Missionaries: How are they defined?
If you go to the web for an answer to this question, you’ll find something like this—a person who has been sent to a place, usually a foreign country, to teach a religion to the people who live there. I’d say that’s basically correct except the part about teaching “a religion.” As someone has rightly said, Bible Christianity is not a religion but a relationship. It is a personal and blessed relationship with God that is gained through faith in Jesus Christ and what He did to make this special relationship possible.
If we’re talking about a man like Jonah in the Bible, he was commissioned to go to the foreign city named Ninevah to rebuke them for their sinfulness and to tell them about the salvation they could gain through the Lord God of Israel. This was a prosperous city on the Tigris River in the ancient country of Assyria.
Jonah 1:1-2
1 Now the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,
2 Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me. [Emphasis added]
If we’re talking about the apostle Paul, we could talk about his missionary journeys to Gentile nations to give them the gospel message about what Jesus Christ accomplished through His death, burial, and resurrection.
An important principle that comes to my mind about this is this— Anything an unbeliever can do is not a part of the Christian way of life. What is meant by this statement? Concerning our subject, “mission” work is something quite different from what we might call “social” work. Mission work, depending on your definition of it, would include everything someone would do to lead some people to a knowledge and appreciation for the Lord Jesus Christ. This involves communication with people to let them know what He did for them through His death, burial, and resurrection.
1 Corinthians 15:1-4
1 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;
2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.
3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: [Emphasis added]
Please note what the apostle Paul communicated to the believing saints in Rome.
Romans 1:13-16
13 Now I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that oftentimes I purposed to come unto you, (but was let hitherto,) that I might have some fruit among you also, even as among other Gentiles.
14 I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise.
15 So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach [EUANGELIZO = proclaim] the gospel to you that are at Rome also.
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. [Emphasis added]
Isn’t this what Paul was engaged in doing wherever he went? Wasn’t he simply a proclaimer of the gospel message? Isn’t this what we’re all supposed to be doing? A shorter summary of this message of his [and now ours] is found in other places in the Bible.
2 Corinthians 5:18-21
18 And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;
Please note that, as believers, we’re ALL said to be in the ministry. It is this “ministry of reconciliation” that is now our “ministry” and mission work.
19 To wit [that is to say], that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.
That last phrase tells us this is the message that actually EVERY believer has been commissioned to proclaim WHEREVER they are.
Is the communication of this message what typically goes on in mission work? I wish it was but I’m afraid it is not. For some, a “mission trip” is a kind of a vacation, a sightseeing trip, and/or at best social work. This is especially true for short and relatively quick “mission” trips. For longer ones it can involve more than that, sometimes much more than that, and should. But from all I’ve heard through the years, not much goes on in the actual communication of the gospel message to lead people to salvation. Can this happen through the distribution of Bibles and “gospel tracts”? Yes, but here again, it is through the communication of the gospel message through which people can get saved that is the nature of true missionary work. And by no means do people have to go overseas to do this. We all need to think of ourselves as being on “a mission” wherever we are.
Yes, “wherever” you are or wherever you happen to be, that’s YOUR mission field. And as an “ambassador,” a personal representative of Jesus Christ, you are to tell people about this which Jesus Christ has done for them. As believers we are ALL said to be ambassadors for Christ. This means that because we are all personal representatives of Christ, in a sense we’re all to think of ourselves as missionaries.
2 Corinthians 5 continued
20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.
Because all people are born natural enemies to God, they are all called to be reconciled with Him. That happens when Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection is accepted as the sole basis for one’s salvation. This passage tells us Christ did everything necessary to make this possible for us and for anyone.
21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. [Emphasis added]
It is this that is our message as God’s “missionaries” in the world whether we’re somewhere in our homeland or abroad.
One of the most confusing statements you’ll ever hear is the idea that there are some Christians who are in “full time Christian service.” Does that mean that all others should be “part-time” Christians? Isn’t that what such verbiage communicates? I’m afraid that such really is the case for many. I know what these people are trying to say when they use that verbiage, but it still leaves an incorrect impression.
Someone has said that a hypocrite is simply someone who’s not quite himself on Sundays. I hope that’ll never be a description of you. If it is now, don’t you think it is time for a change? Think of every day as an opportunity for mission work wherever you are. Please think of yourself as a “missionary” with an extremely important message to all the people you encounter, not just some.
