Missions… what does that term bring to mind? Starving children in remote areas of the world? Ministry to the inner city poor and homeless? Traveling around the world delivering the Good News of Jesus Christ to those who do not believe? Helping a neighbor cut down a tree? Helping a young parent work out a financial plan for his/her family? Well, if you said all of these, you are right on the money.

The term missions will usually bring to our minds an idea of sacrifice or suffering on our part somehow. We generally think we have to give up or deprive ourselves of something in order to “experience” missions. But that is not necessarily true. Yes, we may have to sacrifice our time or resources but it does not have to be a time of suffering and self-denial. Missions is just as much attitude as it is action. Missions can be something, in fact, should be something, you enjoy doing. It might be something you’ve done all your life for yourself and now you want to do it to help others. Or maybe it is a new skill or talent you learn for the benefit of the greater good.

Missions can take place at church, on the beach, with the poor, to the rich, on a mountain, in the inner city, in the U.S. or across the ocean. And missions is more than just helping others. It is helping others in the name of Jesus Christ. It is lifting up God’s name as the reason you are doing what you are doing. It is telling others about the God you love. Sometimes you tell that story, your story, with words and sometimes through action. Missions, therefore, can take place on a beach in Hawaii with just as much “good” as it does in a run down mission in outer Mongolia. But remember, it is the attitude of your heart and the motive behind your actions that determine and define whether missions is taking place.

Many people claim they are too busy, too poor, aren’t talented enough, have too many other commitments, etc… to “do” missions. We could all find an excuse if we look hard enough. But missions, or in other words, sharing the good news, is not an option but rather a spiritual mandate if we also claim to serve God. The two, belief and service, cannot be separated.

So let’s agree, in the name of our Lord, to set aside excuses and start looking for opportunities to live out our faith through service to others by sharing the Good News in word and deed. You’ll receive a greater blessing than you are able to give.

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