Let's Stop Saying We Want to Reach the World

Churches traditionally have adopted a general vision along the lines of "making disciples of all nations" or "let's reach the world for Christ." While this broad vision of "reaching the world" may sound nice, it ultimately brings no accountability to our churches; it basically leads people to believe that unless they are called to leave their home context as a missionary then they're of very little service to Kingdom. I want to challenge these common vision statements and suggest that we quit saying we want reach the world.... and simply start trying to reach the people in our rhythms of life! 

Let me be clear. I'm not against taking the gospel to other countries (the world). I think we're biblically commanded to do so as I'll mention below. However, I believe what I've just suggested above is one of the  reasons Christianity in America is declining. The truth is we aren't making disciples in our own neighborhoods! Churches will often send money to support a missionary in Africa or they may even send a team of people from the church to do a short-term mission trip, but I want to ask, "What's happening across the street?" Why are we neglecting the responsibility to be the church in our own rhythms of life? Here are 2 possible reasons...

1) We've greatly misunderstood the original meaning of the word "nations" in the great commission. A better translation of the original word would be something like "people groups." Jesus' command wasn't referring to organized, governmental territories as we typically think of nations today. He was basically saying that in every "group of people" we should be making disciples. Therefore, every church needs to be actively making disciples in it's context.

2) We aren't "progressing" toward people groups outside of our context. Take a minute to review Acts 1:8. Do you notice the geographical and cultural progression of this command? Jesus begins with Jerusalem which was the "home" context of the people listening to Him speak. He then progresses from there to Judea and Samaria which reflect stepping through relational and cultural barriers. Then, He moves to the ends of the earth. The reality is that unless we properly understand how to make disciples at home, we'll only take a distorted view of the gospel and disciple-making with us when we go to other places. 

Here's my suggestion... let's get serious about reaching the people in our "nations." This would be the people in our rhythms of life (where we live, work, and play). Let's quit teaching people to think of "making disciples" as a short-term project we get to occasionally experience and start holding them accountable to view everyday as a mission project. As we do that, we'll then be equipped to start stepping into different contexts and partnering with others to effectively make disciples in different "nations."