16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
—The words of the Apostle Matthew from Matthew 28:16-20
“Missional” has become one of the primary buzzwords used by evangelicals in the churches of North America. Different writers offer various definitions. If you happen to belong to a particular church, or a denomination, that has begun to use the term “missional” as a key term in documents and in conversation, you should click here to read an extremely insightful, helpful, and detailed series of blog posts by Ed Stetzer. If you are not familiar with Dr. Stetzer and LifeWay Research, you should read about him by clicking here. Dr. Ed Stetzer plays a very key role in providing information that helps shape the thinking of tens of thousands of believers regarding the role of the church in our current society.
The Scripture passage at the beginning of this blog post, often called “The Great Commission,” gives us marching orders directly for our Lord Jesus Christ. He has stated very clearly what His mission—and, thus, our mission—must accomplish.
In this blog post, I want to turn a spotlight on the global aspect of the missional church by sharing with you a quotation from pages 81 and 82 of K. P. Yohannan’s book, The Coming Revolution in World Missions:
Is missions an option—especially for super-wealthy countries like America? The biblical answer is clear. Every Christian in America has some minimal responsibility to get involved in helping the poor brethren in the church in other countries.
God has not given this super-abundance of blessings to American and Canadian Christians so that we only can sit back and enjoy the luxuries of this society—or even in spiritual terms, so that we can gorge ourselves on books, teaching cassettes and deeper-life conferences. He has left us on this earth to be stewards of these spiritual and material blessings. God wants us to become experts on how to share with others.
Believers have a date with destiny. They are to be servants to the expanding churches and movement of God around the world. We need to gain a sense of trusteeship, learning to administer our wealth to accomplish the purposes of God.
What then is the bottom line? God is calling us as Christians to alter our life-styles. We must find ways to give up the non-essentials of our lives so that we can better invest our wealth in the kingdom of God.
To start, I challenge believers to lay aside at least one dollar a day to support a native missionary in the Third World. This, of course, should be over and above our present commitments to the local church and other ministries.
I do not ask Christians to redirect their giving away from other ministries for native missions—but to expand their giving over arid above current levels. Most people can do this.
For many North American and Western European believers—millions of them—this can be accomplished easily simply by giving up cookies, cakes, sweets, coffee, and other beverages. Many of these junk foods harm our bodies anyway, and anyone can save enough in this way to sponsor one or even two missionaries a month.
Many are going beyond this and, without affecting health or happiness, are able to sponsor several missionaries every month.
Of course, there are many other ways to get involved. Some cannot give more financially, but they can invest time in prayer and serve as volunteer coordinators to help recruit more sponsors. And a few ware called to go overseas to become involved experientially.
The single most important hindrance to world evangelization right now is the lack of total involvement by the body of Christ. I am convinced there are enough, American and Canadian sponsors to support all the native missionaries needed to evangelize the Third World.
In sharing this quotation from the President of the missions organization Gospel for Asia, I hoped to stir your thinking. As a believer in the life-transforming power of the Lord Jesus Christ, how have you chosen to relate to The Great Commission? What efforts have you made toward spreading the Gospel in your immediate sphere of influence, in your city, state, nation, and throughout the world? Each of us has a responsibility to obediently follow the leading of our Lord. There is much more that needs to be done. There is much more we need to do.
Will you pray with me?
Thank You, God, for loving us. Thank You for sending Jesus to be our Savior. Thank You for sending us Your Holy Spirit to dwell within us.
We ask You to open our eyes to the fields ready for harvest. Help us enflesh what it means to be part of Your missional church. Guide us to examine our lifestyles to make certain we have used all the resources You have so graciously given us in the best possible way to further Your Kingdom.
Please make us sensitive to the needs of Your servants who represent us around the world. Lead us, by the power of Your indwelling Holy Spirit, to respond to the needs we see around us.
Thank You for the honor and privilege of serving You—for You are our Loving Father and our God. And, thank You for hearing our prayer in and through the precious Name of Your Son, our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
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