I am glad to see an IMB strategy change evoked and spear headed by the new IMB President, David Platt. Evident by his writing, preaching, and lifestyle, Platt seeks to reach the nations with the gospel as mandated by the Scriptures utilizing every resource available. His desire to empower missionaries in a manner that is not limited by finances as he states, "We need a strategy that doesn't cap our number of missionaries merely based upon how much money we have," is commendable. Considering the mission of the church to the reach the nations as well as the new strategy of the IMB I have a few thoughts, as elementary as they may be, concerning the strategy of each local church in cooperation with the IMB strategy. 1) We must recover the Biblical ideology of "every member a missionary" as is evident throughout Acts. Every follower of Jesus must envision his/her life as primarily a disciple-maker. Until we recover such an idea, the church will struggle to reach the nations. 2) We must be willing to "pick up and go until God says no." Paul persistently sought to reach the nations with the gospel and at times the Holy Spirit hindered him only to redirect him (Acts 16). Money must not hinder the willing and obedient follower of Jesus from going to the nations. Though the IMB is a great resource, the door is open for believers, seeing themselves as missionaries, to move across seas, find or create a job while making disciples. 3) along with the above 2, reaching the nations MUST NOT be left to the Professionals. God did not call professionals to make disciples, but rather the meager worker like you and I. Professionalizing mission work to "Missionaries" greatly hinders the reaching of our communities, our nation, and the nations. While I commend the IMB for their work, and support them in many ways, followers of Jesus must embrace the reaching of the nations as much an individual believers responsibility as well as the responsibility of the church and the IMB. The passion, commitment, and pleasure of reaching the nations must be internalized to every believer, which in turn results in the church passionately partnering in the gospel to reach the nations.
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