Missionaries in the Mission of God Pt. 2

What if every Christian, regardless of their spiritual gifts, embraced the mission of sharing the gospel as part of their everyday life? Join us on the From Every Nation podcast as we explore this profound question, examining how spiritual gifts uniquely equip believers for their roles in God's mission without excusing them from the broader call to evangelism and service. We discuss practical ways for young believers to live missionally in their communities, seizing everyday opportunities to spread the gospel across cultural and ethnic boundaries in the spirit of the Great Commission.

In this thought-provoking episode, we dive into the biblical foundation of missionary work, drawing insights from the Apostle Paul's journeys. We illuminate the core tasks of a missionary through scriptural references, emphasizing the importance of establishing strong community ties and developing local leaders. The discussion further delves into the dynamics of transitioning between mission fields, guided by the Holy Spirit and scriptural wisdom. With a focus on flexibility and spiritual readiness, we encourage a Spirit-led approach to missions that aligns with each individual's unique calling, fostering enduring connections with past mission fields while opening new horizons for the gospel.

Transcript

Balancing Spiritual Giftings and Mission Work

Speaker 1 0:05

Welcome and thanks for listening to the From Every Nation podcast, the official podcast of the Tom Eliff Center for Missions at Oklahoma Baptist University. I'm Kyle and I'll be your host as we learn to live as those sent out to spread the gospel. So, albert, let's jump right in this morning and let's talk about how spiritual giftings play a factor in being a missionary, in our role in the church. So could you jump right into that and just unpack that for us this morning right into that and just unpack that for us this morning.

Speaker 2 0:48

Well, when we bring up that not everyone is an evangelist oh well then I am exempt from sharing the gospel. Not everyone's a missionary oh well then I don't have to do these things. Well, actually, it's interesting to me that the one another passages are commands and everyone is to serve one another, but some are gifted with service. Hebrews 5 says there's a time when we all ought to be teachers, but some are gifted teachers. But some are gifted teachers. So how do you balance this idea of my gift or calling is X? Therefore I don't have to encourage people, I can tear them down. My gift is giving, so therefore I don't have to train up my children in the way that they should go.

Speaker 2 1:45

Well, I think it's good to just clarify the commands of God. The New Testament commands that, in their context, apply to every Christian, apply to every Christian. There's not an exemption clause because of my gift to disobey the commands of the New Testament. So all of the one another's apply to every Christian. There are commands. So, in other words, every Christian shares, not because they're an evangelist, but it's because their life has been transformed.

Speaker 2 2:22

Every Christian serves because we're told to serve one another. Every Christian encourages. Some are gifted at it, but every Christian encourages because we're commanded to encourage one another and so, and so the commands are for every Christian. But 1 Corinthians 12 makes it crystal clear that at the time of our salvation, we also were given a spiritual gift or gifts. And so I like to think of gifts as God's preparing you to join his kingdom's work, god's preparation, god's way for you to fit into the kingdom, god's preparing you to join his mission. So I think it's wise for Christians to spend as much time as they can in the middle of their gifts, but we're never excused from living the whole Christian life.

Speaker 1 3:18

So how then does, or how then should, a believer who feels called to missions, but they're still in high school, they've still got to graduate, maybe they're going to go get a university degree on their way to the mission field? How do they live out their life in their town, small town, oklahoma, to fulfill the Great Commission?

Speaker 2 3:50

I love the wording of the Great Commission. Our English translations very appropriately start off go, make disciples. And without any question that's a very legitimate translation. But, as has been pointed out by many, it's actually a participle that says as you're going, or while you go, or going Now again, it can take on the command, the imperative nature of the primary verb. So I'm not saying it's wrong to say go make disciples, but if you're going to say it's a command to every Christian, then I, like those who say go might mean going across the street, so it's as you're walking through life, look for chances to make disciples of all ethnicities.

Speaker 2 4:44

It's fascinating to me how not prescribed it is to share the gospel with the people you love. It's assumed you'll share the gospel with the people you love, you'll share the gospel with the people you love. The point is is it doesn't say and as soon as you're saved, go tell every family member about the gospel? Now, of course, that is what was told to the one who had the legion of demons. He wanted to spend time with Jesus and Jesus sent him to go home and tell. So we can apply that to all of us to go home and tell. But I love it. It's assumed. If I found peace, I'm going to tell the people I love about it. If I know I got off the road to eternal destruction, I'm going to want to tell people about it. If, by repenting and believing, god himself came to live inside of me as my guide, then I'm going to want to tell everybody I love about this transformation that's happened in my life.

Speaker 2 5:52

So if you want to, as a high school student, start looking for chances to make disciples of all ethnicities, nations, then you're just looking for. I'm sharing the gospel with the people I like, but, god, I'm asking you for chances to share with the people I don't know. God, I'm really looking for a chance to share the gospel with someone of a different ethnicity than me, because, you see, as every Christian shares with their friends and family, but looks for chances to share with other ethnicities, the gospel starts spreading like wildfire, just like we're told to pray for by Paul. And so the idea of, while you're in high school, if the command is to make disciples, then I make sure that I'm being a good disciple and I'm looking for chances to make other disciples.

Speaker 2 6:49

You might only be 17, but actually you're one of the big kids to those who are 13. You might have only been a Christian a year, but you've been a Christian a long time compared to the one who got saved last week, but you've been a Christian a long time compared to the one who got saved last week. And so, as you're in your world, where you find yourself, you're making disciples, you're sharing the gospel and helping them to grow in Christ, but you're looking for chances to get the gospel outside of your circle with other ethnicities and, like Philip, you're grabbing every chance that you have a peace from God. And I might say your parents agree that you are taking international trips.

The Missionary Task

Speaker 1 7:35

I think that's a great picture for us in thinking through. Who are missionaries and where do we get this idea of missionaries in scripture? Now, when we look at IMB literature, we get into this idea of the missionary task, which has six core components to it and is what missionaries are striving to do today. And so this is who missionaries are. But what do they do? What do they do and where do they do? It? Which we've talked about off and on in this conversation is going to places where people don't know Jesus, sharing the gospel with the lost, planting churches, and so let's sit and talk through quick, because we'll go through in detail later. But what is the missionary task? What it is that missionaries do?

Speaker 2 8:33

Let me just really embrace the way you worded that question. I do think that the International Mission Board's six component parts of the missionary task are a really good biblical way to look at it. But it appears to me that four fields is another really kind of similar thing that a lot of organizations perhaps would look just at Acts 18 or somewhere else. But if you look below the surface the lists are extremely similar. So anyone who's basing it on the New Testament will have a very similar kind of approach. But to use the current International Mission Board's list for the gospel to get to new places, you have to enter those new places and sometimes that includes all kinds of logistics about how you can have visas to be there and language learning and a number of other things. Once you're there, then the starting point is to share the gospel. I love Mark 3.14 where it says that he appointed 12 that they might be with him. He would send them out to preach, to share the gospel, to herald the gospel, and so one of the main things missionaries do is they're sharing the good news about Jesus' death, burial and resurrection for our sins, according to the scriptures, and so 1 Corinthians, chapter 15, kind of definition. So the work begins in a new place, by your entering it, then by your sowing the seed broadly, by your doing evangelism, and then, as soon as people come to faith, you do not want to leave them because your command was to make disciples. And so you're then helping them to understand that God's plan is for them to follow him in baptism, and that baptism, in the New Testament, seems to be the primary way. You become part of a local community of faith, a local church, and so you make disciples who are baptized, who are members of a local congregation, who are using their gifts in a local church. You make disciples who know how to use God's word well. And then, as you're making disciples, oh, what if there's not a church for them to be a part of? Well, everywhere Paul went, he was planting churches.

Speaker 2 11:07

And so the fourth part entry evangelism, disciple making and then planting local churches. Because how tragic for a brand new Christian, after the missionary leaves, to be the only believer in a place to be living the Christ life in isolation. We would be grateful that there would be at least one believer there. But that's not the normal Christian life. The normal Christian life is community, and that community, in the New Testament is foundationally in the local church. And so how superior to just sharing the gospel and leaving is to share the gospel, make disciples and then leave them in communities of faith called churches.

Speaker 2 11:53

And so we have entry evangelism, disciple-making, planting churches, but in the New Testament those churches have leaders. Planting churches, but in the New Testament those churches have leaders. And so raising up leaders for the local churches is part of the missionary task. And then what we find Paul doing is then he departed from that place to go to a new field, but quite often with members from the first field going with him. And so then you depart from that place, you exit that location, but you're going back to strengthen the believers. From time to time, as Paul's model, you use different kinds of media to get to them. He wrote letters, and so you're continuing to encourage that church, but you leave physically. Continuing to encourage that church, but you leave physically, sometimes with some of them with you, to get the gospel again to where it has not been named. So those would be what we talk about with the missionary task.

Speaker 1 13:02

Yeah, I really liked how, a couple months ago we had a guest speaker on campus and he painted the missionary task from Acts 14 and just walked through how we can clearly see in Scripture every aspect of the missionary task. So he walked through Acts 14, 19, through the end of the chapter, and you can just very clearly see in all of these entry, evangelism, discipleship, healthy church formation, leadership, development and then moving to partnership, right, and he clearly leaves and goes to the next place, and so it was really fun to see that painted and to see and know. Okay, these concepts whether it be IMB's core missionary task or the four fields or these different tools, the things that missionaries do today, they're not new. Their strategies can be boiled down and pointed straight back to scripture and so, as we're sitting here talking about this and talking through and thinking through what does a missionary do, we just continuously need to read scripture, right, and let that be our guide for faith and practice and how we do things and how we frame these concepts of ministry and missions and being a part of the mission of God. So it's great and really fun and challenging to hear all this and see what ways the Lord is working in missionaries all around the world.

The Missionary Task: Exit to Partnership

Speaker 1 14:37

I think, when one thing, when we look at the role of a missionary and what they do, there's there's a question that comes up Well, when is it time to exit? There's always somebody else in your neighborhood, in the people group that you're serving, that needs to know Jesus, and so either where do we see in scripture or what should be a guide when it comes to okay, we are missionaries, we are sent out, ones called to take the gospel to the places where it has not been before, because we know there are 2.2 billion people who have little to no access to the gospel. So how long do you stay one place and go to another?

Speaker 2 15:43

Fascinating question. Thanks, kyle. The truth is is that for some time now, going back to a British missionary called Roland Allen, he has talked about okay, how do we follow the example of Paul Romans, chapter 15. Remember, he says there's no more place for me in these areas. What a fascinating statement. There were still lost people there, there were still pastors to train, there was still all kinds of organization to do, but Paul said there's no more place for what I'm doing, there's no more place for what I'm doing, there's no more place for this task here. And he wanted to go to the regions beyond. Ah, what a fascinating picture.

Speaker 2 16:37

I like what Paul said to the Ephesian elders in Acts, chapter 20. In verse 32, he says Now I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified. It appears to me that these two would point to, first of all, that if you can't commend them to God, if they're not truly regenerate, if God's not living inside of them, well of course it's not time to leave. If they're not believers there, then it's not time to leave that area. Now, of course, the whole person of peace model. We'll need to unpack that some other day. The whole person of peace model would say I may not stay in this house. I might go next door to a different people group Acts 18, or I might go to the next village Acts 14. But the point is I'm not ready to move from this area until I can commend them to God, unless they have God living inside of them. But he says, then I also commend them to the word of his grace.

Speaker 2 17:56

I like to unpack that with the idea that they know how to handle God's word. They know how to self-feed, how to handle God's Word. They know how to self-feed. They know how to use the community of faith to correct wrong thinking that they have a foundation for holding God's Word well. And so again, throughout church history that has been done lots of different ways and it can be done in simple ways today. It can be done in elaborate ways today, but I would suggest if they don't know how to use God's Word, it's not time to leave yet and that hints at that. They would need to have pastor teachers who are helping them with that, but leaving the group in place, a group of baptized believers who are handling God's Word, self-feeding, know how to correct error because of their use of Scripture. So those are the two criterion that I'd say would be the bare minimum.

Speaker 2 19:01

But, kyle, you've heard me many times I'm going to say it's going to be the Holy Spirit who leads you. Kyle, you've heard me many times I'm going to say it's going to be the Holy Spirit who leads you, because, remember Galatians, chapter 5 commands us to be led by the Spirit, and he's the primary one doing the work. He's the Lord of the harvest, and so he guides us when it's time to move on. But I think that the norm for practice will be Scripture, and so the way the Spirit guides us will probably look kind of like he guided Luke to write the book of Acts, because he's the same yesterday, today and forever. And so it's going to be. The guidance of the Spirit will never be inconsistent with Scripture and will often go back to what you were saying earlier. Missionary task looks a whole bunch like the book of Acts. Well, the Holy Spirit will be the guide, but it will look a whole bunch like the book of Acts.

Speaker 1 19:59

You spend a lot of time talking to our students about what the career of a missionary looks like in terms of just because you're called to do missions work doesn't mean that you're going to go to India and spend 25, 30 years in India and then retire there and then come back to the States. So when we're talking about what a missionary does and who a missionary is, how should people frame their mindset when thinking about their career and their time as a missionary in terms of the fields or field that they're going to work in?

Speaker 2 20:45

Kyle. I love that we brought this topic up right after we talked about being led by the Spirit. Again, it was the name I mentioned earlier, roland Allen, who was one of the first to point out that Paul's three missionary journeys occupied about a 10-year period. I find that fascinating. Paul didn't mean to get imprisoned in Jerusalem. He didn't mean to end up in prison in Rome, and I personally think that he got out of prison and continued his ministry. But we don't know for positive.

Speaker 2 21:25

But the truth is. The truth is is the main part of the missionary task recorded regarding the person who is called a sent out one more than anyone else? In the New Testament, the main part was about 10 years. Now my wife and I have completed 30 years with the International Mission Board. We rejoice at those heroes of the faith who spent 40 and 50 years in one place. Without any question, god guides some people to settle there and it makes a wonderful contribution to the kingdom. But the New Testament doesn't record one person who's called a sent-out one and then tell us that they spent 30 to 50 years in one place. Now we have all these reasons why we can say it wasn't there, but what we can agree on is that it's not there. There was not one person called a sent out. One in the New Testament that we are told went to one place and did the sent-out task for 30 to 50 years among the people. And so if indeed Scripture is our norm for practice, like we say it is in the preface to the Baptist Faith and Message, if Scripture is our norm for practice, then we have to say there's not a command in Scripture about how long I have to stay in one place. The example in Scripture is that Paul went to different fields. Therefore, at the bare minimum, we have to say it's allowed to be following the New Testament example of a missionary to be involved for 10 years, and then God changes things. For Paul it was called imprisonment, but I'm thrilled.

Speaker 2 23:11

I used to tell the journeymen as they were going out, while Kay and I were spending time with new people before they went, we used to tell the journeymen if God hasn't called you to lifetime missionary service, if that's not your gifting calling, if God's telling you you're supposed to be a pastor, then it would be sin to stay on the field planting churches and not pastoring. If God has showed you clearly you're supposed to be a school teacher, then to stay overseas planting churches would be disobedience. In other words, it's being led by the Spirit. And the truth is how awesome the kingdom of God would be if every Christian had spent two years on the mission field before they became a judge, or before they became an auto mechanic, or before they began teaching school.

Speaker 2 24:08

What if every pastor had been a missionary for two years? So I would say there's a place in the kingdom for 30 to 50 year people, but there's also a place in the kingdom for volunteers who go on mission trips or students who take two years after graduating from college and give God those two years before they get into their vocation. So I kind of like all the above.

Speaker 1 24:35

Yeah, I don't doubt that. So wrapping up our conversation and I'm sure we're going to talk about this a lot over the course of our time on this podcast is who are missionaries? What do they do in biblical basis? For that it's going to come up over and over. But just kind of to wrap up our series here and our conversation on this for now. What, if anything, would you like to close with ideas on the topic?

Speaker 2 25:12

I would just really want to underline being led by the Spirit lets you relax. Your Heavenly Father sees everything in the future. He knows what's best for you. Obeying him is absolutely the best way for you to live life. Now. I do think we want to be careful to let Scripture be our norm. Not just talk about it, but let Scripture be our norm, and not just for our doctrines but for faith and practice, because I'm convinced that when we get close to Scripture in the way that we practice our missionary work, then we'll start seeing more New Testament kinds of results, and in a world with 8 billion people, nothing else, nothing less, will get to lostness.

Speaker 1 26:06

Amen. Well, everyone, thanks for joining us on this series and we look forward to chatting more with you all and walking down this journey of what it looks like to get the gospel to every nation. So thanks for joining us and we'll see you next time. Thanks for listening to this episode. The Tom Ellef Center for Missions exists to equip the next generation of missionaries at Oklahoma Baptist University. Regardless of your major, you can come to OBU, get a world-class Christian education and get equipped to take the gospel to the nations. Our prayer is to send students from the local church through OBU to the world with the gospel. For more information about us or the Ellef Center Scholarship, follow the link in our description and come visit us at OBU.