And after being deeply immersed in the ‘Missions Movement’ for the last five years, I’m struck by both its strengths and its pitfalls.  

The Missions Movement has a rich history of ever-evolving thought processes when it comes to understanding Scripture and how it portrays God’s heart for all peoples to be given the opportunity to know Him. It is filled with creative individuals who are incredibly resourceful in maneuvering obstacles; individuals who are undeterred by challenges faced as they seek to proclaim Good News wherever it has not yet been proclaimed. It is marked by a profound sense of passion and urgency, utilizing the enormity of the task remaining to synergize people and groups around fulfilling the Great Commission. And it’s truly humbling to be a part of. 

And yet there are two sides to every coin, and we would be remiss to not call attention to and caution individuals about some of the potential pitfalls found within the Missions Movement… because for every strength, there can also be strength pushed to an extreme, which is how weakness is sometimes defined in the business world. In what we today would call the “modern-day” Missions Movement, we will find a tainted history of ethnocentrism and a propagation of Western culture side-by-side with gospel proclamation. We will observe individuals who are overcome by human ambition and a tendency to disproportionately pursue quantity at the expense of quality, apparent fruitfulness over inward faithfulness. We will be forced to reckon with the reality that unchecked urgency leads only to strategies that are unwise, individuals who are unprepared and unhealthy, and ‘results’ that are a mile wide and an inch deep. And it’s truly sobering to be a part of. 

Before we go any further, please note that none of the above statements cancel each other out although, at first glance, they may seem to. In our highly polarized age, we’ve become uncomfortable with nuance and with gray areas, and yet as followers of Jesus we’re invited to lean into the discomfort with discernment. Paradox is the stuff of life… especially life in the Kingdom of God. So let’s press in — specifically to this idea of urgency unchecked. 

As a Missions Mobilizer, I have the opportunity to almost daily experience the good, the bad, and the ugly when it comes to urgency in missions. I get to see the grace-filled progression as genuine conviction moves a believer to engage in the advancement of God’s global Kingdom because they just learned about unreached people groups for the first time. I get to talk with the missions minded believer who, with every good intention, assures me that they “only need Jesus and a plane ticket” to serve effectively cross-culturally. And I get to process through negative on-the-field experiences when people who had good intentions were thrust out without adequate preparation and wreaked havoc wherever they were serving. 

Regardless of where you are in your missions journey and your understanding of God’s global Kingdom, can I speak a word of caution and exhortation over you?

Be watchful of your own urgency.

In a world where we’ve grown accustomed to having everything almost instantaneously, it’s easy for us to get swept away entirely by the urgency that rightly comes with knowledge about unreached people groups. We’ve been conditioned to expect everything quickly… but that’s a fairly new phenomenon in the grand scheme of things. The early Church was known by their patience* — this less-than-glamorous fruit of the Spirit. Patience was actually their greatest apologetic in that day and age, and so we who have microwaves and fast food and next day delivery would do well to learn from them in this respect… because, as Alan Kreider would poignantly say, “Although God is at work, God is not in a hurry.” 

Now, I am in no way saying that urgency is not a good or true motivator when it comes to missions. I just believe that urgency needs to know limits by being tempered by other values of the Kingdom. 

 So, for the Cross-Cultural-Worker-Wannabe, what might this look like? 

Don’t bypass your own formation.

Ruth Haley Barton once wrote, “ Mission cannot be discerned without formation, nor can mission be sustained without an ongoing commitment to transformation in Christ’s presence.”**

If you desire to make Christ known in places where the gospel has not yet gone, I celebrate that and believe it’s a God-given desire! Don’t miss out on the continued leading and transformation that Christ has for you by rushing ahead and getting so busy doing work for Him that you have no time to be with Him. And I know that might sound like a Christian cliche, but really stop and think about it. How are you investing in your own spiritual formation? How are you intentionally living in such a way that counters the busyness our culture idolizes? Does the pace of your life embody and put on display for the watching world the patience of our God? And if not, what shifts might you need to make to safeguard yourself from unchecked urgency as you pursue involvement in the Great Commission? 

It’s been over 2,000 years since Jesus walked on this earth… and yet there’s still 3 billion people that don’t have access to His Good News. The need is great, and there is an acute sense of urgency. I feel it deeply, too. And yet let’s be intentional to stay in step with Christ… to not run ahead, nor lag behind. May we be a people continually formed and transformed by our vision of Christ and His glory, allowing that to be the place from which our engagement in His mission flows. 

Written by Laney Mills

Sources Referenced:

* The Patient Ferment of the Early Church by Alan Kreider

** Sacred Rhythms by Ruth Haley Barton