I have been asked, “My church seems to have no heart for missions. What can I do?”
This author is not an expert, but as an eyewitness, I can share some of what I have learned in the past 50 years of missions engagement.
Cultivate the Heart. A heart for missions starts first with a heart for God. Unless there is a heart for God there can be no heart for His mission on earth. Worse, without a heart for God, people may perform dead works using His name, calling it “missions,” while confusing people inside and outside of the church about God’s mission. We can address this by intentionally teaching God’s word in ways that reveal His heart for the world and His mission in it. (Proverbs 4:23, Jeremiah 9:23-24, John 17:3, 1 John 4:20) See Why ME.
Unveil the Glory. 2 Corinthians 3 & 4 show us that what is hidden from people is the light of the knowledge of the glory of God. The answer is to unveil the glory of God through the teaching of His written word, so that people can respond in faith — believing God. (2 Corinthians 5) See Momentum Comes From Unveiling God’s Glory.
Bare the Basis. A very good way to cultivate a heart for God in your church is to go back and lay the foundations for faith. Who is God? What is He like? What is His purpose? What is His plan? Who are His people? What is His process? People who are in love with God will be in love with His mission. Such faith comes by hearing His word. We might not know where there are gaps in a person’s understanding until we actually teach them the Biblical concepts that are missing. See the Bible Basis of Mission.
Magnify the Message; Establish Common Ground. There are many tools to help people obtain a basic overview of God’s character, purpose, and plan — among them “The Stranger on the Road to Emmaus,” “By This Name,” or “All That the Prophets Have Spoken” by John R. Cross. If the congregation completed these resources together, individually, or in small groups, it would provide the whole body a common, clear understanding of the message of the Gospel. An ambiguous understanding of God’s plan and Christ’s fulfillment of it leads to a lack of confidence in the Good News message. If you know who God is and what He has done for you, then you have a testimony of a wonderful gift to share with other people. See The Point and the Good News.
Activate Evangelism. Stepping out by faith in God’s word and seeing Him work in the lives around us is incredibly inspiring. Active evangelism helps create opportunities for growth. As each person gains experience in cultivating relationships toward sharing their faith, their shortcomings or obstacles will reveal an incomplete understanding of the message, or create a hunger for better ways to communicate what Christ has accomplished. New believers joining the congregation may also stimulate growth among the members as those new believers ask questions and grow in faith, desiring to serve God and share their faith at home and abroad. See Imputed Righteousness and Life Abundantly.
Preach the Word. Is the Bible the basis of missions, or is God’s mission the basis of the Bible? Teach the Bible about God’s mission. There is a lot of confusion between the mission of the church and the ministry of the church — when everything is missions, nothing is. Since before Creation, since before Abraham, since before the birth of the Church, God has had a specific mission, and He is continuing that mission in the age of the Church. At the beginning of the local churches, the Holy Spirit, through the Word, through prayer, through local leaders, and through the local body of believers, set apart and sent active ambassadors to proclaim the glory of Christ where He was not known. This is a fundamental function and ministry of the local church, in addition to, central to, and part of its primary ministry.
Cast the Vision. Are we there yet? People want to know where we are going and how long it will take to get there. Intentional vision-casting through Biblical teaching, missionary testimonies, and purposeful congregational action, by faith, toward a missions objective, will help stimulate a heart for missions in the body. See Vision and A Missions Plan.
Share Testimonies. Telling stories of what God is doing in our day can be very inspiring. Promote missionary videos and books — these resources may help shape the way we think, and the missionaries are great examples to follow. Bringing in experienced missions speakers or mobilizers can help with this. See Books and Videos.
Manage Missions Conferences. These can be a small group presentation, a Sunday School meeting, or as big as a daily meeting for a week or two. Expose your congregation to missionary work like it really matters in the life of the church and God’s plan for us. Inviting an experienced mission mobilizer can bring a fresh perspective, real-time answers, and practical tools. Organizing a conference with specific teaching objectives can help quickly shape the way the congregation thinks about God’s mission and the people of missions.
Retreat to Wayumi. Ethnos360’s Wayumi programs are designed to help people understand God’s mission, the needs in the world, and opportunities to serve using their own gifts and talents. To help shape how your church thinks about the Great Commission, take teams to Wayumi regularly. (wayumi.com)
Promote Bible Education. Congregants cannot teach others what they do not know themselves. Lay the foundations. Discover the gaps. If you have not been intentionally taught God’s word, how do you know what it is that you do not know? Yes, you need to study the Bible yourself. No, usually that is not enough — God appointed elders and teachers for a reason. Ideally, the local church will intentionally equip people with all they need to teach obedience to “all things whatsoever I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:20). If that has not been done, Ethnos360 Bible Institutes help students work through every book of the Bible with an emphasis on God’s mission. I am still shocked at how much I didn’t know when I got there, and I had been immersed in churches, overseas missions, conferences, and college classes. (e360bible.org)
Challenge Children. Many people make life-long decisions about salvation and serving at a very young age. I was six years old when I understood what Jesus did for me. I was eight years old when I decided I wanted to serve as a career missionary. My direction was set when I was fifteen years old. We need to start at an early age to teach people about God’s person, purpose, plan, people, and processes. A great start for cultivating a heart to know God is “Rock Solid Kids: Drawing Kids Close to God’s Unchanging Heart” by Jill Goring. (rocksolidkids.org) Don’t teach underneath their intelligence level. (Children’s Firm Foundations) Bring missionaries into their lives to give testimony of God’s greatness. (Kodiak Kids)
Train the Traveler. Do you have people interested in serving as missionaries? Train them, or send them for training. Sending missionaries overseas without training is setting everyone up for failure and discouragement. A new missionary does not know what he or she needs to know until someone tells them, or they learn through hard experience. Let’s avoid the pain as much as possible. Missions work requires miraculous interventions from God — only He can change hearts and provide all that is needed — but let’s not put people in harm’s way because of a refusal to learn from the rest of the Body. (ethnos360.org/training)
Empower the Team. God has given the Body a wide variety of gifts and talents; each is a necessary part. A great part of cultivating a heart for God’s mission comes through actively engaging with what you know, using the gifts, talents, and energy God has given. Let’s not neglect the gifts of children or adults because of our presumptions about their capabilities. As leaders, it is good to provide the teaching, vision, and opportunities for people to use their gifts, with guidance, as the Holy Spirit leads them to engage. See Missions Nuggets.