In an article entitled “7 Characteristics of Churches That Love Missions” the author, Meredith Cook, discusses 7 main things that a Church that loves missions should have. I think many of these things can also be translated very well into a business that is looking to have a redemptive impact in the world as well.
The first thing that is mentioned is a deep love for the gospel. If you do not truly love the gospel and everything it stands for then how can you work well in the area of missions or outreach. Secondly, Meredith discusses the importance of understanding the great commission. A shocking statistic is brought up in this section of the article that says that 51% of U.S. Churchgoers do not even know what the great commission means. This is a problem that need to be changed as a Church that wants to succeed in the area of missions needs to understand and obey the great commission. The third thing a mission minded Church should always have on mind is unbelievers. As Christians we should always feel burdened for the unbelievers around us and have an urge to go out and proclaim the gospel to them in some way.
Fourthly, a mission minded Church needs to have leaders who love missions. If the pastors and deacons in a Church do not hunker down on the importance of missions then how are the members of the Church supposed to get fired up about going into the missions field or helping out those who are already there? This couples well with the fifth important thing Meredith mentions in her article and that is that Churches need to be sending and supporting missionaries. Those Churches that love missions are going to be sending out and supporting missionaries in some way. The sixth important thing mentioned in the article is the fact that Churches need to rightly order their priorities. If a Church loves missions they are goin to make it a priority. This idea works very well in the business world as well if there is a desire to reach out to others through a business setting then it will be made a priority in different aspects of that business. Finally, the last thing that a Church that loves missions will do is provide opportunities for members to participate in the missions field. This could be through a yearly missions trip to Uganda or simply through a VBS program right in the Churches back yard.
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