TJLBC Missions

Men of God, Missionaries, or Both?

Ephesians 4:11-12
"And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers ; 12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:"

Scripturally speaking, the God-ordained areas of ministry include the apostles, prophets, evangelists, and the pastor-teacher. While the apostles and prophets have fulfilled their ministry, Ephesians 2:20, the evangelists and the pastor-teachers continue to build upon their foundation.

In 2 Timothy 4:5, the apostle Paul exhorts a young pastor by the name of Timothy to not forget to "do the work of an evangelist" while carrying out his pastoral duties . By definition, a Biblical evangelist is one who heralds the good news of the gospel and proclaims the free gift of salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. While the pastor's ministry primarily involves shepherding the saints, the evangelist's ministry majors on the salvation of sinners.

It is this Biblical evangelist that, in our modern vernacular, we call a missionary. It has been said that a missionary is somebody going somewhere telling someone else about the Lord Jesus Christ. While all of the saved are missionaries in this sense, the Biblical evangelist (or missionary) involves a particular calling upon one who has been called by God to preach and is distinguished by the Lord as a man of God. If that is not the case, then there is no reason to differentiate in the Scriptures between an evangelist and a pastor.

In Acts 13:1-4, we find the call and the commission of Barnabas and the apostle Paul. Acts 14:21-28 gives us the description of the type of work they were involved in; they were doing the work of an evangelist. They preached the gospel, planted churches, and ordained elders in every church before leaving it behind. We would call this in our day, a church planting missionary, and their method of choice for accomplishing this task was preaching, Acts 13:5 & 14:21. Whether reaching a Jew or a gentile, God's method of choice is always preaching!

With that said, in order for there to be preaching, there must first be preachers, Romans 10:13-15. There seems to be a dearth in our day of preaching missionaries! (or should I say, missionaries that can preach because they are called to preach) Why is it that the most boring part of the average missions meeting is when the missionaries are given the opportunity to preach? We are told during the meeting that we should give these men our utmost attention, that they are men of God, just like pastors. Yet, I am finding that our lack of attention rests many times not on our lack of burden but on their lack of unction.

I recently asked a couple of congregations that I have had opportunity to preach to the following question: When is the last time that you heard a missionary preach and were impressed, not by their charisma or salesmanship, but by the unction in their preaching? Another man asked these questions: When is the last time you heard a missionary preach and felt led to go the altar? Pastors, who is the last missionary you heard preach that you would invite back a second time to preach in your church or to preach a weeks meeting? I'm not saying that none exist; I am simply saying that among the crop of missionaries riding the circuit that I have seen, they are seemingly few and far between.

Now, I am not speaking here of a certain style of preaching, but of power in preaching. I believe that a man should first be a preacher before being a missionary, and if he is not a preacher, he most certainly should not be a missionary. Why is it that pastors and churches are sending men to preach to people at home and abroad that they don't have enough confidence in to use in their own services or to teach in a children's Sunday School class?

As the pastor of a local NT church, I don't have to be sold on missions as a NT practice. What I am interested in seeing, however, are missionaries who are first and foremost men of God. Far too many missionaries have followed the guidelines of the mission board rather than the guidelines set forth in the Scriptures for accomplishing their God-ordained purpose. No wonder they lack power! What we need in this day are qualified men with a Scriptural ministry going about their ministry in a Scriptural manner.

In 1 Samuel 15:22, the Word of God says, "Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams." Obedience is the key to the Christian life. As men of God, whether missionary or pastor, our allegiance is to our Lord. When the decision comes down as to whether to obey God or men, our obedience should be to our Lord.

If the mission board says you need $5,000 a month support before you can go and God says go with $4,000, it is better to obey God than men! If the mission board says "Don't preach on certain things, it's not your job" and God says, "Preach the word ; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine," it is better to obey God than men!

True missionaries are men of God, and they should not be expected or allowed to be anything else! I still believe that if we as God's people will do God's business God's way, He will honour our efforts whether we are a missionary, a pastor, or a person in God's flock. If you are called to be a missionary, you don't have to forfeit your right to be God's man. You don't have to choose between being a missionary or a man of God. You can be both!