If I could write a letter to my fellow Christians about the state of the church and its mission, it would go something like this:
Dear fellow follower of Christ,
We got it wrong.
For centuries we have perpetuated ideas and teachings which are inconsistent with the grassroots truth of Christ.
You have within you the hope of the world. You have been lovingly made, and you are a strategic piece of the solution. You can’t sit on the sidelines. God needs you as His missionary in the world.
The mission of healing requires us all. The mission to bring hope, the mission to bring peace, and the mission of love is in our hearts and needs our voice, our hands and our feet. You need only use what God has given you to take part in His mission in the world.
But as church and ministry leaders we have too often failed you. We have focused on buildings more than community. We have focused on keeping you in, rather than sending you out. And we have perpetuated a hierarchy that somehow made it seem that only pastors and missionaries were meant for full-life service to God’s work in the world. For these errors, and so many others, we seek your forgiveness.
God’s mission is for all believers. You can be used exactly as you have been formed and transformed. And while He is working through you, he’ll keep transforming you.
With phrases like ‘short-term mission’ and ‘long-term mission’ we have framed God’s mission as something which is less than full-life and full-time.
With the way we’ve used words like ‘calling’ we have made it seem as if a calling is something each of us is still waiting for and have robbed our Creator of the truth that He has already called all of us for the same big purpose.
And with phrases like ‘mission field,’ we have pretended that there are perhaps places where we live our lives for His mission, and places where we don’t.
God’s mission field is the whole world, 24 hours a day and every day of the year. Your full life is required, and that’s exactly what you promised when you told Jesus that you were joining His cause. If we failed to mention that, or failed to reinforce it, we’ve let you down.
Forgive us. Christians are God’s missionary force, yet we’ve set up a system that treats missions as something for a few, when in fact it is God’s call to all who seek to follow Him.
Please accept our apology and work with us to change the way we organize, talk and live out Christianity and God’s mission. You are known and loved by God exactly as you are. And you have the hope for your neighbors, your community and the world living inside you.
Sincerely,
Geoff
(as printed in Love Child by Geoff Peters, to be released in 2022)