How Can Our Church Balance Local and Global Missions Work?

How Can Our Church Balance Local and Global Missions Work?

I'm often asked about balancing local evangelism and global missions. And I sort of want to reject the premise of the question. These things don't need to be balanced.

The task of the church—our command—is to make Christ known in all the earth. That begins with the fact that I'm a pastor of a local church, and in my city, we need to be proclaiming Christ: not only to the people who come into our building, but we need to be out proclaiming Christ to the people outside of our building.

And we need to be raising up people to send to unreached peoples of the earth. So, we need to be asking the Lord of the harvest to raise up workers for the harvest field—both those in our own context and those among the nations.

And I think these two things necessarily come together. A church that is concerned about reaching the lost around them is also a church that ought to be concerned—and I think will be concerned—about reaching the lost in every tribe and tongue and nation.