“This one thing I do...” (Phil 3:13)

 The most successful people in life are those who have focus. This is true in business, in studies, in ministry, in every aspect of life. Paul recognized this too, and poured out of his time and energy for ONE THING, the fulfillment of the call that God had on his life.

If the Church of Jesus Christ had stayed focused in history, there would be no need to write this article. The Lord would have come back for His Bride a long time ago! May our generation be different.  But like those who have gone before, we will not finish the Great Commission without FOCUS.

Target’s effectiveness is also dependent upon our FOCUS. While there are many legitimate needs that could capture our attention, we must resist every distraction. The Chinese word for distract is “fen xin”, which literally means a divided heart. In order to keep our hearts from being pulled in many different directions, we have an acronym for FOCUS that helps us to keep our eyes upon the Target. Perhaps this will be a help to you and your church as well.

Fields

Jesus said that we are must lift our eyes upon the whitened fields. Too often our eyes have been fixed upon the farmhouse. Jesus’ parable of leaving the 99 to search for the one who was lost teaches us the priority He placed upon the field. He did not disregard the house, but he saw it in perspective. The church is like the house, providing shelter, warmth, communion, nourishment, etc. But the farmer does not spend all his time there. If he does not work the fields, he will not survive.

Christians need to get out of their little farmhouses. A friend of mine once attended a missions “executives” conference. When he asked how many of them had ever been out to visit the people they were discussing and strategizing about, not even one of them had been! In China during the sugar cane harvest, whole families move to roadside tents to sell their crops.  Their lives depend upon it.

Obedience

Why do the scriptures say that obedience is better than sacrifice? What is the difference? The answer boils down to one word: relationship. If someone asks you for water, and you spend the next year digging a deep well, you may have sacrificed much but in the meantime the person has long gone somewhere else to get a drink. You never understood his need!

When our strategies are born out of a close walk with the Master, they are effective and His heart is blessed. We do not merely follow principles or methods, we follow Him. In this way, not even the most difficult assignments seem like a sacrifice. When we complain of our load, its time to focus back on our relationship, and simply do what Jesus says.

Church

While there are many wonderful forms of Christian service and charity, these are the work of the Church, not missionaries. Missionaries plant churches. Once churches are planted, they are mobilized to care for the orphans, the lepers, the children, etc. The number of hospitals and universities which were started by missionaries and now run by ungodly and self-serving people around the world is staggering. The means had become the end. This would not be true had the mission agencies not lost their FOCUS.

Unreached

The main reason there are unreached people today is: they are not easy to reach. This does not mean that they are not ready to be reached, only that there are political, religious, linguistic, etc. barriers which make the task of planting churches among them difficult. Without clear objectives, missions work has historically fallen into the trap of simply helping Christians or evangelizing among peoples who are already reached. While this is not bad, it will not get the job done. Jesus’ words to preach “unto every (ethnic) people” were not just a suggestion. Then why are only 1% of the missionaries working among the unreached?

Servants

The last letter refers not to what we do or where, but to how. Not only do we go FOR Christ, but we go AS Christ. The point is to do the right things and in the right way. If Jesus came to serve, and Paul made himself a servant to all men that he might win the more, how could we do any less?

Our success depends on being Obedient Servants planting Churches among the Fields of Unreached People. Pray for us that we will keep our FOCUS. For only in doing so will we ever hit the TARGET.

 This article appeared in our May 2001 newsletter.  If you are interested to be on our mailing list, please write in to us.

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