Why such a high ratio?

In the course of my reading, I've come across an unsettling fact regarding church-to-missionary ratios. On average, there are 6 Southern Baptist churches for every SBC missionary, and 8 Christian & Missionary Alliance churches per C&MA missionary. For my own "tribe," the Churches of God, General Conference? Twenty-three churches per missionary! Something's wrong with this picture, and since I'm newly-arrived from parish ministry, I think I know what it is.

The sad fact is that many churches and/or pastors do not have the global vision that Jesus has. "Go make disciples of all nations" has been reduced to "Go make disciples within your church first, then your community, and then -- if you have money and time left over -- do a bit for missions." In this scenario, missions is an add-on (at best) or competition (at worst).

My mission is to change that thinking. If we truly want to glorify and exalt God, then our vision must extend to the whole world. When Jesus told His disciples they would be His witnesses in "Jerusalem, in Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8) He wasn't describing a Steps 1, 2, then 3 process. He was describing a splash or ripple effect. Of course a local church is going to have greater impact in its local community; that's a given. But if leadership stops it at that point and refuses to look beyond (either regionally or globally), then that church is doomed to an increasingly narrow vision. It probably won't be too many years before it is unable to maintain even internal ministries.

Here's an idea: challenge your fellow church members to give MORE (not less) to cross-cultural ministry this year. In the CGGC we have many opportunities around the world; you can check it out at http://cggc.org/CCM.htm for more information.

Peter Loucks, a late 19th-century church planter, said it well: "No minister does his whole duty who fails to practice Christian missions... The Christian’s field cannot be less than that of the Lord’s, and His field is the whole world.”