The Near Mission

[John Dobbs]

I'd like to remind you today about a great mission field.

When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” ~Matthew 9:36-38

I believe this is still true. Our first intuition may be to think that the harvest that is plentiful is in a mission field far from home in another culture. We might even think it is in one of these United States, or even in the state in which we reside. To be sure there are mission needs in all of those places.

But what about the near mission? Did you ever realize that there is a mission field that exists within ten feet of you, wherever you go?

Within sound of your voice every day are people who need Jesus to be their Lord, and many of them do not even know it.

Your smile, your acts of kindness, your willingness to mention His name ... are all ways to engage in the mission field that is always around you.

I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. ~ 1 Corinthians 3:6-8

Keep on planting and watering ... loving and serving ... sharing and showing ... because that is what God uses to bring about increase. You can't go to a mission field, enter one, or exit one ... you are a mission field. In your home, in the marketplace, in our church, and in your neighborhood - you never leave the mission behind.

Lord open our eyes!

Thanks for reading!

John

[John Dobbs]

Thank you James. Yes, it is definitely a BOTH/AND situation when it comes to missions. The local missions seem to me to be harder, but just as needful. 

[James Nored]

John, thanks for the post! I am all for foreign missions. I regularly went on Let's Start Talking mission trips, and this helped shaped my heart for mission. But the US is now the 5th largest mission field in the world. We can overly romanticize foreign missions, and it can even cause us to ignore the mission field right around us. After all, it is often easier to reach out to people that we do not know and will not see again than it is to reach out to our lost neighbors.