ACTS Mission Goals Call Churches to Prayer, Mission, and Action
Mark A. Taylor reflects on the ambitious ACTS mission goals of Restoration Revolution, a 10-year initiative connected with the National Missionary Convention. He affirms the project’s vision while acknowledging the challenge of mobilizing independent congregations around such a broad mission effort.
- Restoration Revolution emphasizes prayer, church planting, Scripture translation, and new mission leadership.
- The initiative includes goals for unreached people groups, new churches, missionaries, campus outreach, and business as mission.
- Taylor encourages congregations to consider how they can participate in at least one part of the 10-year effort.
By Mark A. Taylor
“What’s not to like when you see the values expressed in Restoration Revolution?”
Ben Cachiaras asked the rhetorical question in a February presentation to Cincinnati ministers. Most rhetorical questions go unanswered, but this one deserves a response. My reaction is twofold.
The Vision Behind Restoration Revolution
First: All of us can agree with the lofty visions cast by those promoting Restoration Revolution, a 10-year project that kicks off at this year’s National Missionary Convention in Lexington, Kentucky, November 18-21. The goals are contained in an easily remembered acrostic:
Almighty is an invitation to prayer. Restoration Revolution challenges Christian churches around the world to two specific prayer goals:
- Pray for unreached people groups. The Restoration Revolution Web site (www.restorationrevolution.com) promises to list 6,700 people groups worldwide that have not been reached with the gospel message. You or your church could choose at least one of these and commit to pray that it will be reached.
- Around-the-clock prayer chain. The challenge is to commit the same hour every week to prayer for the Restoration Revolution goals. The plan is to recruit at least 1,680 such prayer warriors so that every hour of the week is covered.
Churches is a goal to launch 1,000 “church-planting movements” among unreached peoples worldwide as well as 1,000 more “New Testament churches” in the United States.
Tools, the third goal, challenges us to undertake 100 projects to translate and distribute Scripture and other tools in the language of 100 unreached people groups.
Servants lists three specific goals:
- “Identify, equip, and deploy 10,000 new missionaries, preachers, and full-time Christian leaders.”
- Recruit 100 churches that will each adopt one state university and reach out to its foreign students with the love and truth of Christ.
- Recruit 1,000 business leaders who will serve Christ through international business as mission.
The Challenge of Mobilizing Independent Churches
If all the above seems to you like a lot to grasp, I agree. And that’s my second response: mobilizing our fellowship of independent congregations around this long list of goals is a tall order.
But I’m inspired by a Winston Churchill quote Ben offered the Cincinnati ministers: “It’s not enough that we do our best; sometimes we have to do what’s required.”
And noble efforts are necessary to meet the challenges Christianity faces on every front today.
Some local churches may pursue all these goals. Every congregation could work on at least one of them. When every minister, elder, and missions committee decides how to participate in this 10-year effort, great things will surely happen.
Author: Mark A. Taylor
Mark A. Taylor, who served as Christian Standard editor from 2003 to 2017, retired in June 2017 after almost 41 years with Standard Publishing (Christian Standard Media).
