I am sent.
I am not sent to win the whole world.
But I am sent to win my corner of the world.
When Jesus told His followers that they were going to be His witnesses, there was a geographic reality in His words:
“You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to
the ends of the earth.” Acts 1:8
We have often read those words as marching orders, tying them to the great commission:
“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, and teaching them to obey
everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the
very end of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20
We have put these two together to form the idea that we are all called to take the gospel to the whole world.
But that is not the way the early church responded to these two commands from Jesus.
The church grew into a movement in Jerusalem. They reached 5000+ by Acts 4. They continued to grow as reported in Acts 6. They were changing the spiritual landscape of the city of Jerusalem.
But they did not go out and deliberately go after the people in Judea and Samaria and the rest of the earth until they were persecuted and forced out of Jerusalem years later.
I believe you can and should teach Matthew 28 and Acts 1 as missional orders for the church and for the individual Christ follower. But I read it this way: wherever God sends you, wherever you go, wherever you are, be on mission. In your going: make disciples. As you journey to each new Judea and each new Samaria and other new places in the world, be on mission. Everywhere you go – go for Christ!
Mission is not somewhere you go. Mission is what you do, wherever you are.
“Being missional means actually doing the mission right where you are. Missional means adopting the posture of a missionary, learning and adapting to the culture around you while remaining biblically sound … You can be a missionary and never leave your zip code.”
I totally believe in the life changing power of mission trips. I went on all kinds of mission trips as a kid. We traveled from Texas (which we knew as God’s country) to Utah, to New Mexico, to Mississippi – to all kinds of places. As a youth pastor, I led mission trips to Mexico and Peru and to Colombia. As a pastor and trainer of pastors, I have visited and taught in thirty-five countries around the world. All of those events have been valuable to me and to those who went along.
But mission trips can give us the impression that we are only on mission when we are on a trip. That mission starts when you leave home and ends when you return home. That mission is something you do for a week or ten days and then quit doing as you go back to your regular routine.
Sentness is the mindset that we are always on mission – where we live, work and play. Sentness means we are always partnering with Christ.
Sentness means we are sent – all the time, everywhere we go.
Being a missionary is not a task we take on. Being a missionary is not a missions trip we make. Being a missionary is a mindset. It is being on duty to show and tell the love of Christ all the time.
All Christ followers on mission wherever we are – that is God’s plan to change the world.
Wikipedia defines missional living as “the adoption of the posture, thinking, behaviors, and practices of a missionary in order to engage others with the gospel message.”
So my job is not to go and reach every corner of the planet.
My job is to be on mission in my corner of the world, and wherever God takes me.
My job is to team up with others in my missional community to change the spiritual landscape of my corner of the world.
That is mission.