Acts 1:8 Challenge OR Acts 1:8 Commitment

There is a lot of rhetoric in our denomination about ACTS 1:8 but there is no real unified strategy to implement an ACTS 1:8 Mission Strategy. I attended a conference in Tampa, Florida, in 1999 where the ACTS 1:8 Mission Strategy was previewed. SBC Agencies, State Conventions, Associations and Churches were represented and the discussion was exciting. The idea was to have ACTS 1:8 State Conventions, ACTS 1:8 Associations, ACTS 1:8 Churches and ACTS 1:8 Individuals. I came back and shared the concept with our Executive Committee and we voted in January of 2000 to become an ACTS 1:8 Association. I didn't know what all that entailed but I knew that God was inviting us to a greater involvement in His worldwide vision.

As I sought to implement the ACTS 1:8 Strategy in our association, it became apparent that if we wanted to challenge our churches to be ACTS 1:8 Churches, then there needed to be some level of expectation and commitment in order to qualify as an ACTS 1:8 Church. I asked at every level of SBC life and no one had any suggestions so we came up with our own. Then a few years later, the SBC voted to issue an ACTS 1:8 Challenge and assigned it to the North American Mission Board. Any church or person could simply sign up their church to be an ACTS 1:8 Church. I knew a lady at our State Convention who signed up a fictitious church and received all of the computer-generated emails back congratulating the church for accepting the ACTS 1:8 Challenge. What a farce!

The point that I want to make if that if ACTS 1:8 is to be a Mission Strategy that will make any real difference in our world, then our Agencies, our State Conventions, our Associations, our Churches and our people need to get serious about a unified strategy that will move us from a "Challenge" to a real "Commitment". God is at work in an unbelievable way in calling out His people and His Church to be engaged in world missions in new and unique ways. What will all of this mean? Nobody really knows but journey could be very exciting. I believe it is time to have a unified ACTS 1:8 Mission Strategy that will require more of us than we have been willing to make up to this point. Our denomination can lead us in this great adventure with God or sit around and continue to talk about ACTS 1:8. I think it is time to get busy!

What do you think?

Sid Hopkins
Executive Director
Gwinnett Metro Baptist Association
Lawrenceville, Georgia