January 2022 from the desk of John Spadafora,
Crossworld Director of Church Engagement
Hello Friend,
If you've gotten this newsletter for any length of time, you know we like to talk about engaging the whole body of Christ in the Great Commission.
We will always need mission workers — seminary and Bible college trained pastors and missionaries — to make disciples among the least-reached. And we also need disciple-makers from all other professions to join them if we’re going to change the missions status quo. This is what God intended from the very beginning.
While this may not be a new concept to most of us, it might be a new concept to the people sitting in your church every week.
What can you do to inspire them and challenge them to consider their role in God’s global purposes?
Here are some ideas from Crossworld President Dale Losch.
Mobilizing All of God’s People
Tips for encouraging all-professions believers toward missions by Dale Losch, Crossworld President
Recently someone asked me in an interview, “How can we help recruit Christian professionals for missions?”
There still exists today a mindset that missions is for missionaries only — that professionals in education, healthcare, business, engineering, or anything else aren’t eligible. But God is doing incredible things through the small number marketplace professionals living on mission around the world. Imagine what He could do with thousands or hundreds of thousands!
I really believe the mobilization of marketplace professionals starts at the local church level. Pastors and church leaders — you play a key role!
Here are four practical ways you can add to the multitude of God’s people advancing His kingdom around the world.
1. Teach a biblical theology of work.
Speak from the pulpit and in personal conversations about the sacred trust each believer has from God. Help your people see the high value God places on their work, whatever it may be. Their work is worship, and each of them is called to full-time service through their work because God sees no sacred-secular divide. Rather, their unique passions and professional skills are a means of glorifying Him. Share stories of what this looks like in both local and global settings. At every opportunity, elevate their call from God to be part of His kingdom-building plan.
2. Share resources from other biblical teachers.
For people in your church who want to explore this topic, here are some resources you could put in their hands.
3. Encourage them to find jobs with companies that have a global presence.
One of the challenges of sending marketplace professionals is that they have to find a job in another country. If they already work for a multinational company, it’s that much easier. If someone in your church is on the path toward missions and is looking for the next step, have them consider pursuing a job they could transfer to an international location when the time is right.
4. Reinforce the message.
For most missionaries, we needed multiple missions exposures over many years before we took that leap of faith. I know it was that way for me, and I think we should expect the same for marketplace professionals. It will take time, and we need to repeat the invitation over and over. Continue to preach about God’s heart for the nations, challenge your people to go, and encourage them to use their work as the means to do it.
Let me close with Jesus’ command to us: “Pray to the Lord of the harvest and ask Him to send out workers into His harvest” (Matthew 9:38). That’s not a casual prayer here and there. It’s a desperate plea. Let’s daily beg God to raise up a vast force of men and women who have caught this vision and who will follow Him to the ends of the earth.●
Let’s partner together and fulfill the Great Commission.
Whether you’re sending your first cross-cultural workers or you’ve been doing this for years, we can help. Empower the people in your church to find and thrive in their role in God’s mission.
