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I was shocked, as many Christian leaders were, when George Barna’s research revealed that only 17% of church-goers had heard of the Great Commission and knew what it meant.

One pastor analyzed the problem as pastors’ forgetting what their mission is:

When pastors think exclusively about the gospel as God’s means for serving people instead of the Church’s motivation to serve the world, the Great Commission gets lost in the flurry of church-centric activities. The Great Commission and the glory of God it declares must be more than a verse; it must be the driving force of a disciple-making church. – David Daniels, lead pastor of Pantego Bible Church, Fort Worth, Texas.

It’s back to what I wrote in Sunday’s Join the Adventure blog. The church’s job is to equip ALL members to be “missionary families.” That people can go to church and not even know what the mission is is unthinkable. And, of course, it’s not enough to know what it is, we must see ourselves as on mission to fulfill it. My book, Join the Adventure!: A Call to Christian Discipleship and Mission Suitable for Everyone can get you started.