Lori and I spent the last 5 days (Thursday-Monday) on the road, staying in 3 different states. I officiated a wedding in Ohio, and went to a wake in Iowa. Needless to say, we are worn out and looking forward to a night in our own bed, but the whole time from Ohio to Iowa, and Iowa home, I was thinking: “What am I going to write my blog on?” Reflecting on a text, from a friend, and a post on WhatsApp, I got my answer, “Missions”.
If I’m going to write about missions, I suppose I should give a definition of what it means. For Christians, the term “missions” is “the organized activity of the church to spread the gospel, make disciples, and advance God’s kingdom across cultural, geographic, ethnic, or religious barriers—especially to unreached people groups”.
While that is what the world views missions as, I’m not sure that it’s an entirely accurate definition. Southern Baptist has the North American Mission Board, and most denominations have what they call “Home Missions” and there are no real cultural, geographic, or ethnic barriers in these situations. So, it almost sounds like evangelism. The question then must be asked; What is the difference between “Evangelism” and “Missions”? Assuming that you understand Evangelism as more than just getting people to say the right words, but rather teaching them to obey what Christ taught, the real differences lay in the strategic, organized, planned, and commissioned way to send out people to do this evangelism.
The text conversation and WhatsApp post were both about God giving us the opportunity to engage in some of these mission activities in the near future. The possibility of helping with North American Missions and the ability to go on a foreign mission trip. To involve ourself in either of these opportunities will involve much prayer, sacrifice, and a kingdom minded attitude. Every form of missions includes these aspects, because they take us outside of our comfort zone. The question is, are we even willing to step outside of our comfort zone for God?
Often people view missions as something to throw money at, and leave it for somebody else to do, but that shouldn’t be our attitude. Some of the words of Jesus after the resurrection were…
Matthew 28:19-20
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
He didn’t tell us to finance those who go. He didn’t tell us to just send people on their way and to pray for them. He told us to go. All of us. This is mission work, when we go out, baptizing, and teaching them to observe all that He commands, knowing that He is with us. Obviously, it’s hard for us to teach others if we don’t know it ourselves, so the concept of us learning is implied. That’s why people want to just throw money at missions, because by throwing money at it, they don’t have to go themselves, they don’t have to learn things well enough to teach. That is not what Scripture tells us to do. His final words before His ascension were…
Acts 1:8
8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
That put the responsibility on the believers, to go out and be His witnesses. Locally, regionally and internationally. We are all called to share, Paul puts it this way…
Romans 10:13-14
3 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?
If we want the world to come to Jesus, we have to preach Jesus, it’s that simple. If we choose not to, then doesn’t that put us at fault for the world being in the mess that it’s in?
I’ve always loved it when churches put a sign over their exit door that says “You are now entering the mission field.” Because anybody unsaved around us, is part of the mission field, but technically that is talking about evangelism, rather than missions.
But how do you know that you are not called to bigger mission fields?
Unfortunately, when it comes to real missions, we often find that It’s easier to pass the buck to the “spiritually minded” or “people better suited for it”. We need to realize that, that is not what being a Christian is. We have heard it over and over again… we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. (2 Corinthians 5:20) And as such, that makes it our (every Christian’s) responsibility to share Christ with other, locally, maybe regionally or even the possibility of internationally. Would you say no?
What missions does that people don’t always realize; it shows the community that we are organizing in, that somebody from a distance cared enough about you to invest in you, their time, their labor, even their finances. It shows them that God is bigger than just their situations. It demonstrates the love of God to them. That’s what missions is all about.
I’ve always had a heart to tell people about Jesus, to encourage them to draw closer to God to put their whole focus on God. Even if they were Christians already, just in need of a nudge. That’s been my mission, not commissioned by a church, but I’ve always felt that was what God wanted me to do.
Our trip this weekend was full of such encounters. The wedding that I officiated in Ohio, was due to me talking about Christ, and encouraging a friend that I made on-line playing a computer game (World of Warcraft). To a degree, I viewed that game as a mission field at the time. The WhatsApp post was due to an international connection that I had from a former mission trip to South America.
On the way back from the wake we planned to stop and visited Brian and Stacy, unfortunately, Brian was working so we only got to visit with Stacy, but it was a 3-hour visit. All because of a friendship developed with a very gifted man who was already a Christian, but was not using his giftedness to glorify God to his max ability. All of those situations were part of my mission, but while I like to view them as mission works, it’s more evangelism than missions.
God may be opening the door for some real mission’s work for our little church in the near future, not just evangelistic efforts. Opportunities to affect His kingdom for the better, how we respond could change lives, so we need to be in prayer to know what God’s will is, and that we are willing to be obedient to that will.
Thank you for reading this, as always, I would encourage you to spend time in His Word, in prayer and in the fellowship of other believers. And if you haven’t visited already, I would encourage you to come visit our little church on the hill, it’s worth the drive.
Bro. Jason
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