Reasons not to plan mission events (and reasons to do so)

In the last decade I’ve been involved with scores of week-long or weekend missions put on by churches and Christian Unions.

Such outreaches – like those planned for the Passion for Life initiative next year – are big investments. We need some solid reasons to give of our time, money, talents and energy. Often though our reasons are poor.

Shabby motives

Let me share with you four shabby motives to put on mission events, then we’ll think about four much better ones. If you’re wondering where I’ve noticed these poor motivations, don’t expect an exposé of named churches. Actually, the first place I find them lurking is in my heart. I have a hunch, though, that they might lurk in yours too.

Poor motivation 1: To gain converts. It might seem surprising to consider this as a bad reason to invest in mission. But let’s distinguish ‘gaining converts’ from ‘making disciples’. Making disciples is what Christ calls us to and it’s about sharing what we have with others while leading them in the way of Christ. Gaining converts is different. It’s about following crowds and trying to get them to fulfil our needs. The pews are empty, quick, let’s gain some converts!

Poor motivation 2: To feel better about ourselves. As we advertise our mission, pride creeps in. We wouldn’t say it out loud but… I mean… honestly, the church down the road barely does anything evangelistic. At least we give it a go.

Poor motivation 3: To answer Christ’s call to busyness and burden. Evangelism, we feel, is a long, hard slog, but that’s the Christian life, right? Suffering now, glory later. Or, to translate: costly mission now, heaven later (when we won’t have to do any of this pesky evangelism). In the meantime though, with a sigh and a gulp, we make the decision to shoulder the burden.

Poor motivation 4: So no one can say we didn’t try. Here the point is not so much to evangelise as to be seen to evangelise. And it doesn’t have to be a baldly hypocritical act. Sometimes we are the ones we want to show off to. We can engage in evangelism not because we believe God will bring new life, but in order to convince ourselves that we gave it our best shot.

How can I be so sure that these spurious motivations are in the hearts of others? Only because I recognise them in my own.

Healthy motives

But before you accuse me of being the most cynical evangelist in Britain, let me share four genuine reasons to engage in mission. They all come from John 4 where Jesus offers new life to the Samaritan woman.

Healthy motivation 1: We have a fullness to share. First Jesus offers his own fullness: ‘the water I give … will become … a spring of water welling up to eternal life’ (v.13). And then the woman bubbles over in witness to the village: ‘Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did’ (v.39). From Christ, to the woman, to the village, witness is an overflowing movement. Our motivation is not to fill our own emptiness – how manipulative and self-seeking that would be. We don’t seek to gain converts, but to offer Christ.

Healthy motivation 2: They have a need to be saved. It’s not about fulfilling our own needs, evangelism meets our friends’ greatest need: salvation (v.22).

Healthy motivation 3: There is a joy to be experienced. After a hard day’s evangelism, Jesus does not speak of His sacrifices but His satisfaction. When the disciples assume He must be hungry, He speaks instead of the ‘food’ of engaging in His Father’s work – seeking the lost (v.34).

Healthy motivation 4: There is a great harvest to be reaped. The disciples saw only a sinful woman and an unbelieving culture. Jesus saw this mission field as ‘ripe for harvest’ (v.35).

How different this is! If we reach out in our own strength we merely try to gain converts, to feel better about ourselves, to shoulder a burden, and to prove that we’ve tried. But instead let’s look again to Christ, our Fountain of Life. In Him there is a fullness to share, an emptiness to fill, food to taste and a harvest to reap!