CAMPING FOR CHRIST

Often times in the world of Missions there are two camps. Those who define missional work as those events and activities taking place in and around their own community, or what I like to describe as the "Jerusalem" camp. The other camp are those who view this type of work as local evangelism and tend to focus more on the global community -- the "ends of the earth" camp. Are these two camps incorrect in their thinking? Well no, and yes. You see, traditionally, the commission of Christ to go into Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth, has often been viewed as a linear command, i.e. 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc. This way of thinking often causes a conflict between the groups mentioned earlier because it prioritize the "mission field" in a chronological order. A second view of this commission has traditionally split the camps above into "my job" vs. "your job" roles. Either way the conflict still exists. And what shall we say about the middle of the road, the "Samarian" camp? This has its own unique issues. The missional community can continue to be divided on this issue, or we can recognize that as the Church we are called to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ -- using whatever gits and talents HE has euipped us with to whomever he brings into our sphere of influence. If Christ has only equipped a church with the gifts to minister to people just like them in the community -- great! They should do that. If HE has equipped them only to minister to people in their community not like them great! They should do that. If HE has equipped them only to minster to people not like them and not in their own community -- great! They should do that. And for those rare few -- if HE has equipped them to minister to all at the same time -- even better! They should do that.

Happy Camping!

chris