It 's inevitable, whenever some one says "Christian Missions" another person usually rolls their eyes and says not again. I must confess, there was a time when I was like this. I grew tired of cross-cultural missionaries (what use to be known as foreign missionaries) act as if local ministry was sub par to going to Afria, Asia, or South America. Then about my junior year at Asbury College I realized that some people are just jerks. And that my “anti-mission” attitude was no better than their attitude towards ministry in the United States. I began to really understand that God has called us all to unique ministries in diverse places.
But what is our approach to missions (both in our backyard and around the globe)? For many, we think we need to meet all the physical needs before we share the Gospel of Jesus Christ. After all, if we talk about Christ being the bread of life, but can't hear the message because of the rumble in our stomachs there is a problem. James talks about this in Chapter 2 of his epistle. If some one is hungry and cold we must do more than bless them and send them on their way; we must clothe and feed them.
However, something stuck me today as I was reading a daily devotional book by Dr. Denis Kinlaw, This Day with the Master. He said the soul aim of Christian missions is evangelism. Meeting physical needs are secondary because there will never be an end to physical needs. In other words, if we wait until all the physical needs are met, we will never tell people about Jesus Christ. Evangelism must be two pronged: meeting physical and spiritual needs, but the spiritual needs are the greater of the two. If we are not sharing how Christ saves us from our sins, we are just a humanitarian group doing good things, but not saving souls. John Wesley said to his preachers, “You have nothing to do but save souls, go and be spent in this work.” Our primary task to “make disciples of all nations” (Matt. 28.19). We must live a transformed life and share the freedom that Jesus brings through the power of the cross and his resurrection. Anything else is just a secondary issue.
