By Mike Ryan
“To show a liberal, self-denying spirit for the success of foreign missions is a sure way to advance home missionary work; for the prosperity of the home work depends largely, under God, upon the reflex influence of the evangelical work done in countries afar off” (Ellen G. White, Gospel Workers, pp. 465, 466).
Mission is the bridge between God’s plans and my plans. However, mission is often confused with activities in far-away countries filled with pagans or only at my local church. Wrong answers! Mission works interdependently and involves every person in the world in every location of the world. Jumping off the bridge can be hazardous to your health!
The operation of a world church is a complex process. Church happens in all but 17 of the world’s 206 countries, with more than 150,000 groups/churches, nearly 8,000 schools, nearly 1,000 hospitals/clinics and health care facilities, 62 publishing houses, 22 food factories, and scores of programs and methods—the tasks and parts of governance are nearly beyond comprehension. From leadership training through the critical steps of strategic planning and organizational governance, there is only one purpose for the church. The church has been organized for the purpose of mission.
Every church leader, and particularly pastors and members, is largely concerned with mission as defined by the Lord Himself–giving hope to the world through Christ and making disciples in Christ (Matt. 28: 19, 20). I have often heard the question, “How can growth take place in my church?” Jumping off the bridge can be hazardous to your health!
At the conclusion of a mission conference, an elderly lady from the eastern United States handed me $2,500 to start a new church in northwest India. When she handed me the money, she said, “Take the money; our church of seven members is dead.” We talked for about 30 minutes. I told her that her sacrificial gift could very possibly be their church’s first plank on the great mission bridge of hope. Shortly there- after, seven members, inspired by the Holy Spirit and claiming the “reflex influence,” employed the most simple, humble methods, and watched for the “reflex.” Two years later, I spoke at the new church in India—42 grace-filled members all chiseled from the bedrock of a hopeless world religion. A few weeks after that, I spoke at the seven-member church. Seventy-one people present—all chiseled from the bedrock of faith.
Jumping off the bridge can be hazardous to your health! Shrinking pains begin with the narrowing of a church’s vision and mission. The voices begin in the hallways and progress to the boardroom. “Foreign mission? Who needs it? It has nothing to do with us. Cancel the mission report. We have no time to show Mission 360. Global Mission’s church planting? We have other uses for our money.” We have all seen it. The talk goes on and on until finally mission is defined as internal entertainment and the critically important human, time and financial sacrifice required to operate a church school, Pathfinders, Center of Influence—Community Services, evangelism, etc., is considered an outrageous intrusion to church life and the budget. Children’s story– “Where have all the children gone?” Jumping off the bridge can be hazardous to your health!
Is the mission of the church going forward? Absolutely! Globally, 2016 and 2017 were both record-setting years for church planting. The church’s Global Mission Initiative, empowered by the Holy Spirit, continues to dynamically deliver hope in Christ to the non-Christian world. Church growth is alive and thriving in the North American Division, Mid-America Union, and the Rocky Mountain Conference. Look at the data! However, only changed people, not changed data, register in heaven. Every day, people without hope find Christ. I have met them—business executives, plumbers, refugees, abused children, prostitutes, Animists, murderers, the homeless, the wealthy, the poor—all finding eternal hope in Christ, from desperate to being cuddled in God’s grace.
It is easy to comfort myself saying, “The bruised, sick and destitute of the world live somewhere else, not in my city.” True, these people do live somewhere else, but it’s a sure bet that when I help them, God will open my eyes and use me as an instrument of hope to heal the bruised, the sick and the destitute not only in my city but in my home. While global church growth is on my list of concerns, it is not the first question that should rock my world. If faith and sacrifice are to walk hand in hand, I must hear the roaring question, “What’s the condition of my mission bridge? Is my mission bridge robust or sporting just one thin plank? Am I bold enough, responsible enough, to shake and rattle my priorities until my mission bridge repeatedly transports the “reflex influence”—Christ to the world?”
Many years ago when my father was a colporteur, had five children in church school, and was part of a new church plant, I watched as Mom and Dad pledged $500 for the purchase of a property on which now stands the Gladstone, Missouri, church. I was old enough to know that Dad needed a newer car, paint and shingles for our old house, and all of us could use a few new clothes. On the way home, I asked Dad where he was going to get the money for the church. Driving home in the dim of the evening, I could just make out the look of peace on Dad’s face. With one hand on the steering wheel, he put his other hand on my shoulder and said, “The work of the church will be finished in the spirit of sacrifice, but never forget, faith and sacrifice walk hand in hand.” I knew intuitively that he was paraphrasing from Ellen White.
Over the next two years, I watched Mom and Dad, little by little, pay that $500. I also helped paint the old house and put shingles on the roof, and that year I got socks, a sweater, and a new shirt for Christmas. The next generation is watching. Jumping off the bridge can be hazardous to your health!
–Mike Ryan is a former vice president of the General Conference and coordinated the church’s Global Mission initiative. He and his wife Jeanie live near Montrose, Colorado.