What I shared with my church this evening....
What is missions? And what is a missionary?
I've thought about this a lot in the past few weeks, having God "call me off the field" so to speak. Does that mean I'm not a missionary anymore?
What is missions? Is it serving overseas? Not really, because then you couldn't serve as a missionary in your home country or continent.
Is it defined by serving cross-culturally? Still no, because people can often have a greater impact serving and being missionaries within their own cultural context.
Are missionaries people who evangelize? Yes, in a sense, but then why do we classify between Christians, pastors, people in ministry, and missions?
There has to be something to define missions.
Is it the living conditions? Is it the hardship, the often lack of physical comfort? Well, these things might add into it, but Christians throughout the world face these things same as anyone else. And with the change of the face of missions, there is often now a greater call into urban centres, into richer nations, who have completely forsaken Gospel they once carried to the far corners of the earth.
Do people who once served overseas as missionaries and have now returned to their home countries and become involved in other forms of ministry ceased to become missionaries?
Everyone would agree that it is every Christians duty to fulfill the Great Commission. So missionaries can't be defined as people who fulfill the Great Commission, although part of a missionaries job description is the fulfilling of it.
There has to be something to define missions.
I have thought about this and studied this and prayed about this. And I think it comes down to calling.
Is it some super human ability or special Christian gifting? Not at all, because missionaries are just like everyone else, they fail, they don't have it altogether, most of the time they don't love everyone, sometimes they want people to just go away so they can relax and have some down time.
We are all called to preach the gospel, to disciple and train and baptize. That is the Great Commission, and it doesn't apply to only a select handful of Christians, it applies to all who have called on the name of the Lord for salvation.
So how is a missionary different? They have a different calling. A pastor is called to teach and shepherd his flock, a housewife is called to make a home, a business man is called to excel in business and a teacher to teach faithfully. All of these realms bring us opportunities to share the Word, to influence in multiple ways daily those we come into contact with for Christ.
A missionary has one calling, that is to bring Christ, to everyone they meet, that is their one fire, their one desire, to give up all to see one person saved for the gospel, but all in obedience to Christ, to use business, to use housework, to use nursing as an avenue to preach the gospel, to use whatever profession, whatever means, to reach others for the gospel, but to be willing to give up all because the heartbeat of God drums so passionately for a lost and hurting world.
Not all of us are called to be missionaries, not all of us should want to be. Missions is incredibly hard and incredibly lonely. No one should feel guilty if God has not called you to missions.
But I think some of us are, and that's why I'm about to show this video. I've been praying about what to share on this missions report since before I left the Cooks. And this video keeps coming to mind. I'm just asking you to be open, if God speaks to you while it's being played, then spend some time in prayer, earnestly seek Him and ask Him where He'd want you to go and how He'd have you serve. It might be as far from here as the South Pacific or it may be as close to home as your next door neighbor, it might be with a missions organization, it might be on your own initiative, but if God calls you, please, go. There is a lost and dying world all around us. And God has chosen us, chosen us to pray for laborers to be sent into the harvest, chosen us to go into the harvest, we are His chosen vessels to make known, by His Spirit, His plan for eternal life.
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