Why So Many Churches Don't Do Missions

Few churches would claim that missions is unimportant. The Great Commission is read aloud, missionaries of the past are admired, and carrying the gospel to the nations is recognized as a noble calling. And yet many congregations have never sent out a missionary, do not sustain any work on an ongoing basis, and rarely pray with any specificity for the peoples who still do not know Christ. There is, then, a gap between what we confess and what we practice. Understanding that gap should not serve to accuse the church, but to help her recognize her responsibility and return to her missionary calling.

The most common explanation for this reality is a lack of resources. Many churches are small, carry legitimate expenses, and must meet real needs among their own members. These difficulties should not be dismissed. Yet a shortage of money is not always the deepest cause. Often it merely exposes a prior problem: missions does not occupy a real place among the congregation's priorities. A church's budget reveals, to a great extent, what it considers indispensable. When there is always money to maintain buildings, expand internal programs, and satisfy local preferences, but never any room for missionary work, the problem may not be financial after all, but a matter of priorities.

Another reason is a lack of teaching. A church will hardly develop a passion for something it does not know. If members never learn that God's purpose reaches every people group, and that Christ commanded his church to make disciples of all nations (Matt 28:18-20), missions will easily be seen as a distant activity, reserved for people specially called to that work. Missionary awareness must be shaped by the teaching of Scripture, by prayer, by the testimony of missionaries, and by contact with the reality of those who have not yet heard the gospel. When missions disappears from the pulpit, from discipleship, and from the life of the church, it gradually disappears from the hearts of its members as well.

There are also congregations dominated by local urgencies. The sick member, the family in crisis, the wayward young person, the costs of the building, and the needs of the neighborhood are all realities that demand attention. The church must not use missions as an excuse to neglect those God has placed around her. The problem arises when these needs become her only concern. In that case, mission beyond her borders looks like a luxury, something to be considered only once every internal problem has been solved. But that day never comes. A church that waits for perfect conditions before obeying will likely never find the moment to begin.

Fear can also keep a church from moving forward. Sending people involves preparation, paperwork, health concerns, financial support, ongoing care, and many other responsibilities. It is natural for questions and worries to arise. Prudence is necessary, and responsibility should not be mistaken for a lack of faith. The problem begins when fear becomes a permanent excuse for taking no step at all. The church is not called to act irresponsibly, but to bring her fears to the Lord of the harvest and seek his guidance. Christ never promised that the mission would be easy, but he did guarantee his presence with those who obey his command (Matt 28:20).

In some cases, the mission has simply been outsourced. The church assumes that an agency, a denominational board, or a specialized organization should carry the whole responsibility. These institutions can render a valuable service in preparing, sending, and caring for missionaries, but they do not replace the responsibility of the local church. It is the church that knows the character of those she sends, that prays for them, shares in their support, and stands beside them through the joys and hardships of ministry. Supporting a mission organization matters, but it does not remove the church's responsibility before Christ's command.

Another obstacle is a faith shaped too much by comfort. Christ's call involves self-denial, perseverance, service, and a willingness to go where he is not yet known. That language can sound strange in a Christian culture that often measures blessing by security, consumption, and personal fulfillment. When following Jesus is presented mainly as a means of achieving our own desires, missionary sacrifice looks excessive. Yet Christ called his disciples to a life that does not have the self at its center: “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23).

In this setting, pastoral leadership plays a decisive role. A church tends to value whatever its leaders present as a priority before God. If missions appears only on a commemorative date, the congregation will naturally treat it as peripheral. But when God's Word regularly sets forth his purpose for the nations, when prayer includes peoples and places not yet reached, and when leadership leads the church to look beyond her own needs, a new awareness begins to emerge. There is no need to invent an endless string of programs. What is needed is faithfully recovering what Christ commanded his church to do.

Missionary neglect need not produce cynicism or despair. It should produce reflection and repentance. A church can be awakened when she allows God's Word to correct her priorities and broaden her vision. The first step is not to design grand projects, but to look honestly at her own present reality. Have we talked about missions without ever taking part in it? Have we admired those who go, while avoiding any personal involvement? Have we asked God to reach the nations while remaining unwilling to be instruments in his hands?

A first step, within reach of any church, is simple: choose one people group, one field, or one specific missionary to pray for by name, regularly, over the coming months — not as a vague intention, but as a concrete commitment made by leadership and congregation together. Another step is to ask, at the next elders' or council meeting, whether there is a budget line dedicated to missions, however small, and what it would take to create or strengthen it. A third step is to invite, in the coming months, someone serving on a mission field to tell the church his or her story — not as an isolated event, but as the beginning of an ongoing relationship. None of these steps requires abundant resources; they require only a decision.

A church does not need to be large to begin obeying. She needs to recognize that mission is not a secondary matter, but part of the calling of all God's people. Every congregation can teach, pray, give, testify, send, and walk more faithfully in missionary work. The question is not whether we have everything that would be ideal. The question is whether we are willing to let the Lord correct our priorities and lead us into obedience. The mission remains a command of Christ for his whole church: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations” (Matt 28:19).