At any given moment, someone in your church may ask you, “So, what do YOU think about missions?, How important is missions to you, personally?, How do you pray for missionaries?, How do you give to missions?”
Are you ready for those questions? If your answers to demonstrate objective, observable actions on your part, it’s impossible for you to make a case for practical, sacrificial involvement of others.
It is unacceptable to claim that “missions is not my thing,” or some such lame answer. You are the pastor! Missions reflects the core reason for the church’s existence! Missions is NOT a tangential, peripheral ministry of the church. So, though you may think that you prepared, equipped, or inclined toward missions leadership, you’ve got to take a long look in the mirror and realize that, as pastor, you are a key missions leader in your church. Get moving!
Ask yourself, am I an adequate model in these areas (below)? If not, how do I need to change, grow, or become informed in order to be a good model? You may need to ask for some help from mature people around you.
- prayer for missionaries
- prayer for world missions
- giving for missions through your church
- financial support of missions and missionaries beyond your church
- leading your family in missions interest, concern, prayer, giving
- reading missions related books and articles, missionary biographies, etc.
- communication with missionaries
- hospitality extended to missionaries
- plans for visiting missionaries
- growing awareness of and concern for those of ethnic or other cultures around you
- willingness to give platform time to missions interests
- weaving missions illustrations in your preaching and praying publicly
- awareness of missions opportunities and concerns through world events
- seeing and finding missions throughout the Bible