time. That created a solid foundation, a clear mission, and real momentum. Ephesus had everything a good startup needs: vision, creativity, and a mission that changed lives.

Losing the Mission

But one day, while reading Revelation 2, I paused. Jesus had a message for that very same church in Ephesus—the one Paul started, the one that had once shaken a continent. And it hit me: somewhere along the line, they had lost their mission. Let me explain.

You’ve probably heard the words Jesus told Ephesus before: “You have left your first love.” Now, this wasn’t a lazy church. They stayed busy, disciplined, and doctrinally sharp. From the outside, everything looked solid. But something underneath had shifted.

Most people assume that leaving their “first love” means their love for Jesus has grown cold, or that their love for one another has faded. But when you read those words in light of the church’s history, it becomes clear that’s not the issue. The Ephesians hadn’t stopped believing—they’d stopped doing. The fire that once sent them out into the Hall of Tyrannus to reach their city had cooled into a guarded kind of faith. They still held the truth, they just weren’t carrying it anywhere.

Jesus had already told the church what its mission was: 

Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19–20, NLT).

Notice the movement in that command—go out and bring in. The mission starts outside the walls, but it naturally leads to bringing people into a structured system. You can’t baptize and teach without some kind of organization, training, and leadership in place. That’s healthy. But when a church focuses only on internal structure, it strays from its mission.

And that’s exactly what had happened in Ephesus. The programs were running. The meetings were happening. The teaching was accurate. Everything looked alive. But the mission was missing.

When Mission Turns Into Maintenance

That kind of drift doesn’t just happen in churches. It happens in businesses, organizations, and even families. Anything that starts with purpose can end up running on autopilot if it stops checking its compass.

I once read something from leadership scholar Edgar Schein that put this into words. He explained that every organization has two sets of values—what it says it believes, and what it actually believes. The real beliefs aren’t written on the website or printed on the wall. They’re revealed by what the organization rewards and what it punishes.

In fact, if you want to know the actual values of any organization, look at what it rewards and what it punishes. A company can claim to value teamwork, but if only the top salesman gets recognized, the real value is competition. A church can say it values outreach, but if all the publicity and budget go to programs that serve insiders, the real mission has turned inward. In both cases, the mission statement doesn’t change—but the results certainly do.

Schein called this the difference between espoused values and enacted values. It’s the same principle Jesus was addressing in Ephesus. They still said all the right things, but their actions told a different story. They rewarded the purity of their doctrinal flame, but they kept it dimmed inside the walls of the church.

Stronger in Mission

The great news for the church at Ephesus was that Jesus didn’t condemn them. He challenged them. He told them to repent of drift and return to doing the things that first set them on fire. That’s good news for every Christian leader, because it means there’s always a way back to purpose.

Each of us ought to have a mission statement—not just for our business, but for our life and home. And maybe it’s time to ask a few hard questions. 

• What do I reward in my family, and what do I punish? 
• What does my church reward and punish? 
• And what about my business? 

Those answers reveal our real values, no matter what’s printed on paper or hung on the wall.

It’s easy to grow comfortable and call it success. But if we’re off mission, then it’s time for a remodel—not just of systems, but of our hearts. The good news is that Jesus still calls leaders to remember, repent, and return. And when we do, the flame of the mission will burn bright again.