Why The Local Church

We have wondered, as have other people, what is the next iteration for SPACE [because there will be another iteration]. Some people have suggested starting a youth missions organization. Besides the obvious list of why we don’t need another youth missions organization [saturated market, everybody does the same thing, etc ], a core distinctive of SPACE is that we are a component of a local youth ministry, tied to a local church. This distinctive is driven by the belief that the local church is one of God’s primary agents of change in the world.

I was reminded of this idea once again when I recently read Rob Wegner's notes from a stealth gathering of innovative and impactful church leaders hosted by Rick Warren and Saddleback Church. Rob is Pastor of Life Mission [isn’t that a cool title?] at Granger Community Church and here are some snippets from his notes:

When Jesus gave the Great Commission, it was physically impossible at the time, there were not trains, planes, and automobiles. Two means of transportation: walk and ride an animal.

In almost every country of the world, the first hospital and first school in the world was started by missionaries.

For 1900 years there were not parachurch organizations or agencies. For 1900 years the local church was the center and sender of mission. Over the last 100 years, we got this idea that in order to do mission you have to go outside the local church to do it. Every time a local church ignored an area of need, God raised up an organization to do it. [Campus Crusade for students, Promise Keepers for men, etc.]

THE CHURCH IS THE GREATEST DISTRIBUTION NETWORK IN THE WORLD, I CAN TAKE YOU TO 10,000 VILLAGES THAT DON’T HAVE ANYTHING, BUT THEY HAVE A CHURCH. You can go to a million or so villages and they don’t have anything but a church. The church was global 200 years before anyone was talking about globalization. There are 2.3 billion people who claim to be Christian. That means the church is bigger than China, bigger than India, bigger than china and india together. Nothing on this planet is bigger than the Church.

Millions Christians volunteer every week. It is the largest mobilization force in the world. No government has a volunteer force that ever comes close to the church. The government wasn’t big enough to handle Katrina, but the church was. The local churches were the first in and the last.

We've been around 2000 years. We are not a fly by night organization. 2000 years from now there won’t be a Microsoft or an HP. No cooperation has lasted 2000 years. No empire or government has lasted 2000 years.

If you are going to end a pandemic, you need something that is growing faster than that pandemic. The only thing growing faster is the church of Jesus Christ. 72,000 come to Christ every day. The number one place? China!