The Mission of the Church

John 20:21 So Jesus said to them, "...As the Father has sent Me, I also send you."


We are nearing the send off date rapidly. We're leaving on July 14th to embark on our great mission to the African Continent.
I just wanted to take a moment to reflect on the mission of the church. As I've been traveling to churches all over the northern panhandle of Texas, the message I have been challenging them with is that we (the church) are the force that stands in the gap between God and the world. Ezekiel 22:30 says "So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one."
A few hundred years later Jesus, the great mediator, stood on the Mount of Olives before he ascended into heaven, and handed the baton on to Peter and the boys and said, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature." Mark 16:15.
As history revealed, these firebrands then took this transforming message into a lost world and shook the foundations of civilizations.
Some have attributed the fall of the Roman empire, in part, to the rise of Christianity. Nero sought to stamp out the rise of the church, but his empire ultimately fell and the church rose again and again.
And now we find ourselves in the beginning of the 21st century, where the greatest attack on the church is not from outside force of arms, but from the lips and pens of politicians, media, professors, and well meaning people, who have convinced the church as a whole to "sit down," and "be nice." American Christianity, over the past 30 years has become somewhat chameleon and hidden within the walls of buildings called "churches," but we all know that the church is the people of God, not buildings.
We, as humans, have a desire to fit in and to have favor with all men, but I find myself and my culture (Christian culture in rural West Texas) going up and down on the teeter totter saying, "Be among the people, so you can reach them" and then "Come out and be separate from them."
The question is not, "Can't we do both," because we already know that we can. The question is, "how well are we doing at riding that balance?"
I find some obstinate people, with a great lack of wisdom, ostracizing those on the fringes or even the far reaches with crazy gimmicks, or a one-size-fits-all approach to the Gospel. I often think, "Whatever you do, don't do that." But on the other hand, many times I hold back, not wanting to offend people with the truth.
One thing will not change. As the Father has sent the Son, He is also sending us. The method may change between rural West Texas and Kenya, Africa, but the message will never change.
We must assess our missional quotient often to gauge how we are doing on reaching beyond our safety zones and walls of our churches. And when we do, may we have the wisdom to know how to stay on the road and not fall into the ditches on either side.
I've linked a video from a famous magician named Penn, from Penn and Teller. He is an atheist and he talks about how someone gave him a Bible. Watch his reaction to proselytizing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhG-tkQ_Q2w&feature=related

God Bless all of you out there. May we rise to the challenge and be missional, stand in the gap for this world, and love them as Jesus would.

Mikey