Throughout the years, I have donated to various missionaries to meet their daily physical needs as they meet the spiritual needs of others. These various missionaries were brothers and sisters in Christ, but I didn’t know them personally. Now that my son has become a missionary, I want to learn more biblically about the calling. Having a relationship closer than our hearts focused toward are Lord and Savior Jesus Christ has given me a different perspective. I have raised this missionary in the knowledge and usage of the Word of God for his own life. Now he is sharing this light with others. As proud as I am of him, I am also a bit apprehensive. There is a real danger to what he is doing – sharing the light in a dark world.
So, why do we even need missionaries? It says in the Bible, “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard.” (Psalms 19:1-3). If the “heavens declare the glory of God”, then why do we need missionaries to share the message of God? Why do we need missionaries if people can know about God through nature (the creation)?
Well, first of all, although people know that God exists, they suppress that truth by their own wickedness, and they deny him. Our own sinful nature – what the Bible calls our “flesh” – draws us away from God. In doing so, this desire to be like God is heightened, meaning we are attempting to be self-sufficient, self-sustaining, almighty, all-powerful, all-knowing, master of all, sovereign, etc. As created beings, we can be none of those things. A missionary helps to point out the error of our sinful nature and thought in the event we have no other way of knowing this special revelation.
Although people may believe that there is a God, they refuse to commit themselves to Him. Again, with this sinful nature that we have, we are drawn away from Him. We desire to be master of ourselves. However, we cannot be the master if we don’t know all the information for the path of life. A master gets all of the information, knows all that is going on with those under supervision, and makes decisions for the good of all. We do not, nor can we, know all that is going on with those around us. We cannot make decisions for the good of ourselves when we don’t even know if there is someone or something that “looks good” but is dangerously, if not fatally, harmful to us lurking just around the corner. Missionaries can help to persuade those who are acting in a way that is contrary to God, and they can point out the dangerous consequences of their actions.
The most important thing is knowing God in His ‘special revelation’. Although nature reveals God in ‘general revelation’, people need to be told about Jesus and how through Him they can have a personal relationship with God, which is ‘special revelation’. The only way to have relationship with the Creator of the Universe, our Father in heaven, the Master and Savior of the world, we must know Jesus. Just knowing of Jesus will not be acceptable. Knowing Jesus is the only way to have a relationship with the Father. Jesus is the method, the message, and the meaning for all people. And missionaries help to guide people to this message of Jesus Christ.
Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes to the Father, but by Me." (John 14:6)
Lastly, missionaries are needed to help the church obey the Great Commission of our Lord Jesus that He told His disciples that can be found at the end of the gospel of Matthew.
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age. (Matthew 28:19-20)
This is the mission of all the followers of Jesus. He tells us to “go”. A missionary does not have to go across the world to share the gospel of Jesus to someone. There are foreign and domestic missionaries that live their lives in pursuit of sharing the light of life to all. If you follow Jesus, you are called to be a missionary. As you can see, missionaries are necessary to show this dark world the True Light of God in Jesus.
Gotta go fill up my cup…..
Coffee with Candee 