The Church and Mission Perspectives

            The church often considers itself a power in the West. Particularly, churches in America have to be careful that they do not act as if they are doing people a favor by sending missionaries around the world. This mindset can very easily lead to the perspective that the church is the fulfillment of the kingdom of God. As a member of the church, we must be careful to keep the perspective that while the church is local it is also national. It is also important to keep in mind that the role of the church is to advance the kingdom of God, but is not a fulfillment of it. Church members of this town and others like it can actively be involved in mission and break this way of thinking by continually treating other churches as equal in mission and pointing to Jesus’ teaching about the actual coming of God’s kingdom.