On the mission committee I serve on at our church, we are having a lot of intentional dialouge among our committee members right now about "changing the culture" of our church in regard to "missions". I give a lot of credit to the current Chairman of our committee for recognizing the need for a broader definition and understanding of missions and for initiating these discussions.
For a lot of years now, our church has been stuck in the mindset that mission work is something you do in a foreign country. That's not to say that our church has not taken on or participated in local mission projects in the past, but the clear emphasis has been put on "international" missions. Local or even regional needs have always been given at least an implied second tier status with the exception of just a select few local charities.
A perfect example would be our church's participation in the Operation Christmas Child program. This program has been a major emphasis in our church during the Christmas season for a number of years, and rightly so. Operation Christmas Child is a very worthwhile organization that does great work. But every year, running concurently with Operation Christmas Child, which focuses on providing Christmas gifts to underprivileged children in foreign countries, has been Hood County Christmas for Children, which does essentially the same thing for our local underprivileged kids right here in our own county.
The response of our church family to the program aiding children in other countries has always been exceptional. By contrast, the response to the charity helping local children is always much more tepid. There just has never been the enthusiasm for helping the "local" children as there has been for helping the foreign children. And please, don't think I'm playing an "us" versus "them" card, because I'm absolutely not. I believe with all my heart that we have equal responsibility to be the Body of Christ in Africa or China as we do right here in Granbury, Texas, USA. What I'm doing is trying to illustrate an apparent disconnect in our missions mindset.
In the account of the birth of the Christian church found in the book of Acts, Luke spells out for us a very clear, concise and methodical approach to missions. In Acts 1:8, Luke, under divine inspiration of the Holy Spirit writes, "and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." As my good friend Tillie Burgin from Mission Arlington/Mission Metroplex says, mission work is not something that's only done "over there". Sometimes I feel like there's almost an unwritten and unstated view that our efforts are missional only if those efforts are being done at least fifty miles from our home.
How contrary to the charge given to us in Acts 1:8 where we are clearly told to begin our mission work literally in our own home, then on our own street, and in our own community...our Jerusalem...and then expand those efforts out into a broader region around us, like our state...or our Judea. At that point, we can expand those efforts out to an even broader area around us, like our nation...or our Samaria. Finally, once we are fulfilling our charge to be missional in those areas closest to us, we then expand onto the global stage and take Christ's Good News...to the ends of the earth.
As author Steve Sjogren illustrates it in his book "Outflow", it's much like a four tiered water fountain. Each succesive level of the fountain is filled as those levels above it fill and spill over to the next level...hence, the "outflow". What a beautiful way to look at the very logical and purposeful way that scripture sets out our duty to be missionaries to the entire world...starting with those who are closest to us.
Unfortunately, far too many times we spend all of our efforts trying to fill up that largest, bottom tier of the fountain at the expense of the other levels that come before it and are running dry...never realizing that by spiritual design, if we fill those other levels to overflowing, the natural progression of things is to flow outward to a wider area. I would go so far as to say that if we really want to expand the scope and effectiveness of our international missions outreach, we need to refocus our efforts closest to home...and then let the outflow work outward.
The bottom line is that everyone, everywhere, needs the love and grace of Jesus Christ. God has given us a clear, easy model to follow to expand His Kingdom on earth if we will simply take Acts 1:8 to heart.
I'm Micky Shearon and that's Life on The Way!
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