Missions is not a concept confined to far away places or leaving home. Even if you don’t travel you have a mission field. Everyone has a mission field somewhere. What’s yours? Good question – the article bearing this theme got the most clicks Monday. So, it now morphs into Friday’s Feature! Check out the article here by Dr. James Emery White:
After you’ve checked out the article, see a few of my own thoughts here:
1. Re-define missions.
Every Christian truly has a mission field. If your definition of missions is limited to travel or foreign lands, get a new definition that includes your neighborhood, school, or any other sphere of influence.
2. Knowledge and methods: what are yours?
Do you know your neighbors, truly? Have you thought about the effort you make to reach others? How would you be able to describe your spheres of influence as “missions fields” to someone who traveled here and had little knowledge of the culture?
These questions penetrate the heart. May they inspire us to realize the mission field we have at home.
3. Absent: prayer.
I know the article is designed to be a short discourse on church leadership and reaching millennials. Prayer is a “method” that never goes out of style. I read a lot of stuff on method but see little talk of prayer. Maybe not poking specifically at this author, but the general trend that stresses outward forms over inward begging.
Think. How well in tune with your culture are you?
Act. If you’re not in tune, it is never too late to make an effort to increase your knowledge of your surroundings. Pray, seek God, ask Him to move, and you might just be surprised at the results!