The mission field

If you want to see your mission field all you have to do is to look outside your window.  In today's mail I received a mailing from our denomination's home mission society that included some interesting information.  The United States is the third largest and most diverse mission field in the world today.  71% of Americans are unchurched.  Although it will vary slightly by geography approximately 7 out of 10 of your neighbors are not involved in any church, and many of them do not know Jesus Christ.

Your denomination has individuals who have been called to mission fields in places like Japan, Africa, Russia, and nations throughout the world.  If you are non-denominational you likely know, and support, independent missionaries who serve in those areas.  But, your primary mission field sits across the road and down the street.  You and your church have been called to reach this mission field, and if you are not successful in doing so many of the people within that mission field will face a Godless eternity.

For many smaller churches summer is a slow time with people away on vacation.  Choirs may shut down for the summer and in some churches committee meetings are postponed until fall.  This is a great time for small church leaders to begin planning for how they can effectively reach out to their communities when people return from vacations and children return to school.  I would encourage you to prayerfully walk, or drive if you're in a rural community, around your community and begin to ask God to open your eyes to the spiritual needs of the people who live there.  Take a really good look at the people through God's eyes.  Then begin to ask Him what you can do about those needs.  Don't offer excuses about how small your church is or how it is lacking in resources.  Simply pray asking God to show you what you can do.

Once you begin to have a glimpse of what can, and should, be done, talk to other leaders in your church and tell them what you've been doing.  Ask them to help you form a plan to reach your community starting in the fall.  Find some intentional ways you can make a difference in people's lives.  Don't be afraid to start small.  Just start.  Take seriously the spiritual, emotional, and physical plight of your neighbors and find ways to minister to them in a way in which they can see Jesus in your actions. 

You will be amazed at what God can accomplish through even the smallest church that is committed to serving Him.  In one of my sermons I tell people that God is more interested in our availability than in our capability.  God is looking for people and churches who are willing to do whatever they can to impact their communities, and He will give them the tools they need to get the job done.  I encourage you to be one of those churches.