Too many churches think of mission as a line in the budget allocating money to an external agency or missionary. Funding mission work is crucial. But it’s only one piece of the puzzle. You can’t outsource the whole purpose and nature of church.
Making the mission of the church central to who you are means encouraging and preparing every member to share and embody the gospel in every aspect of life. The mission of the church is not just the work of faraway missionaries or even pastors. It’s for the whole body of believers.
Your church should see yourselves as part of the mission work you support globally, too. That could mean taking a trip to a location where you’re supporting a missionary, doing intensive fundraising, or building a long-term relationship with people, missionaries, or partners on the ground.
Consider how your global and local mission work can inform each other. What can you learn from your global mission partners about doing mission in your own community? How can your ministry in your own neighborhood shape your engagement with mission globally?
If you’re looking for missional inspiration, history is filled with stories to get your imagination going. For example, a major spark behind the North American church’s early global mission work was a simple conversation at the dining table of John and Mehitable Simpkins in 1802. R. Pierce Beaver recalled the event:
A guest raised his wine glass, admired the color and bouquet of the beverage, and exclaimed, “This excellent wine probably costs a penny a glass. Just think, if we would each forgo one glass tonight, the sum saved would buy several gospels or more tracts. Should we and our friends do without some little thing each week and save a cent, think of the hundreds of Bibles and hymn books with which missionaries could be supplied in just one year’s time!”
The Cent Society was born. Mehitable Simpkins volunteered to collect donations for the society and transmit the funds to her husband, who was the treasurer of the Massachusetts Missionary Society. Donations poured in from women to the Cent Society, which eventually funded the ministry of multiple global mission organizations.