Missions, God’s Heartbeat

“And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God” (2 Corinthians 5:18-20).

Missions is a specific and important assignment, task, or duty given to a person or group of people, typically involving travelling outside your location or abroad. A missionary does missions, he is one sent out to spread the good news of Christ, especially in a foreign country. A missionary is one who apart from this general commission, has also received another personal commission from the Lord and wait to be sent out by the Church of Christ.

The Trinity (The Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit) are missionaries. God is the visionary; He had the vision of how to reconcile man back to himself right after the fall of man in the garden of Eden. Jesus is the pioneering (field) missionary who came to do the physical work on earth, while the Holy Spirit is the follow-up missionary. If God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are all into missions, then, all Christians are expected to do missions.

The great commission or message or assignment was not given to the 12, 70, or 120 alone. It is given to all who believe and will believe in Christ. To date, God is still looking for who He can send to this sinful and corrupt generation: “Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” (Isaiah 6:8). Someone to stand in the gap: “And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none” (Ezekiel 22:30). There are many people in the Church quite alright, but God is looking for someone:

• Qualified –at peace with God–. It takes someone at peace with God to make peace between God and man.
• Faithful. Faithful men are loyal and dependable. They will keep the light burning.
• With a burden for missions like the prophet Isaiah.

Here Am I, Send Me (Isaiah 6:8)

You may want to ask: ‘Must all Christians do missions?’ The answer is an absolute ‘Yes’. All Christians must do or be involved in missions. There are two ways to say, “here I am Lord, send me.” You can say:

1. I will go
2. I will support those who go

Those who go are people:

• Make themselves available -Isaiah 6:8
• Sanctified and prepared -2 Timothy 2:20-21
• Ready to give God all the glory -Isaiah 42:8
• Who has counted the cost -Luke 9:23

Supporters can give their support in the following ways:

• Spiritually – This is praying effectively for the missionaries and their work
• Giving financially and materially – This is by sending money, clothes, and other physical necessities to help the missionaries and the work in the field.
• Morally – This you do by encouraging the missionaries through physical visitation, calls, letters, etc.

The Reward

At the end of the day, if you do your part very well, both the one that went and the one that supported will receive the same reward. See 1 Samuel 30:9-10; 18-24.

God can turn your weakness into strength

Your business or concern is to make yourself available and God will make you able. For all power–the ability to do works– both spiritually and physically comes from God- Psalms 62:11. God is still in the business of using the poor, weak, and uneducated people (1 Corinthians 1:26-31). He knows how to turn their weakness into strength (Hebrews 11:34). Also, in the support of His work, He can use people who don’t have much to do great things (2 Corinthians 8:1-8).

Reflect!

God had an only Son, and He gave him up for you and me. Christ the only Son of God gave himself for the mission of His Father. How much of your life, time, money, and strength are you ready to give for this commission? This is the great commission; we must not allow it to die. Shalom!