We're on a Mission from God

Jesus traveled through all the towns and villages of that area, teaching in the synagogues and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom. And he healed every kind of disease and illness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. He said to his disciples, “The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields” (Matthew 9:35-38) 

Jesus never intended for his church to be a "Come and see what we can do" kind of Sunday gathering.  It was always his intention for the church to be a "Go and heal the hurting" kind of body.

A little more than a hundred years ago many churches in North American began to send missionaries to Africa, China, South America, and to the ends of the earth to announce the good news of the Kingdom.  My wife and I served as missionaries in Nigeria in the 80's and then again more recently.  What a blessing!  We will savor those experiences for the rest of our days.

Since our time in Africa, however, our understanding of what it means to be a "Missionary" has changed a bit. We used to think a missionary was someone sent by the church into a foreign land. We now understand that everyone who follows Jesus is a missionary. We are ALL on a mission from God!

Consider this: the Southern Baptists send out the largest number of traditional missionaries of any denomination in North America: 5200. This sounds impressive until you do the math and realize that 5200 missionaries out of 15.7 million Southern Baptists is only one missionary for every 3000 members.  And that is considerably more than other denominations.  The average for other North American denominations is one missionary for every 5000 members.  

If only one out of every 5000 church members sees themselves as a missionary, it is easy to understand why so many churches are on life support.  We are all on a mission from God!

If God calls you to go to Africa, you'd better go.  But most of us are called to go to those who live much closer to home.  Our mission field isn't in some remote, exotic land, but across the street, around the corner, down the block. Jesus saw every town and village he passed through as a mission field in need of workers.

We are on a mission from God!  Here's what we're called to do:

• Go to our neighbors
• Show them how much God loves them
• Share the good news of the Kingdom with them
• Heal their hurts, hold their hands
• Support the helpless, the confused, the broken
• Ask God to send others to help with the mission