My blogs are taking on the appearance of juxtaposing two different ideas. Last week was “On or Off?” I feel like it’s a helpful tool to get ideas flowing. When I propose the question that my title for today suggests, I am thinking about the mission of the church.

When we were all younger, in the so-called “glory days” of the church, we were proud to send missionaries into the fields, deserts and jungles way over there. There was nothing inherently sinful or wrong about that; it was just the way it was. The church would get a nice Christmas card and a picture of the missionary family, maybe with a few of the villagers. We felt good (again, rightfully so; nothing wrong) about supporting the laborers in God’s vineyard way over there. Sending.

America today seems to be engaged in a civil war being fought on many fronts – immigration, #MeToo, increasingly bickering political parties, etc. Maybe we should think more in terms of bringing, not sending. Short-term projects, not life-long missionary careers, could be the way to bring vitality back to the church. Going to where “they” are, in the hopes that in cultivating a relationship, it may bring them to us.

We are bringing the skeptics and seekers the Good News. As the church, we must also be open to what “they” bring to the conversation about God’s story. The times are demanding a more spiritual response that is deep and profound. I guess for me it comes down to a preference for bringing. It implies mutuality. Sending sounds so “old school.” It gladdened my heart so much today when I heard one of my Christian brothers describe bringing a couple to a doctor appointment 45 minutes away. Cleared the decks on his calendar, he did. So much more loving than, say, sending for a driver. Don’t send me cookies, bring them to me!

Bring someone to the house of the Lord, or an at-home Bible study. The days of sending our kids to Sunday School so they can “get some Jesus in ‘em” are long gone. The family structure needs all the Christian support it can get to face the civil wars going on. Home, no matter who resides under one roof, is still the apple of God’s eye, the foundation that needs His story brought to bear.

Then – whether we call it bringing or sending – this crazy world has all the resource it needs to experience what is truly unconditional: God’s love.

Pastor Art