Steve Moore at The Mission Exchange has written a great article about change and our current environment in missions. His purpose is to set the tone for the 2011 North American Mission Leaders Conference, but even those who aren’t planning to attend this event would be well served to give this article a read. Steve argues that we are on the precipice of great change in missions. Our world is rapidly changing and missions agencies are part of this change. The economic times in which we live are those which have historically caused “reset” moments that brought about great change. He explores three main concepts:
- Sand Pile Effect (unpredictable interconnectedness) – how one small thing can cause an avalanche of change
- IED Effect (asymmetrical influence) – how small, unestablished organizations can be major players
- Jailbreak Effect (open-source creativity) – how breakthrough ideas can come from those we don’t consider experts
He asks three key questions:
- How do we fund the Great Commission?
- How do mission organizations and local churches work together in the Great Commission?
- How does the North American church relate effectively with the church in the majority world?