Pastor's Circle - Bert Harper

Bert Harper pastors at West Jackson St. Baptist Church in Tupelo, MS, as well as serving as the chairman on the  board of American Family Association. He joined The Matt Friedeman Show today to talk about missions in the local church.

Can a local church be healthy without a strong missions program?

The simple answer is no. 

Churches typically "do" missions, but being on a mission means that you're involved in your community as well as internationally.

What would that look like in a local church?

I think Acts 1:8 would be a good criteria for judging that. Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. 

Many people look at that list as progressive, but if you look at the book of Acts, you find out that it's simultaneous.
What we do wrong is talk about local missions, home missions, foreign missions. What we should be doing is being missional wherever we are.

I think you need to look where you're needed the most. Sometimes it's hard, because it's easier to do a one-time project than it is to continue a process.

How can a church evaluate how they're doing in missions?

At least keep it in front of people. Try to give a report about how the mission is going. 

I believe individual testimony is God's way of doing it. When Paul got back from a journey, he would give a report. There's accountability in that, and there's also rejoicing.

Normality is missional. There is an awareness now that the church is subnormal. And when we get normal, they're going to call us fanatics.