Exploring Explore
“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” 1 Peter 2:9
We often hear about and pray for the RPGM Explore course, but what is it? It’s part of the Funnel. Funnel? The RPGM Funnel is a series of training opportunities that take participants further and further along the journey into involvement in cross-cultural gospel adventures. (I mean, life as a Jesus follower/kingdom worker is quite the adventure, is it not?!) Many of us will only go the first step into the RPGM Funnel by taking the Explore course. It is a powerful training tool—if not for going, then certainly for sending and supporting. And, after all, sending is part of the Funnel. Without senders, there aren’t goers. In the Funnel diagram, you can see SENDING in small but mighty letters along the edge. RP Global Missions is thankful for all who are part of our sending efforts by promoting RPGM in our churches.
Whether you’re new to missiology or have been on the field for years, there are interesting and challenging questions to grapple with in a group setting during the Explore course. There is homework, but it’s interesting and isn’t overwhelming—and there are no grades, only encouragement.
I had previously taken a similar course, but I’m a different person now, and I found myself challenged in new ways.
We were given a long list of Scripture passages that speak of Christ’s heart for the nations. I already knew about verses like Psalm 67:4-5 and Matthew 28:19-20, but I was amazed at how many more passages there are throughout Scripture! Perhaps it is likewise true that the imprint of Christ’s heart for the nations is on every page of Scripture in some way. And if his heart is for the nations, should that not be my heart, as well, as I grow in Christlikeness?
Each of the lessons has challenged my thinking about what it means to be both a sender and a goer. The assumption in our church culture today seems to be that only a few special Christians are called to global missions. But if we have Christ’s heart for the nations, it means that the inner call should be so strong that God uses the wisdom of church leaders to rein us in! And if I remain here in my home church and my own neighborhood, my heart should long to see my own city transformed by the gospel of Christ…from my next-door neighbors, to members of the global community. Christ’s heart for the nations should draw me to be part of the efforts to reach the nations in my own community. Thus, even if God reins in our desire to be a goer to the nations, we can still be involved in spreading the gospel to our neighbors and guests from other nations, because these people are in the center of Christ’s heart, his kingdom work, as well.
Another lesson from RPGM Explore challenged me in new ways. There is a huge disparity between the resources (both financial and field-worker resources) going toward gospel work in countries that already have access to the gospel versus those nations that don’t have any access to the gospel. How might I be involved in that part of Christ’s heart for all nations, tribes, and tongues? It seems like such an enormous, personally unreachable task! God continues to call and equip people for work among the unreached…but I am in the winter of life. I decided to explore ways to be persistent in praying specifically for these unreached peoples using resources such as the Joshua Project. I confess that “just praying” seems like such a small, insignificant thing, but I pray to a big and sovereign God. Missions efforts, especially among the unreached, need to be saturated in prayer, so I am content for now.
RPGM Explore is available online. Currently, there are a few congregations beta-testing the course as part of their adult Sabbath School class. It’s great in either format.
Come dip your toes in the huge, magnificent ocean of Christ’s kingdom work and see how (not if) God would use you. Give RPGM Explore a try!