Wesley once claimed that the whole world was his parish, but in these days of counting carbon footprints I’m not sure how PC that suggestion is. Localism seems to be more in tune with our times and as far as mission is concerned that’s true for church as well.

I was drawn to preach on Matthew 11:1 yesterday where it says that after spending time teaching them Jesus went with his disciples ‘to their cities’ in order to preach the kingdom there. If you’re an NIV fan then you wouldn’t have picked up on this subtle truth since in that translation it says that Jesus was to preach ‘in the towns of Galilee’. Not a big difference but very significant. Rather than send them to places they knew nothing of, Jesus returned them to their own communities and there preached the good news.

No doubt it was good for them – and us – to spend time with him and with each other; a time of receiving from him all the teaching and power needed. But it was back to their own contexts afterwards to ensure that the life of the kingdom could reach those communities and workplaces.

Often churches (especially big ones or those with ambitions to become big) have grand plans to reach the lost. But Jesus did it far simpler and chose to focus on the local first. After all, being salt and light only really works with those who know us best.