Missions Day Highlights

A small congregation in Latin America has this sign posted in its sanctuary. "Our field - 15,000. Already won - 15. Yet to win - 14,985." Here is a congregation that has a vision for reaching out. What does it mean to be a church that reaches out? Is your church saying to people in your community, "Come. Come and hear us. Come and join us. Come and be like us. Come and follow our customs and cultural practices."? That is the way it was in the Old Testament. Many churches still operate that way. In the New Testament the church does not merely say, "Come." The church goes and proclaims. The church reaches out.

Every year in North America, 1200 new churches are opened. However, every year in North America, 3500 churches are closed. A large number of traditional churches close each year, but less structured churches are springing up everywhere. Although four out of five churches in North America are either plateaued or declining, there are churches that are meeting the felt needs of people and that are experiencing outstanding growth. People are seeking a relationship rather than structure.

The images of the church used by Christ emphasize relationship. The church is a flock, under the care of a shepherd. The church is a body, with a vital union between the members and the head. The church is a building, a constituted gathering of believers. The church is a bride, with a relationship of submission and adoration to the Master.

Some would suggest that a church needs to be either a missionary church or a pure church but it cannot be both. Must we make a choice between being a missionary church and a pure church? The church must be both. A church that is not a missionary church is not a pure church, for missions is at the heart of Scripture.

We are called to make disciples, not decisions. The bottom line is, do those who make a Christian profession become a part of the church? Look at Acts 2. Three thousand are convicted, 3,000 repent, 3,000 are baptized, and all 3,000 continue in the fellowship of the church! Now, if your church and my church suddenly get a large influx of new people, it will require some major adjustments. There is a price to pay. For one, we will find ourselves running out of everything, from parking spaces to chairs to paper towels to toilet paper.

True, there is no merit in having a church filled with chronically ill and immature babies, but God cares about lost people. In too many of our churches we can teach about miracles, but we have never seen one. We learn about revival and renewal movements, but we never experience one. We study about prayer, but it makes little difference around us. We hear about a victorious, triumphant Christ, but we watch the enemy move boldly all over the place. We become content with survival rather than overcoming the enemy. We are taught how to cope rather than how to conquer. So we conclude, "Hang in there, church. The end is near. We will soon be delivered from all of this."

There is a clear distinction between acceptance and approval. Too often we confuse the two. Jesus came to the earth not because it was a holy place, but because it was filled with sinners. He stayed in their homes. He ate at their tables. He attended their parties. He did not approve of their lifestyle, but He accepted them.

I will conclude with one illustration. As a young boy, I would play church with my two youngest sisters. We had a playroom upstairs in the old farmhouse, where we would set up a church. My sisters would come with their dolls, who were sometimes well-behaved and sometimes not. I was the preacher. I preached my first sermons in that playroom! That is how I got started!

One day my Dad was downstairs and overheard our church service. He decided he wanted to hear me preach, so he climbed the stairs and came in and sat down. I was preaching from the Sermon on the Mount, but I quickly stopped when Dad walked in. He begged me to continue, but I was too embarrassed to play church when Father was present. He later heard me preach on a number of occasions before his death, but now it was for real.

As a child, I did not want him to see me play church. You see, it's hard to play church when we know Father is present.

Listen, church, Father is present! Father is present! This is not the time to play church! This is not the time to pretend! This is the time for action! This is the time to reach out! This is the time to be the church!

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