How-To Tuesday - The Preparation

Sorry for the tardiness of this post. My normal busy Tuesday schedule was exacerbated by vehicle issues, sales meetings, and dealings with the banking industry. On a side note, we had 16 in Awana last night, with almost all of them being new people.

Acts 13:1-3

1Now there were at Antioch, in the church that was there, prophets and teachers: Barnabas, and Simeon who was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.
2While they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them."

3Then, when they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.

I notice three things from this passage. (1) The church was ministering to the Lord. (2) The Holy Spirit spoke to the congregation. (3) Barnabas and Saul were both called for the work.

A mission work is not to be taken lightly. In fact, most churches and pastors I know take it very seriously. They don't toy with missions. Their caution, though, has led many churches to opt out of sending missionaries to the mission field. They happily support missionaries sent out by other churches through prayers, financial support and mission trips. However, the number of sending churches in the America Baptist Association are in a small minority.

I've heard pastors say, "I'd like to send out a missionary, my church just isn't ready." I believe him. Both sending church, and missionary need to be prepared for the work they are about to embark upon. Which is why I am starting this "How-To" series way back in the preparation phase. So, following the example given to us int he book of Acts, how should a church prepare for the task of sending a missionary to the mission field.

(1) They must be serving the Lord. In Verse 2, scripture records they were "ministering to the Lord." That word minister means to serve. They were serving the Lord. How do you serve the Lord? You obey Him. How? By following the purpose He has given to the church. Jesus told His church to Go, make disciples, baptize them, and indoctrinate them. A church that is not working to reach their own community is going to be fairly useless as a sending church, because they are going to have no idea what that missionary is going through. Furthermore, a church that is not making disciples is outside of the will of God, therefore they are not listening to the Holy Spirit. If they are not listening to the Holy Spirit, they will not hear His instructions to send out missionaries.

However, history and antecdotal evidence suggests that churches who are actively engaged in winning their communities for Christ often get a burden for people in places far away from their church. These churches often wind up sending missionaries to places all over the world, and in the United States.

Now, it does happen that churches are being disobedient in the Great Commission, but decide to send a missionary anyway. Perhaps they like the missionary. Perhaps they want to be known as a "mission-minded church." Perhaps the pastor really pushes the idea and the church votes to do so to shut him up. In these situations, the missionary is sent out. He may be well-supported, he may not. He may succeed. He may not. One thing is for certain, the sending church will get no more blessing from that work than a child sponsor gets for sending 75 cents a week to Christian Children's Fund. While I do not discourage such, the blessing is in the raising of the children, not the sponsorship thereof.

If you want to see your church get active in missions, send out a missionary, and enjoy the fulness of the fruit thereof, lead them to be active in the Great Commission locally. It'll ignite your church. And don't worry about how to be active in the Great Commission. You already know how to do that, otherwise, you would not be in pastoral ministry.

(2) The Holy Spirit spoke to the church. The Spirit called the church as well as the missionaries. This came as a result of their following the Spirit through their obedience to Christ. It is important to seek God's leadership and will in regards to missions. A particular city may look like a good mission point, but if God has not called your church to reach that mission field, you have a long hard battle ahead of you. Mission work requires enough stress, sacrifice, prayer time and hard work as it is. Don't make it harder by not including God's leadership in your decision making. My advice, have the church pray for the Spirits leadership in finding a people He wants you to reach with the Gospel. He will answer. Scripture gives examples of men saying "Here I am, send me." Scripture records that God honored those requests by sending them.

(3) The missionaries were called to the work. I have heard comments like "It's easier to start a new church rather than to deal with the traditions and hang-ups of an existing church." I find this attitude disturbingly arrogant. Who are you to try to remake a church after your own image? It's not about molding the church to your idea of what a church should be. It's about you teaching the church what God wants them to do, and who He wants them to be in Christ.

Missionaries who seek to plant churches so that they can pastor a new, hip, modern congregation with all the bells and whistles without being held accountable by seasoned Missionary Baptist are in for a rude awakening when they get to the field. Mission works are not businesses. It's more than analyzing populations, demographics, psychographics, land and realty prices and setting budgets. It's about following God's call to reach people with the Gospel. God, in His foreknowledge, knows who is ready to accept the Gospel, and who can best reach that person with the Gospel. He calls people according to that need. Can I prove this in scripture? Yes. I'll save that for another post.

When dealing with prospective missionaries, the sending church needs to be satisfied that the missionary is indeed called to that field, and not following opportunities, building a name for himself, or creating his own kingdom. No need to be paranoid about this. The former is more common, in my opinion, than the latter. If a man is willing to walk away from a comfortable life, give up a career or ministry, and move onto a field without tens of thousands of dollars in the bank, he is likely called.

Missionaries should prepare themselves for the call as well. They should be obedient to Christ, both the commission He has given them through their local church, and His calling He placed on their lives. They should also devote themselves to the study of the scriptures.

God moves upon and calls the obedient. Will you be obedient? Will you answer the call?

Any and all questions may be directed to me via email, at GracePointeMBC@aol.com, or by cell phone at 325-200-8531.