I (Dave) have been spending a lot of time with pastors over the past few months to purposefully connect and introduce them to the church assessment tools we’ve been developing here in the Central office. Frankly, I have been shocked by the number of churches “stuck” in the “Pray and Pay,” or as we term it, “Sponsoring” mentality. Churches, especially pastors, are not content to see missions as something relegated to a committee and without any connection to the “real” work of the church, but they don’t know what to do about it. For many churches, missions is about what the committee does—select and support missionaries, plan missions conferences—and not about what the church is called to do—equip men and women to serve locally and globally. That is, sending “discipled ones” into the harvest field.

I think we all agree that there is only one command in the Great Commission, and that is to make disciples. As we go—and the assumption is that we will be going—we are to be discipling others.

As Suzanne and I have been thinking through these church assessment tools, we’ve come to the conclusion that there are some sequential steps a church needs to take to move across the spectrum that has a Sponsoring mentality at one end and a Missional posture at the other. We feel the first step forward for sponsoring churches is to learn how to really connect with their missionaries.

Some churches believe “connecting” with their missionaries means distributing an evaluation form. To other churches it means remembering birthdays, anniversaries, and Christmas with a card. For some it means visiting the missionary on the field. I’m finding that churches are all over the board when it comes to their idea of what it means to connect or have a real relationship with their missionaries.

In response to what I’ve encountered when meeting with pastors, we’ve developed a tool to assist churches in thinking about—and then acting upon—what it means to connect with their missionaries. As you visit churches on home assignment or communicate with them from the field, would you be willing to use this tool to help your churches understand what it means to have a real relationship with their missionaries, and how this might be accomplished? Second, would you be willing to help us improve this tool by submitting your suggestions to us? Click here to download the document as a PDF.

It seems many churches simply do not know how to relate to you (even though they may have a desire to do so). Other churches persist in thinking that connecting is the agency’s job (which it is!) and will balk at the suggestion that this is a responsibility they share as a church. We believe that moving from a sponsoring mentality to connecting in practice is the first step churches must take as they move toward a missional posture.

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NO SHRINKING BACK: ACTS 16
Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote many years ago, “Now and then men’s minds and hearts are stretched by a new idea and they never shrink back to their original dimension.”

There are experiences along life’s journey that change us irrevocably, never to be the same again. Acts 16 tells the story of three very different people whose minds and hearts—and souls—were so stretched by their experiences that I think they would agree there was no chance they would “shrink back to their original dimension.”

In addition to Paul and his companions, the characters in this chapter are Lydia the businesswoman, a slave girl possessed by a “spirit,” and a Philippian jailer.

Lydia is called a worshiper of God when she encounters Paul by the river, but the Lord opens her heart to respond to Paul’s message. The girl is a slave in every sense, with owners who put her to work—doing what they cannot do and what she cannot help but do—and collect all of her earnings. She is in total bondage until Paul calls on the name of Jesus and this young lady is liberated from the spirit for which she had been exploited. The jailer’s story begins when he receives orders to guard two men who turn their cell into a sanctuary, praying and singing hymns to God. After an earthquake rocks the prison, Paul & Silas hang around long enough to save the jailer’s life, both physically and spiritually.

There is no question: stepping from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light and life changes hearts and minds—and souls—that will never shrink back to their original dimension. These characters illustrate the change that takes place in conversion. But I also see another agent of change in this passage, and that is knowing and following the leading of God.

In verses 6 & 7 we have two negatives in two verses. In back to back instances, Paul and his companions are headed where they think God wants them to go when God says, “No!” I’m not really sure how they got the message, but they were kept from preaching in the province of Asia. Luke does not go into much detail here, but I sense some frustration with knowing God’s will in this moment. By the time we get to verse 9—a verse that has probably been the source of more missionary preaching than most other passages in the Bible—the negatives turn to positives and Paul has a breakthrough moment.

Yes, conversion is an experience after which life never shrinks back to its original dimension. But so is knowing and following the leading of God. Having a clear sense of what God has called us to do changes us forever, and there is no shrinking back.

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"The branch of the vine does not worry, and toil, and rush here to seek
for sunshine, and there to find rain. No; it rests in union and communion
with the vine; and at the right time, and in the right way, is the right fruit
found on it. Let us so abide in the Lord Jesus.”
- Hudson Taylor

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TOP 25 BUSINESS AS MISSION BOOKS
The Business as Mission Network has posted a list of the top 25 books that deal with "business as mission," running a "Great Commission company," or doing "transformational business," all fairly synonymous terms that encompass the idea of doing business God's way, or turning "good business into great ministry." You can view the list--and find links to lots of other business as mission resources--here.

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