“Why does that stuff happen on the mission field and never here at home?”

Four Things Every Missionary Needs, pt. 3 

We have all seen it. It goes like this: A missionary visits the church and tells stories about the mission field. The missionary is hoping the church will financially support their work.

After service, John and Jane Churchgoer go out for lunch. During their conversation John says, “God is doing some amazing things through that missionary. Why does that stuff happen on the mission field and never here at home?”

I have a theory. Here it is:

It is an unspoken but accepted practice that the dynamic relationship between the local church and the missionary has been reduced to a financial exchange: If the pastor and church likes the stories, the missionary gets the support. When we reduce this  relationship to one of economics all we will get in return is an economic exchange: churches financially supporting ministry they will not experience for themselves.

Imagine if Paul and the Romans used the typical “missionary visit” techniques we use today: Paul would have sent a one-page appeal letter explaining in short but captivating sentences his mission to the barbarians. He would have told them about his plans for future fruitfulness among these unreached people. He would have asked them to prayerfully consider becoming a ministry partner. And he would throw in a few pictures of emaciated babies and bedraggled barbarians to tug at their heartstrings and wallets.

But Paul did not do this. Instead, he wrote a long densely written letter we call today The Epistle to the Romans. It is considered by many to be the most influential letter ever written. It has shaped world history and Western Civilization.

No “elevator speech” here. No “Tweet” for missions. No sir. This letter was a missionary appeal letter that changed the world.

Listen to his words,

“God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you always in my prayers, asking that somehow by God’s will I may now at last succeed in coming to you. For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you— that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine. I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I have often intended to come to you (but thus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some harvest among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles.” (Romans 1:9–13, ESV)

Paul did not see his relationship with the Romans as merely an economic exchange.

Did he hope to receive financial support for his mission to Spain? You bet. Missionaries need financial support.

But Paul wanted more than just financial support. He sought to build up the Roman congregations while at the same time engage them as partners advancing the Gospel in Spain. He fully expected to have a fruitful ministry among them because the Romans congregations accepted the “missionary gift” wrapped in the apostle Paul. What happened on the mission field would also happen among them at home in the local church.

Please, I am begging you; I implore you: Never reduce a “missionary visit” to an economic exchange. If you do, you will limit the significant impact the missionary can have on the local church and you will limit the significant impact the local church can have on the missionary.

Apostolic missions and the local church are two sides of the same body, two ends of one glorious spectrum. Our relationship is symbiotic. We will die without one another.

Am I stretching the application of Matthew 10:40-41 by saying, “He that receives the missionary because he is a missionary will receive the missionary’s reward?

As missionaries we need the fellowship, material support, and prayer only the local church can provide. But we also long for mutual ministry that builds up the local church.

Do you want to reach post-modern urban young adults? We have missionaries doing that. Do you want to reach kids with the power of the Gospel? We have missionaries who do that. Do you want to see addicts and the homeless transformed by the Word of God? We have missionaries who are doing that. Do you want to plant churches in urban centers of major cities? We have missionaries doing that. Do you want to reach people from other religions? We have missionaries doing that. Do you want to energize and mobilize your congregation to reach their neighbors, their communities, and they nation? We have missionaries who can help you do that.

We have amazing missionaries serving around the world, consider having them in ministry partnership with your church. I think you will like what happens.

TO BE CONTINUED….

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