Mission – Playing the Long Game

‘It’s Missionaries we need, without more missionaries we will lose’.

                                                                                                     Quantum Mission

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Every now and again I get a phone call. Not an earth-shattering announcement I’ll admit as we all get many phone calls. However, this phone call is from a particular man whom I have known now for many years. He is the Real Estate Agent (I’ll call him ‘Alex’) who sold us the house we now live in, and for all those years he has kept in regular touch. Usually, our phone conversation results in a coffee date.

The question is why does he do this?

I am not sure he realises that I have worked it out, but I am in no doubt that his keeping in contact is because he is playing ‘a long game’. That is, he hopes that by staying in touch he will get the chance to sell the house again when we eventually decide to move on. He may not have worked out however, that my willingness to maintain the relationship is because I also am playing ‘a long game’. This is because I don’t see our coffee dates as purely social, even though I enjoy them and over time I would say that we have actually become friends.

My aim is to challenge him with the claims of, and by playing a long game seek to draw him into, the Kingdom of God. From our initial contact I have always sought to introduce a ‘gospel’ element into our conversations. Over time, this element has become much deeper and longer. ‘Alex’ is not in the Kingdom yet but is increasingly faced, and engaged, with its claims.

The point of this article is not primarily to focus on this growing relationship with ‘Alex’, but to give it as example of a principle: the principle of the long game strategy which, in contrast with the general one-off and short-term methods of times past, is I believe how local mission must be carried out in 21^st century western society. Not necessarily in a one-on-one way as in the case of ‘Alex’ but also groups meeting intentionally in places and ways where they can regularly and over time engage with those Jesus is seeking to save.

The key ingredients for mission to what are now neo-pagan western tribes, are intentionality and a willingness to invest significant time to play ‘the long game’. The reason that a long game strategy is required, is that the inhabitants of contemporary, biblically illiterate, western society are culturally and spiritually so far from the Kingdom of God that (as I describe in Quantum Mission – Something Completely Different) they might as well be on Pluto!

So how do we think about mission to our local community? Are we still we relying on ‘invitation to special church services’; one off ‘event evangelism’ activities (e.g., men’s breakfasts, women’s dinners etc); infrequent local doorknocking; strategies that have been very low fruit for a long time?

Or is it time to establish ‘long game’ strategies, e.g., groups regularly meeting in public places, or Playgroups, interest groups, help groups that we create or turn into ‘church’ for those who come?

Mission – It’s time to ‘Play the Long game’!