Equipping gospel agents to carry out God’s mission

Editor’s note: Each issue of the Texan this year will include a column written by a member of the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention’s Shepherds Collective. 

“I wish my church was more serious and committed to sharing the gospel!”

I would venture to guess this thought has come to the mind of almost every pastor at some point during his ministry. While we all know evangelism springs from a heart full of devotion to Jesus and a daily walk with the Spirit, I believe pastors and church leaders have a role to play as we lead our congregations to becoming mission-minded and gospel-focused.

First, we must patiently and consistently root out bad theology as it relates to mission in the minds of our people. Some might say, “That’s the pastor’s job,” or, “Missions is for missionaries,” or simply, “I didn’t know we were supposed to do that.” While none of these statements find resonance in Scripture, they are saturating the minds of many of our people due to the mixing of our cultural worldview with our faith. 

As pastors, we must help our people identify these broken concepts and rebuild them with the truth of God’s Word. For example, I recently preached through John’s gospel, and when I came to John 20:20 where Jesus tells the disciples, “As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you,” I made a point to show there’s no such thing as a disciple who’s not sent as a missionary. They go hand in hand. To be a disciple of Jesus is to be sent on mission.

Second, we need to recalibrate our training. When we do missions, it’s often a separate outreach event and only those who are already confident show up. Instead, push your evangelism strategy down into the individual ministry areas within the church and integrate your training into those normal ministry routines. 

In our college ministry, part of the weekly rhythm includes time on campus building relationships with the lost by giving away coffee. This isn’t an add-on event; it’s part of a weekly rhythm. With some creativity, we can do the same with our children’s ministries, student ministries, Sunday school classes, and small groups. By integrating mission into every ministry area as part of the normal rhythm, not only are you increasing training opportunities, but you are establishing mission as a part of the culture of your church.

Finally, we need to help our congregation develop a target. I’m a bow hunter, and one of the most critical aspects of success in bow hunting is developing the ability to identify a precise target and then steady your aim on that target before you shoot. Too often, I think our pleas to our people lack a precise target, so they don’t know where to start. 

At our church we use the phrase “spheres of influence” to describe the target. We ask them to identify the places where they live, work, and play and to pursue relationships within those spaces. That’s the target. Those are the places where God has given you responsibility to be a gospel agent, and you should be developing the kinds of relationships that allow you to share the gospel with those individuals at the appropriate time.

We can’t do the work of the Holy Spirit, but clear teaching, consistent training, and helping your people identify and take responsibility for their areas of influence will go a long way in the development of a missional culture in your church.

For more information on the Shepherds Collective and other SBTC networks, visit sbtexas.com/networks.