Audio Transcript:

Welcome to Missions on Point, the Propempo perspective on church and missions.

Welcome to episode 196 of Missions on Point.  Every believer has a missions path.  No matter who you are in the body of Christ, God can use your gifts to further his kingdom advancing to the ends of the earth.  You may feel small and insignificant, and on your own that’s true.  But we are not on our own.  God has gathered you together with a local body of believers with whom you can work to accomplish the work of the Great Commission together.  Our current series is on missions paths.  At Propempo.com we have an extensive library of articles answering numerous questions you might have as you walk down your particular missions path.  The path that we are walking down today on this podcast is the missions mobilizer path.

Not everyone is called to be a missionary.  In fact, very few believers are.  But everyone is called to be involved in the work of missions.  It is not helpful when we call everything missions, because then we water down the meaning of missions.  We must be narrowly focused on the specific goal that God has given to us in his world to plant churches cross-culturally.  But if you are not a cross-cultural church planter, then what could your role in missions be?  Well, God has called all of us to pray for missions and the missionaries that we know.  We are all called to give sacrificially to support the work of missions, whether that be individual gifts given directly to missionaries or gifts given through your church or denominational structure.  Others can play support roles, meeting the needs of missionaries or their ministry.  Others are leading in missions in their church, whether as pastors or on the missions committee.  And still others could be mobilizers, and that is the role that we are considering now.  What does it mean to be a mobilizer?

Here's a basic description of a mobilizer.  A mobilizer disciples others in their missions commitment, solves missions problems, calls the church to its purpose in missions, and supplies wisdom and resources for their needs.  I’ll break that description down for us into four parts.

1. A mobilizer is a discipler.

Discipleship is the primary posture of a missions mobilizer.  Mobilization is a highly relational endeavor.  They need to get to know people and discern other’s gifting.  Mobilizers recognize that they are not the ones who go on the field, but they can help others to go.  A famous quote by Ralph Winter is challenging here.  He said, “Suppose I had a thousand college seniors in front of me who asked me where they ought to go to make a maximum contribution to Christ's global cause. What would I tell them? I would tell them to mobilize. All of them.”  Winter’s point here is that mobilizing is the process of sending others.  If those 1000 college graduates all mobilized 10 missionaries to the field, now we have 10,000 missionaries instead of 1,000.  It is a huge blessing to be used of God to mobilize others in missions commitment.  We share in the joy of those who have been sent, and we are blessed by the fruit of their ministry.  The call of discipleship is a call given to every Christian.  Every Christian can be encouraged to become more of a World Christian.  Furthermore, every Christian should be aware that anyone whom they are discipling may be called by God to serve as a missionary.  It takes the whole church to recognize those individuals who are called to be missionaries, affirm their gifts, and set them apart for ministry.  So, in a sense, if you are not going as a missionary, then you ought to play a part in mobilizing others.  No missionary gets to the field unless they have many supporters behind them encouraging them. 

2. A mobilizer is a problem solver.

Beyond the general concept of being a discipler, some people are especially gifted at being mobilizers.  Mobilizers are skilled at finding comprehensive solutions to maximize missions engagement.  As you help people find their optimal role in missions, you also help them to order their lives in such a way that they are freed up to pursue their calling as fully as possible.  Phil Parshall says that the mobilization of a population that is going to war is an apt analogy.  In World War II only 10% of the American population went to war, and of those, only 1% were actually on the firing lines.  However, for them to be successful in their mission, the entire country had to be mobilized.  So it is with the church that is mobilized for missions.  Everyone in the church can understand their role in supporting the greater cause.  Mobilizers disciple all believers to know how they fit in.  Yet, the church is often asleep at the wheel.  Many individuals and even entire churches have lost sight of the biblical primacy of world missions.  Mobilization is necessary because many Christians don’t know their place.  This leads us to the next description of a mobilizer. 

3. A mobilizer is a preacher.

As we recognize the need for mobilization in the lethargy of the inactive church, the mobilizer comes into the picture as the herald for the cause.  They call the church back to its missions mandate.  Mobilizers must bring the word of God to bear on believers, so that they are convicted of God’s call to the entire church to fulfill its purpose in global missions.  This is why pastors and elders are ideal mobilizers.  They preach God’s word to the entire congregation, and they have a unique opportunity to apply God’s word to missions involvement.  The best posture here is that of love and servanthood.  The preacher does not demand others to obey them, they instead are serving them the food of God’s word, and prayerfully waiting on the leading of God’s Spirit in the hearts of others.  There is no agenda here to make others do what you think they should do.  Instead, mobilizers have a Kingdom mindset, helping others by leading them to obey what God is calling them to do in missions.  As a mobilizer, you should be familiar with what the Bible says about mobilization and the examples there.  Moses, Joshua, Gideon, Nehemiah, the Apostle Paul and above all Jesus himself are all examples of leaders who called people to follow God’s purposes for them.  The mobilizer as preacher encourages, informs, leads, challenges and walks alongside others so that they are equipped for their ministry.  This is the next description of a mobilizer. 

4. A mobilizer is a resourcer.

Effective mobilizers need to equip themselves so that they can best help others.  They need both wisdom and resources.  They ought to grow in their competency of missions issues and trends, world religions and key challenges they present, major world events, potential missions agencies, and current issues in the American church.  There are a number of books and periodicals that can keep them sharp.  Effective mobilizers are consistently networking with missionaries, agencies and churches that are effectively engaged in world missions.  In addition, mobilizers grow a team of other mobilizers.  Teams can do more than an individual can.  They can plan regional multi-church training events.  Within a church, a missions mobilization subcommittee can be created to lead the church in missions education, prayer, mentoring candidates and tracking with missionaries.  A church that has an effective missions team should not stop there though.  They can influence other churches in their area and denominational affiliations.  Don’t sit on your hands.  Plan how you will engage others on your church’s website and social media, through personal conversations, through interactive websites, through printed materials such as bulletins, through regular meetings, and prayer in the church, and special speakers.  And above all, our greatest resource is our Father in heaven.  Make sure that from beginning to end, your mobilization efforts are bathed in prayer.  No hearts will be stirred toward missions without the power of the Holy Spirit awakening them to that call. 

So, how can you get started in mobilizing?

Your first step toward becoming a mobilizer is to pray that God would use you.  Read widely about the world and how God is advancing his kingdom.  Ask lots of questions and get to know missionaries and other mobilizers.  Start serving on teams that plan mobilization events or classes.  Start connecting other people to ministry opportunities too.  Start counseling people who express an interest in missions. 

Finally, how will you measure the results of personal mobilizing efforts?  What are the key results I should work toward?  You can prayerfully work toward seeing people entering short and long term missions service.  Your church leaders will start stepping up and owning missions.  People will be more cross-culturally focused.  People will reorder their life priorities around maximal missions involvement.  Financial funding will follow too.  And most importantly, we expect to see that people will be coming to faith in Jesus Christ due to the efforts of those who had been mobilized. 

At the end of the day, God is the greatest mobilizer.  He is the one who stirs in the hearts of others.  He does the work that you and I cannot do.  But he has called us to come alongside of him and work toward the same purposes.  Mobilization is not something that is dependent on the strength of man.  We are weak, but God gives his sufficient grace.   And he is able to do far more than we ask or imagine through the church to bring glory to himself.  A mobilizer is a discipler, a problem solver, a preacher, and resource.  And above all, a mobilizer gives God the glory for all that is accomplished. 

I hope this consideration of mobilization has encouraged you.  There is more for you to think about on this topic.  So, before we go, I want to encourage you to check out the custom pdf compiler at Propempo.com.  There you can find every missions path that you can walk down and create a pdf from those questions.  Or, you can select whichever questions address your own needs.  And they can all be compiled into your very own downloadable custom pdf .  We are here to serve you and are thankful for any opportunity we might have to help you, so please do not hesitate to contact us directly.  We pray that God would bless your efforts to mobilize the church for greater missions effectiveness.

Thanks for joining us today on Missions on Point. We trust that you'll find more help and resources on our websites at Propempo.com and missioserve.org. We are so thankful for those who support us, enabling us to produce this podcast. Now to God be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus forever and ever. Amen.