Home Updated September 5, 2007 David
Mays
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The Image and Substance of Missions: Three Critical Concerns An old professor
used to talk about the "fog factor" in writing. He multiplied the average number of words in
a sentence by the average number of letters per word to get the "Fog
Index." His point was that if you
wanted people to read and understand what you wrote, it needed to be clear
and simple. Someone has said,
"When there's a mist in the pulpit, there's a fog in the pew." If
people are to understand and support missions as a critical function of the
church, it helps to be clear about some things that may be foggy. We need to be clear about the goal of
missions. For many the primary
goal or aim of missions is obscure. A
few weeks ago, in a Christianity Today article on short term missions, the
author said Christian young people have great compassion for the physical and
social needs of people but many are theologically confused about the need for
a transformation of the heart by Jesus.
What is it that missions is supposed to accomplish? There is an end
goal. Revelation 7:9-10 shows us a
picture of people from every tongue and tribe and language and people
worshipping the lamb. As we plan our missions
ministry, this is our guiding principle.
This is where we're headed. We need to be clear about the scope of
missions. The range of
projects and activities considered missions is very broad. As I see church missions budgets and hear
pastors talk, I note a great range of ministries being funded or referred to
as missions. Everyday Christians are
missionaries. If everything is
missions, what is missions? What
really is missions? And what is it
not? Missions used to be
reaching pagan nations overseas and church work was building up the church at
home. The distinctions will never be
this clear again. The world is too
complex. However, we must draw
boundaries, even if they are fuzzy.
Missions is what we send people and resources to do because the
congregation can't do it. Church
ministry is what the congregation can and should do as part of our life and
ministry among people we can reach. We need to be clear about the priorities of
missions. The playing field
has leveled. One project or activity
seems just as worthy as another. The
key criterion for worthiness is often whether it involves people from our
church. Are some things more urgent,
more critical, or more strategic than others?
If so, what does that mean for our missions ministry? Many things may be
included in missions but not everything is of equal value, importance, or
urgency. Our planning must indicate
what fields, tasks, projects, and partners we consider of greatest strategic
importance. Usually this is most
effectively done with budgets and budget goals and with public prayers,
reports, and celebrations. When
these concepts are clear in the minds of our church leaders and our people,
we may expect the kind of support and involvement that missions deserves. |