Occasional Paper No. 39: The Local Church In Mission

Introduction The article I am going to critique is “The Lausanne Occasional Paper No. 39: The Local Church in Mission. The paper is the outcome of thirty leaders from many parts of the world, deliberating together across the globe for six months in Pattaya, Thailand from September 29 – October 5, 2004”. The group wanted to explore and research on the topic, of the local church pertaining to the Great Commission”. They wanted to see how they could involve the church in spreading the gospel to make disciples and how to go about spreading it to those outside of the faith community all around the world. They were focusing on “missional congregations”, which mean “ those communities of Christ-followers who see the church as the people of God who are sent on a mission”. They also did not look at culture as being Christian or Non-Christian but as a movement to involve mission around the world. They wanted to be like Christ by going out into the world and not keeping it inside the four walls of the church.

‘Tentmaking is a growing expression of mission in the contemporary world. It is a way in which members of the body of Christ can use their professional gifts” as a way spreading the gospel to those who would not necessarily hear it. Mission work is very important in this world, because if there was not any one to go into other countries and different cultures, there would be a lot more lost people. The Great Commission was part of God’s word and has to be done as a servant of the Lord. The Lausanne Occasional Paper 39 stresses this and encourages people to go out into the world and not keep it within the four walls of the