Are We All Missionaries?

It’s sometimes said that every Christian is a missionary.  So, is this true?  Well, yes and no.  Yes, we’re all charged to participate in Jesus’ mission of gathering more disci­ples who trust in him (Matt 28:18-20).  All Christians are to share their hope (1 Pet 3:15); every believer is to declare the word of life (1 Pet 2:9).  God has put you into relational networks where you’re the one with life-saving news to share—you’re on mission, so speak up.

But no, most Christians are not missionaries in the technical sense of the term.  In fact, most Christians need to make a living to help fund and send uniquely qualified, trained mission­aries who, by God’s help, can take on key long-term tasks in the fulfillment of his Great Commission.  For example, the Bible does not get translated into yet-undeciphered languages by short-term teams:  it takes years of cross-cultural immersion and linguistic labor and trust-building time among a people group even to begin to make headway on such a grand task.

Take the story of Carrie (Taylor) Heissler:  Goshen helped fund her 24 years in Cameroon serving with Wycliffe Bible Translators, with the goal of bringing God’s Word into the Nomaande language—and it happened, by his grace!  And the Lord may well be raising up more Carries among us—let’s pray toward that end.  Healthy churches don’t just care for each other, but they equip and send out those among us God is calling to cross-cultural missions.

Even though most of us are not and never will be missionaries of this type, as a sending-supporting-praying church we have a vital role in God’s plan for the world.  And further, let’s make sure we DO NOT lose sight of the crucial, specialized, strategic work of the classic career missionary because of some sloganeering that “we’re all missionaries”!

(For more about God’s heart for the world, stay tuned for our Fall Focus on Missions 2022—coming Oct. 30 and Nov. 6.)