Mission Mania
We live in a crazy world! It’s a world out of control! A world just like the Word of God describes: “But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God…” (2 Timothy 3:1-4 NASB). However, there is hope for this crazy world, and that hope is the Church Of The Lord Jesus Christ. Not the traditional church that holds to a form of godliness, refusing to connect to a lost and dying world, but the Church Of The Lord Jesus Christ, on mission. Not a group of congregants that meet two or three times a week in seclusion. But the church, the Body of Christ, the Congregation of The Lord, united with purpose, committed to a cause and a conviction, sold out out to mission–God’s Mission–lived out, not only on Sunday’s, but on every other day and in every hour of the week.
It’s time for MISSION MANIA! The Church must become “Crazy About Living The Mission! Do you realize that the word “Mania” means, “excessive excitement or enthusiastic”? I realize that most people think that the word “Crazy” means, “to be mentally deranged”, but on a positive note, it also means, “to be intensely enthusiastic and passionately excited”. What I’m saying is, why can’t the Church become “Manic” about it’s Mission? Why can’t we be “Crazy” about reaching our community for God?
The Church must return to it’s mission if it is to be relevant and effective in this day. It must become passionate, enthusiastic, and genuinely excited about God’s purpose for it’s existence. Church, as usual, has got to go! Just take a look around you on Sunday, and you will discover that the majority of people sitting in our churches are churched people. By and large, the church is not reaching the world for Christ. The church has to return to it’s mission. It’s time for Mission Mania!
Consider these facts about Today’s Churches:
- Most Churches Do Not Understand Mission: When you use the word Mission in most churches, they think you are referring to World Missions or the little soup kitchen in the old storefront downtown that the church supports monthly.
- Most Churches Do Not Have Clear, Concise, Coherent Mission: If you were to ask most congregants, “What is the Mission of your Church?”, most would not know. Even many Pastors can’t answer that. They can tell you about “Winning Souls”, but they cannot tell you in one sentence what the mission of their church is.
- Most Churches Do Not Communicate Mission: Very seldom in most local congregations do you hear preaching or teaching on the subject of, “The Mission Of The Church”.
- Most Churches Do Not Focus On Mission: Churches focus on a lot of things, but very few focus on Mission. Most focus on revivals, gospel sings, homecoming and other church related events, but not on Mission. Many are too busy “having church” to think about Mission.
If a church does not understand, communicate, and focus on its mission, it will turn inward and become an institution that soon finds itself existing only to survive. Its attention will turn towards maintenance and self-preservation. It will disconnect from those it was sent to reach and will soon become totally out of touch with a lost and dying world. The church in the book of Acts was Crazy about its mission! For the church to become attractive and effective once again, we must have a return to Mission Mania!
For a complete study on this subject of mission, check out our brand new kit called, The Mission. You can find it at the ruralpastor.com Store. Subscribe to our Ruralpastor Blog today and receive all of our free updates and information about our newest products. Until next time, I remain…
Your Rural Pastor,
Johnny H. Moore
