We Are All Missionaries
This past week I had the privilege of hearing two completely different testimonies of ministry and missions.
Both were fascinating.
MISSIONARIES IN AFRICA
The first testimony was from a husband and wife who are missionaries in the central-eastern part of Africa.
They serve in one of the most dangerous places in the world. Rebels often storm through the village with the intent of destroying everything and killing everyone in their path. They must flee to the forest and hide out for days until they leave.
Aside from the danger, it is a remote area with no running water or electricity. And they chose to live there under these conditions to serve the people who live there and tell them about Jesus.
He is a surgeon and helps heal people with the hope that it will open their hearts to hear the gospel. She serves the women in the area and shares stories about Jesus through drama to help them see His love for them.
I saw pictures of people who were brought from death to life physically and spiritually. People who were baptized in muddy water. My heart burst with joy as tears flooded my eyes and ran down my face.
I admired their courage, their trust in Jesus, and the calling they experienced from Him. The husband talked about how he felt called to missions in the 6th grade. He went to school to become a surgeon to be a medical missionary and fulfill the Great Commission.
More than once I thought, “Wow, he has given up so much to live in these conditions and serve these people.” I thought about the money that he could have made as a surgeon, and the life that he could have lived in comfort, safety, and luxury.
But he didn’t see it that way. It was obvious that he didn’t care about money. Jesus had given him a heart for this, the skills to do it, and guided and empowered him into this life. And Jesus worked powerfully through him to meet people’s needs and make an eternal impact in the lives of many.
MISSIONARY THROUGH BUSINESS
The second testimony was radically different. This guy had started off as a missionary in a college campus setting. He raised his own support, built relationships with students, and led them to Christ as the Lord opened the doors.
However, he felt called to do more and was led down a very different path. He started his own business and worked to make as much money as he possibly could while serving people along the way.
His desire wasn’t to make tons of money to live a life of comfort and luxury but rather to be a blessing to others and use it to point people to Jesus.
He has been extremely successful in this business venture. And with his success, he has used the resources God has given him to impact countless lives.
He bought some land and turned it into a place where kids and families come to ride horses, shoot skeet, fish, and just have fun together. Churches have used it for parent-child retreats, co-workers come to enjoy it, and he invites complete strangers to come out and have access as well. As they do, he builds relationships and shares about Jesus, His love, and His grace.
With his financial success, he has also been able to invest a lot of money into other ministry and missions organizations to help fund the meeting of needs and to fulfill the Great Commission.
So, as you can see, these are two radically different testimonies, but both saw themselves as missionaries. Each felt called to do what they were doing, and Jesus was at work through them in different ways to meet people’s needs and bring them to salvation.
WE ARE ALL MINISTERS AND MISSIONARIES
The reality is that as believers in Christ, we are all ministers and missionaries. Jesus is on mission to minister to and serve others through us.
Jesus came to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10). As we read through the gospels, we see countless examples of Jesus serving those in need and teaching them about God’s grace. Ultimately, He died on the cross and was raised from the dead to accomplish this mission.
Before Jesus went to the cross, He gave the disciples the Great Commission.
"Therefore 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)
Aside from giving them the Great Commission though, Jesus told them that after the Holy Spirit came, they would be His witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8).
After the Spirit was given (Acts 2), we see Jesus continue His mission to seek and save the lost through them throughout the rest of the book of Acts. In other words, Jesus gave them the Great Commission and then provided them with what they needed to fulfill it: Himself!
This is what He does through you and me as well. Jesus puts His Life in us to express His Life and mission through us.
WHAT DO MINISTRY AND MISSIONS LOOK LIKE IN YOUR CONTEXT?
As you saw in the testimonies I described earlier, Jesus’ mission through each one of us is going to look different. You have God-given spiritual gifts, natural talents, and a personality that Jesus works through on His mission to seek and save the lost.
Some of us may be called to His mission work in other places throughout the world. If that is you, then He will give you a heart and an excitement for this. He will equip you for this work that He is ultimately going to do in and through you.
Others of us may be called to His mission work in our own neighborhoods, schools, workplaces, churches, and/or local missions organizations.
The key is to prayerfully ask Jesus how He wants to work through you in your context and in conjunction with your gifts, personality, and resources.
"Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms."
(1 Peter 4:10)
So, what do ministry and missions look like in your context?
Seek Jesus and participate with Him in what He wants to do through you to seek and save the lost. Experience His abundant Life through you as He makes an eternal impact in this world and in the lives of others.