Touchstone #10

Some Christians have been guilty of assuming that 'real mission' must involve crossing oceans or national borders. Others assume that 'real mission' only happens in our local communities. Both views are incomplete. Christian mission means crossing barriers—whether those barriers are geographic, cultural, linguistic, social, or economic.

Jesus' command in Acts 1:8 was to be his witnesses 'in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.' This progression shows that mission involves both the local and the global, both the near and the far. God sends us across whatever barriers separate us from those who need to hear the good news of Jesus Christ. Sometimes the greatest barriers are not geographic distance but cultural prejudice, economic disparity, or social division. Peter's vision in Acts 10 challenged him to cross barriers he thought were uncrossable. God continues to call the church to cross barriers in Jesus' name, bringing the gospel to every people and every place.