Do You Want to be a Missionary?

What is a missionary? According to Dictionary.com, the primary definition of that word is “a person sent by a church into an area to carry on evangelism or other activities, as educational or hospital work.”

Most often, when we refer to a person as a “missionary” we are thinking of a person who has left his homeland, packed up his (usually meager) belongings, and gone to some far distant place to carry out what we know as The Great Commission (cf. Matthew 28:19-20). Similarly, when we think of a “mission field,” we usually think of a place where there are either no local congregations of the Lord’s church or the ones that may be there are very weak numerically.

While listening to a lesson recently, I heard a definition of that word “missionary” that caught my attention. I’ve done a little research on that definition, but I have yet to find who should get the credit for first saying or writing it. I’m not even sure of the exact wording, but, if my memory is close to being accurate (and if one place I looked on the internet is correct), it goes like this:

“A missionary isn’t someone who crosses the sea, but someone who sees the cross.”

I pray that that statement will have the same impact on you that it has had on me. You, see, I’ve done some of what might be called “short-term mission work.” A number of years ago, in two consecutive years, I went literally half-way around the world from where I was living at that time and preached the gospel for a total of ten weeks in India.

The living conditions, diet, language, climate, food, customs, and so many other things were very different from what I was used to. I was willing to experience all of that, though, because I believed that I was doing my small part to follow the Lord’s instructions in that Great Commission to “…teach [make disciples of] all nations…” (Matt. 28:19).

Now that I’m “armed” with my new-found definition of what a missionary is, I am both more excited and more challenged. I am excited because that quote drives home a point I’ve known for years, but may have never fully appreciated. I can be, in fact I’m supposed to be, a “missionary” in any and all environments.

I am challenged because that quote drives home a point I’ve known for years, but may have never fully appreciated.  I can be, in fact I’m supposed to be, a “missionary” in any and all environments.

If you think you may have noticed a little redundancy in the last two paragraphs, you are right. I was redundant for a reason.

It is both exciting and challenging to know that my “mission field” is wherever I am. My first “missionary effort” could take place in a house across town, down the street, or next door. It could begin with a parent, a child, or a spouse who has yet to obey the gospel of Christ.

It could very well be that the very first step I need to take to fulfill my part in taking the gospel to all nations is for me to clearly see the cross for myself. It seems to me that, the extent to which I can do that will largely determine what kind of “missionary” I will be.

As the cross and its implications can be seen more and more clearly to me, my next step may, in fact, be to travel to some far distant place. I am thankful for those who have done, and are doing, that.

At the same time, that next step could take me to somebody I’ve known and loved for many years — or — to somebody in town I need to know and teach.

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Photo background credit: Kenneth Lu on Creative Commons