The local church and world missions

 March is the month that American Baptists receive the America for Christ offering. This money helps our denomination support various ministries in the US and Puerto Rico. A percentage also goes to each ABC region to help support their ministries. It is one of four special mission offerings the denomination receives each year. 

In recent years there has been an emphasis on churches having a missional mindset. Such a mindset challenges churches to see their community as a mission field. This is appropriate, and I have challenged churches for years to develop this mindset. I encourage members of the congregation to stop seeing themselves as simply members of the church but to see themselves as missionaries gifted by God to impact their community. I also encourage them to stop seeing their church as merely a church, but to begin to see it as a mission station placed in the midst of a rapidly growing pagan culture.

Unfortunately, some churches, trying to adopt that mindset, no longer see the importance of global missions. Some have stopped giving to their denomination's mission work and diverted that money to local missions. I an aware of one church that had been giving approximately $12,000.00 a year to its denomination's mission work until a new pastor, who was not favorable to that denomination, convinced the church to spend that money to reach local youth. While reaching local youth is certainly a worthwhile vision, both could have been done. Local mission work and global mission support are not an either/or endeavor; it is both/and. Not only did the denomination lose the funding for mission work, the last I knew there was no increase in the number of youth attending the church.

I have long advocated that God honors churches that honor mission. The Great Commission not only challenges us to reach those surrounding our church, it also challenges us to reach persons around the world. God calls certain individuals to go to far-off places to share the gospel, but He calls each of us to help support that work financially. Some churches do that by supporting specific missionaries while others do it by giving to their denomination's mission offerings. Either way is acceptable.

American Baptists have four special mission offerings each year. These go towards different ministry objectives of the denomination, and each of them should be supported by ABC churches. Let's not tie the hands of those God has called to serve in a mission field by failing to support them with our prayers and our financial gifts.