VISION FOR MISSIONS

The need for a vision for missions is great in the Church today. A church without a vision is a church without a mission. A man of vision is the hope of the mass of lost sheep who await the good news of salvation.

Question 1:

Why do we need vision for missions today?

The subject of missions should be thoroughly and explicitly taught all members of the church. We need to have a vision for missions today. The church needs an awareness of the need for her to be a missionary church.

The work of the church is not restricted to its immediate environs. It extends to “wherever there’s sun…”. Jesus died for the whole world and the gospel is for the Greek, the Jew as well as the Barbarian. God wants every nation and culture reached. He expects converts from “…all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues” (Revelation 7:9).

Question 2:

What place does missionary outreach occupy in the ministry of the church? The church should be a missionary church. God expects every Christian to be a missionary either involved with home or foreign missions. The church should be a witness of the saving power of Christ all over the world. The Christian faith is born out of missions, spread through missions and advanced through missions.

A church that relegates missions to the background is without doubt in the woods as regards what constitutes the whole counsel of God. Real Christianity is expansive not exclusive. The church that is not missionary will only succeed in building an empire around itself; it cannot grow.

A church that has no vision for the salvation of the world cannot enjoy the full blessings of the Lord. The church that reaches out to foreign field is the church that knows and does the perfect will of God. Obviously, not all may be called to the mission field but all can participate in the church’s missionary project.

A MISSION’S COMMISSION

(Acts 1:8; Matthew 28:19; Acts 9:15; 26:16,17).

Question 3:

How central is a mission to the Great Commission?

Central to the ministries in the Bible is missions – a cross cultural ministry to people in their own cultural and geographical setting. Mission is central to the charge of the Lord, generally called the Great Commission.

The Church is commissioned to “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations … Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature…ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth” (Matthew 28:19; Mark 16:15; Acts 1:8). God recognises no national boundaries.

He commands the church to seek the lost both far and near. The Lord, before His ascension, was deeply concerned for His sheep who were outside the fold. He looked ahead to a fold composed of all peoples, races and tongues under one Shepherd.

Paul, a man of no mean commitment evinced a missionary spirit when he said: “I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise. So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel … at Rome also” (Romans 1:14,15). Today there are “Macedonian calls” from Africa, America, Europe, Asia and Australia. And the Lord is saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” (Isaiah 6:8).

THE CHURCH ON MISSION

(Acts 10:9-22,34,35; 13:1-3; 15:40,41; Galatians 2:8).

The Lord, in the early Church, showed His commitment to mission. He sent principal workers or key leaders out on missions. Paul’s call and commission portray a strong bias for missions. Right from his conversion, the Lord unequivocally directed his mission to the conversion of the Gentiles.

“But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel: But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee; Delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee” (Acts 9:15; 26:16,17).

Paul was sent as a veritable missionary to the Gentiles. The call was revitalised when later an angel of God appeared to him in a dream and directed him to go to Macedonia and there preach the gospel unto them (Acts 16:10). Peter the Apostle, one of the pillars of the early Church also had a missionary call. Though he exclusively spent his life and ministry amongst the Jews, the Lord appeared to him in a vision and directed him to a Gentile community of Caesarea, the house of Cornelius

God has expressly shown His burden for missions by directly sending one of the Apostles to the Gentiles. Christ, in His post-resurrection manifestation, displayed great burden for souls outside His immediate geographical environment. He sent the Church not only to Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria but also to the uttermost part of the earth (Acts 1:8). When the Holy Spirit spoke to Antioch Church and asked for the separation of Saul and Barnabas, it was for the purpose of mission (Acts 13:1-4).

Paul was essentially burdened for the Churches scattered all over the Gentile world and he mentioned this time and again. The unevangelised are yearning for an opportunity to hear the gospel message. The field is ripe and ready for harvest. Two thousand years after Jesus has shed His blood, billions of people are still in darkness. Will the church therefore sit on a rocking chair and fold her arms? That would be costly.

Communists, for example, do not shrink from making great personal sacrifices in the light of their assured future victory. They believe that they are seeking the good of mankind and therefore they are prepared to sacrifice anything for the realisation of their ambition. Ruskin, a secular art critic and writer, struck the right cord when he said: “He who has knowledge that is essential to the welfare of his fellow men is under solemn obligation to convey that knowledge to them.

It makes no difference who those men are, or where they live, whether they are conscious of their need or how much inconvenience or expense he may incur in reaching them.” What a challenge! A truly spiritual church generally sees beyond her local borders. The Scriptures clearly teach that the gospel message should be taken to the whole world. Every recipient of the redemptive grace of God is indebted to those who are yet unevangelised. “Saved to serve” should be the slogan of every member of the church.

PLANNING FOR MISSIONS

(Acts 9:3-9,15-20; 11:22-27; 13:1-3; 16:15).

The need for a carefully planned and wisely executed missions programme cannot be over-emphasised. There is need for a comprehensive and vigorous missionary strategy in the church today. A good proportion of the church’s fund should be expended on missions. A church’s vision for missions will determine its missionary burden and its missionary burden will determine its missionary budget.

Christians who have been in their home countries all their lives may have to sacrifice leaving family, friends, acquaintances and bright prospects. The church too may often be faced with the choice of either retaining workers who have proven ability and dependable personality in their home or headquarters church or sending them sacrificially to the mission field.

Whatever is given for the cause of missionary outreach cannot be too costly. God had an only Son yet He sent Him to the world as a missionary. When the church’s vision for mission is brightened God will begin to direct the leadership of the church to set apart men for the work of mission as He did in the church at Antioch (Acts 13:2-4).

Question 4:

List two important qualification potential missionaries must possess.

The men and women who will bear the gospel to the ends of the earth should be people of deep commitment and persuasion. A true missionary does not go to another land out of desire for adventure, travel, new experiences or for the praise that comes to those who make unusual sacrifices, as these motives will not sustain a missionary for a long period.

Those who give to support missions should not be motivated by a spirit of competition or desire for praise. To do consistent and enduring missionary work, one needs to be committed to God, His cause, His Word and the Church. It is not enough to go out as a result of ecstasy or excitement about going to a foreign land. There is need for an unwavering purpose, a definite call and a Christ-centred motive in order to go through the vicissitudes of the mission field.

CALL TO THE MISSION FIELD

(Acts 13:1-3; 16:9,10; 11:22-26; 9:15; 2 Corinthians 5:20; 2 Timothy 4:5; Matthew 4:19; Mark 1:17).

Question 5:

How can a believer receive the call to the mission field?

A believer could receive God’s direct call to the mission field. Observe the Lord’s dealing with Paul who was one of the greatest missionaries in Church history. “And a vision appeared to Paul in the night; There stood a man of Macedonia, and prayed him, saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us.

And after he had seen the vision, immediately we endeavoured to go into Macedonia, assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us for to preach the gospel unto them” (Acts 16:9,10). Another method of perceiving a missionary call is through the church leadership (Acts 13:2-4). The Lord can speak to the church thereby directing the persons that are supposed to go to the mission field.

Beside personal revelation and Spirit’s leading through church leadership, one can have a persistent desire for or conviction as regards being called to the mission field. God can use any of these methods in calling us to the mission field.

Question 6:

What are the consequences of the neglect of missions?

The commitment to missions cannot be traded off. The Lord cannot tolerate a church that despises mission.There are grave consequences for neglect of missions. Jonah typifies one who neglected missions. He had no compassion for souls beyond his national borders. But God insisted on a missionary outreach to the over one hundred and twenty thousand souls at Nineveh.

God showed Jonah that if he would go out on missions, the heathen would repent and turn to the Lord. And where His church or ministers drag their feet or refuse outright, God frowns at it. A whale swallowed Jonah and only spewed him out after three days. Today, neglect of missions attracts the frown of God and unanswered prayers.

To faithfully carry out the work of missions the church should be committed to a consistent, systematic and a well-rounded missionary programme. God will bless the church that has a world-wide vision towards reaching millions of people on the mission fields.

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kingsley