I moved this from a comment posted by Ken W.  Ken, I think it deserves a full post as aposed to a comment.

"With Advent upon us, I find myself re-orienting my personal study time to the story of the nativity. What strikes me this year is the realization that our God is a sending God. Luke says, "In the sixth month, God SENT the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town of Galilee (Luke 1: 26). That got everything started. God's act of SENDING Gabriel, SENT Mary to the hill country of Judah, where she received confirmation from Elizabeth; "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear!" (Luke 1: 42). The angel's SENT by God, appear to the shepherds and announce, "Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord!" (Luke 2: 11). Jesus in his inaugural sermon in the synagogue in Nazareth said, "The spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has SENT me to proclaim freedom to the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. (Luke 4: 18 – 19). This sending theme is a hall mark of Jesus' ministry. He gathered twelve disciples around him and gave them power and authority to exercise the kingdom of God and "he SENT them out to preach the kingdom of God and heal the sick." (Luke 9:2). "After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and SENT them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. (Luke 10:1). In his final conversation with the disciples before leaving this earth he SENDS them out again, saying, "Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you." (Matthew 28:19 – 20)



God is a sending God! In his sending He changed the course of history. He sent his Son to earth. He and the Son sent the Holy Spirit. He and the Son and the Holy Spirit have sent persons in the world to fulfill the kingdom of God. These sent ones are authentic followers missionaries of Christ who live out kingdom values in the world.

I may have just stumbled on a key insight for the church. My first draft of the above sentence (as you can see) was "these sent ones are authentic followers of Christ who live out kingdom values in the world." There if a big difference between seeing yourself as a "follower" of Christ and a "missionary" of Christ. A follower follows! He/she waits for the leader to lead, and then they follow. I believe for the vast majority of the church today following does not necessarily mean one is being sent anywhere. Missionaries on the other hand have a very different focus. They see themselves as being sent. They are sent with a message from the sender. They expect to learn the language of the people they are going to and interpret the message for them in their language.

So,

If we see ourselves as missionaries, how would this perception change the way we function? Well great question, (if I do say so myself), I am not sure I have the answer to the question, but it appears to me it is an important question we must answer if we are going to see the kingdom of God become a reality in our midst. So let me begin by listing a few characteristics of missionaries and perhaps you can add to the list or make it better:

Missionaries are called to a lifestyle not just to attend a few functions at church. Missionaries have an adventuresome spirit.
Missionaries enjoy other cultures rather than criticize them. Missionaries study the culture they are going to in order to make the gospel relevant to the culture. Missionaries move to the "foreign" country they are trying to reach, they don't expect the "foreign" country to move to them.
Missionaries expect to see the kingdom God expressed through miracles. Missionaries count it a privilege to serve often at great sacrifice. Missionaries are often willing to leave family and friends temporarily to reach their mission field.

Now, that I think about it the church has fulfilled its mission, at least the ones I read in their bulletins. The standard mission statement printed on the back panel of the bulletin, reads, "To make fully devoted followers of Christ". I think most followers would say they are devoted and following to the best of their ability.

But,

If we are going to become authentic missionaries of Christ it is going to take more than changing a word in the mission statement, or, adding another program to the church calendar. Becoming authentic missionaries of Christ means as individuals we change how we think and function. I believe it begins with changing how we view ourselves as devoted followers to authentic missionaries of Jesus Christ. What do you think? How will thinking of ourselves as missionaries change what we do?"