Several years ago I was talking with a pastor at a very large church. Their sanctuary was beautiful. He showed me the expensive new stage lighting, he showed me a massive LED television that spanned the stage. He showed me the state-of-the-art camera systems and other high-tech items. I met members of his staff from graphic designers to choreographers. At last, we sat down to talk about our request for a rather small sum to build a new church in an area of Europe where there was none. As we discussed it was surprising to hear that the money was just too tight to support much in the way of missions. What a disappointment it was.
Many churches are mission-focused, but often missions is but one small facet of what the churches do. Sometimes we can settle into thinking about, or more correctly, can be distracted by keeping up the appearance of being missions focused, while in reality, we are but paying lip service to missions in congregations. Does your church send missionaries? Is this a normal thing for your church to do? God desires mission focused churches. Pray for your church and your leadership to put the spreading of the Gospel here and abroad as a top priority.
Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, you love to bring the lost into your kingdom. Guide my church to look for ways to make missions a bigger priority. Guide my church’s leadership to seek out, promote, and preach missions as the most valuable thing we do. Through you, Holy Spirit, give us your zeal for the lost and for sending missionaries to the mission field.
