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Wednesday, November 21, 2018

Just a Pet Peeve of Mine

There are many well-meaning church leaders who propagate the claim, "As Christians, we are all missionaries." The way I understand the term, "missionary", which I am not fond of the title, it is someone who traverses ethnic and linguistic lines to carry the message of Christ. This definition is drawn from the term nations, which Christ used in assigning the disciples the Great Commission. The term nations means essentially, the ethnics. That is, the Great Commission is a directive from the Lord to carry the gospel to all the people groups of the world.

Those who claim, we are all missionaries, mean well as we are to all evangelize. There is a difference. Evangelism is taking the gospel to everyone, particularly those of your own culture. Missions is taking that same message across cultural and linguistic lines. So, to say we are all missionaries is like saying, we are all pastors-it just is not true. To take the message to another culture involves learning another language, developing some level of understanding of the culture, learning what works in the new culture, and making a long-term commitment to that people group. By that definition and understanding, if we are all missionaries, then almost no one is doing missions. Missions is a long-term commitment to make relationships with people of other cultures and languages so that may see the Jesus in you.

The term missionary is not found in scripture, albeit the concept is there. I view the concept of the missionary as a definite office of the church to enhance the work of the church, keep the mission of the church in focus, and a vital part of the body of Christ. The cross-cultural worker is not be put on a pedestal, thought of as a super-Christian, but should not be relegated to the back burner of the church ministry and only appear as a line item on the annual budget. To say that we are all missionaries is to lessen the importance of the role.

So, what role should missions play in the life of the local church? For most, it is a department or team in the church with the responsibility of spotlighting international missions and/or local evangelism. However, when we structure the church in such a manner we are shortcircuiting the intent of the Great Commission. Missions is not a line item, department, or team with the church, but should be heartbeat of every part of the church. The Great Commission was given as the marching orders of the disciples and the church. However, when we assign missions as a department in the church we make the Great Commission optional. It was never meant to be optional. Show me a church where its focus is on the nations and I will show you a church that has the heart of God.




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