On Being a Sending Church {Day 12}
This month our sending church is emphasizing Spain as a mission field every week. We are so blessed to have a committed, invested sending church behind us who considers the church plant in Alcalá to be an extension of themselves. Chris shared his testimony last week, and I shared mine this week.
Sending missionaries is no small matter. Paul addresses his supporting churches often in his letters, telling them that because of their support and prayers, the Gospel spread. This is still true today. Our sending church's love and enthusiasm is indispensable to us.
In the first bulletin this month, we included the following excerpt.
Beloved, it is a faithful thing you do in all your efforts for these brothers, strangers as they are, who testified to your love before the church. You will do well to send them on their journey in a manner worthy of God. For they have gone out for the sake of the name, accepting nothing from the Gentiles. Therefore we ought to support people like these, that we may be fellow workers for the truth. 3 John 1:5-8 ESV
“It is not of secondary importance to be engaged in this ministry of sending. It is a very high calling. It is walking in the truth. It is the manifestation of a healthy and prospering soul. Senders are fellow workers with the truth. To send in a manner worthy of God is a call to excellence in the support of missionaries. It is direct participation in God’s purpose. The cruciality of sending cannot be overemphasized. Therefore, it must not be done in a shoddy manner but in “a manner worthy of God.” There is a world of difference between a church “having” a missionary and a church “sending” a missionary. When we send missionaries in a manner worthy of God, God is glorified, our souls prosper, and we are fellow workers with the truth. We are in sync with God’s heartbeat and his purpose to be glorified among all the peoples.”
-Tom Steller (the afterword, Let the Nations Be Glad by John Piper
