Why would I fly over a mission field in order to get to another one? This question has been burning me up for the past few months. Don't get me wrong, I am not opposed to foreign missions, but are we neglecting our local communities for the sake of foreign missions?My fear is that people in Guyana, Brazil and India know more about our church than people a few blocks away! Does anybody else hear me?
7 comments:
I hear you. Jerusalem first
There is no excuse for not doing both. If you neglect either, there is a big hole in the vision of the church.
The bigger challenge is actually doing it...and not just saying you do. If a church was wiped off the map tomorrow, would the neighbors have anything but a momentary feeling of "oh that's too bad"? Making Jesus' name famous somewhere 400 or 4000 miles away is sometimes easier. Making his name famous in your own backyard takes daily commitment and long term love for people. "...let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth
Where is the need? People in the states have so many opportunities to hear about Jesus Christ. Turn on the radio, tv, or the church on every corner. Who doesn't have access to a Bible? Not very many people.
The problem with "Modern Missions" is that everybody wants to go to the place that is easy. A big city. Too many times people say, "there are no "good" churches around" or "in our neighborhood" or whatever qualifier they want to put there.
We have 800,000 people that don't even speak spanish that have never heard the name of Jesus Christ before in the jungles here. 1/3 the size of TN has 800,000 people that won't hear unless somebody takes years of their life to learn their language, hike through their jungle and eat their food to be able to share Jesus with them. You can't reach them from the States and you can't reach them from the nearest big city that has all of the conveniences... you have to go to them.
I am not against ministering to the community. It is important. I wouldn't say it is a command in Jerusalem first as much as that was a timeline of the way it was going to happen. The current trend today, especially in churches that are "community" churches or non-denominational churches is that the focus has been taken off of foreign missions and put into the community that has already been saturated.
There is no other people that is so self absorbed and self focused than the "American" people. Even "Mission trips" are not for the good of the people being ministered to, but for the people on the trip. "A mission trip would be really good for that person"..."I came away with so much"..."It really made me appreciate all that we have"...Those are the testimonies given, and I have been guilty of the same. But we need to get our focus off of ourselves.
The person who thinks it is easier to make His name known 4000 miles away has never had to do it.
Don't get me wrong, I think foreign missions is critically important for the Church. My question is: Have we neglected our local communitites for the sake of foreign missions?
My answer is yes, but just because I answer yes does not mean that we should forsake missions!
I agree, don't think it is easier to be famous 4000 away.
Ha Ha,
His with a capital "H"
Jimmy you actually proved my point which is no matter where you live, whether it is in another country or in the US, it is hard. What I was trying to say is that going on a week long mission trip many times does not lead people to be bold in their backyards. Visiting a mission field might give one boldness there but so often it does not translate into boldness when they are back at home. The impact wears off and life goes back to pre-mission trip mode. There are exceptions otherwise many missionaries would never exist.
In the end, Jesus didn't say to only go to the easier places or to just the hard places. We are to go everywhere.
Jimmy, Jared and I are good friends and I am going to Brazil as a missionary. He definitely does not mean anything against foreign missions. I think what he means is that we often get so excited about foreign missions, but we neglect our neighbors. If that same excitement for foreign missions was placed on our neighbors, we would better reach our community.
Jared, was this post possibly inspired by Reformission by Driscoll?
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