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The Importance of Missions in the Christian Life

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Jesus was not ambiguous about the target audience of the gospel.

“And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come” (Matthew 24:14, NIV).

Jesus said his purpose in coming to our planet was “to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10). And the lost are to be found in every tongue, tribe, and nation in all of mankind.

Surprisingly, he has delegated this task to us, his followers. Jesus prayed in the Upper Room, “As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world” (John 17:18).

The Great Commission frames his command to his followers.

Therefore [you, my followers] go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you (Matthew 28:19-20, NIV. Emphasis Added).

In this command is born the concept of missions, that is, the task of taking the gospel into the world so every man, woman, and child has an opportunity to hear it. This is the church reaching out to the world.

The progression of missional outreach is provided in Acts. It steps from community to nation to the uttermost edge of the world. 

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8, NIV).

When these commands are combined with his purpose of seeking and saving, it is clear that Jesus intended the church to be outward facing so that the gospel is always advancing. 

The apostle Paul points out the essential ingredients in missions when he wrote “how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent?” The word mission itself comes from the Latin verb missio, which means “to send.” To achieve Jesus’s objective to reach the whole world with the gospel, Jesus followers must get out of their comfort zone, move out from the cozy cloister of the church, and share the gospel. Or more personally: it’s on you and me, brother.  

Paul teaches that we are all gifted differently. This dispersal of gifts and abilities enables us to function together like the parts of a body. In fact, our individual gifting constrains us to depend on each other for things we individually cannot do. Each believer’s particular gifts and abilities fulfills a different aspect of the outreach of the church to the world.

The role of believer in missional outreach will vary—our different gifting all but demands that it will vary. You may be in full-time missional outreach locally or abroad. If not full-time, you will be involved in praying, sending and enabling. But given the heart of Jesus to seek and to save, and his command for us to reach the world, each of us should consider ourselves called to missions. 

A call into any type of full-time missional outreach, that is, as an occupation, is serious business, especially in an international setting. Much more guidance is available than can be set down in this short article. Suffice it to say on a screening level, the potential laborer must be mature in his/her faith and free in the areas of relationships, health, and finances. A pursuit of mission work usually starts with a desire, but the exact nature of the motivation should be carefully reviewed. Callings are generally discovered through an intersection of these and other markers. 

Most importantly, a call into full-time missions should be confirmed by counselors that that have taken the time to get to know the candidate missionary and that understand what he/she is signing up to do.

If you find yourself in a secular occupation, don’t miss that you are there on purpose: God’s purpose. Your workplace is no accident. It is vital to the fulfillment of the Great Commission that Jesus followers carry the light of the gospel into their workplace which can otherwise be a very dark place. You, my friend—the plumber, nurse, architect, or janitor—may be the only person of faith your hardened, discouraged, cynical, flippant work mate or customer will ever meet. After all, we do not always get to pick our work mates which leaves an opening for God to place someone in your world who needs the light you have.

For the Jesus follower, engagement in missions represents a point of obedience. It is very easy in western culture to enjoy the church and give no thought to seeking and saving. Indeed, “the number of missionaries in the field continues to decline, because a significant portion of the church no longer believes that it’s necessary to fulfill the mandate from Christ to carry the gospel to the ends of the earth” (August 31, 2015, http://www.ligonier.org). Without missions, the church becomes inward-focused, self-centered, and detached from the needs of the world.

Churches and/or individual believers who are not involved in some meaningful way with missional outreach will miss the full breadth and depth of the Christian life. Like a half filled balloon, without outreach we experience a low-tension but less-fulfilling Christian life.   

Jesus promises abundant life, but it is an abundant life opened by obedience. Engaging in missional outreach provides a fuller understanding, dependence, and awe of God, and appreciation of the gifts of the brethren as we reach out to the world as a team. 

Having made the case that missions is important to an abundant Christian life, it’s vital to remember that the motivation is not some sort of gain. It is the passion of our Master; it must be no less a passion of his followers. 

The whole world is on the heart of Jesus, it should be on our heart as well. We are compelled by the commands of Jesus to be his agent in seeking and saving the lost. The mission of Jesus will not fail, and we have been invited into the victory.

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Published by

Bill Norton

Bill Norton is retired from a career in engineering. He holds degrees from Auburn University, UAB, and Vanderbilt University. Bill and his wife, Lori, and their children have made international connections a family tradition. His family sponsors an Auburn scholarship to encourage students to study abroad. Bill and his wife are members at The Church at Brook Hills in Birmingham, AL. He is the author of Sojourn on the Veld.

Categories Discipleship, On The Christian Life - Study Series