Desiring to see the nations reached for Christ and helping people develop a more intimate relationship with Jesus is at the heart of mobilizing people for the Great Commission. We are not persuading or recruiting people to do this work. We are discovering who God made them to be and what he has called them to do. Then we help them carry it out. This exploration is done side by side, and discipleship is its core.

Everyone needs discipleship; it is not something you graduate out of. When God calls you, it is not because you have your life completely in order. In fact, there are a hundred examples in the Bible of God calling flawed people to do something great in his name. Their weaknesses show in every footstep, but God still calls them, and almost always there is someone to encourage them along the way. Those God calls into ministry today are no different.

As a Mobilizer, I get to come alongside. I get to be the one who helps those God has called grow into readiness.

This must be done in a person-to-person relationship, which means getting to know someone’s life at a deep level, learning about their struggles as much as their passions and skills. Discerning a person’s readiness involves locating obstacles in their lives, determining a right fit for ministry, resolving financial issues, and many more personal elements. Most importantly, it means challenging them to build a healthy relationship with the local church.

The relationship with the church is not only a significant piece in mobilization, it plays a vital part in discipleship too. Cross-cultural workers are like the fingertips of the body of Christ, touching those who have not been reached with the gospel, and with them the whole body stretches! As a Mobilizer, I get to help foster the relationship between the goer and the sender, as both parties invest in one another.

I cannot stress enough the significance of the local church’s role in mobilizing.

The kind of things preached in the pulpit of local churches may determine the kind of disciples that are made. If a church’s heart breaks for what breaks God’s heart, namely reaching the nations, mission-driven disciples will be produced by God’s grace. When that is the case, as a Mobilizer, I can be another voice in a chorus that is already present in a person’s life. Before I ever enter the process, the local church could start the ball rolling in a person’s missional journey.

Mobilization cannot be separated from discipleship, and the local church should not be disconnected from the disciple. What would happen if the church regularly ASKED God to raise up missions-driven people among them? What would happen if the church INVITED the people God raises up to consider acting on their call? What would happen if the church MENTORED these people?

If this was the A.I.M. of the local church, the process of discipleship and determining readiness, of which I am only a part, would be exceptional and complete.

______________

By a Missions Mobilizer with Encompass World Partners who works on a team that seeks to mobilize and equip people and churches that are following Jesus into the missional work he’s doing to make disciples of all nations. Contact her team at go@encompassworld.org.