What is Missions?

What is Missions? Coming from a missionary, some may start to question the initial calling? Others, are bracing themselves because they know me.

We will start with Matthew 28:18-20 18And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit 20teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

     All authority has been given Him. If you believe in a triune, three in one, God and the third figure represented is the Holy Spirit, we as Christians also are given this same Spirit, right? I believe yes, with that said, that is how we have an open communication with our Heavenly Father and when we listen to Him speak, numerous things and blessings can happen in our lives. If we believe truly in His authority and we are His chosen people, should we not be able to follow the rest of this passage with boldness and courage, never worried the outcome, because after all He has everything on Earth and in Heaven under control with no chaos. Do you even have your own life under control to the point you never have chaos? I surely don't and most will admit to the same. We must serve Him as if we know with no doubt He has the authority in Heaven and on Earth. His authority is greater than anything we can know or achieve so serve the one with that authority.

     Go therefore! Therefore, well because He has the authority and He is in us and us in He, GO!! Make disciples. Well here is a controversial aspect, you don't think so, wait and read. A disciple is what? A follower of a teacher. We call the Apostles, disciples, but why if only they are to be considered disciples would Christ give this command? I believe us, His followers, followers of The Teacher, are too disciples and are charged to go and make new disciples. But what does that look like? The sin in our life has us skewed that I think we must take time for us and for a new follower to see the beginning of a new creature being formed.

     Then we baptize them in the name of our triune God. Of course, we can go into depth as to when this is and for what ages and so forth, but at this time, not the focus. I do believe it holds significant proof of a conversion, yet the act itself actually not having the or any saving power. It is here in the Great Commission so obviously the importance is high, agree?

     Now, my favorite part. Teach them all I have commanded you. So as Americans, I can honestly say for me and many that I know, missions is or has been a new believer focus and those are the "numbers" people look for. But do we just look for conversion numbers? Who are these numbers and who or what do they represent? Is addition or multiplication easier? If we take and view the teaching aspect from Christ's example, I believe He would say focus on a multiplication view point.

      Christ called out 12 ordinary men to be His closest pals and walk with Him and be a part of His ministry. He taught them along the way the mystery of God and we all know the stories. Then once He was crucified, then resurrected He came back to see them just as was prophesy. Now, sure He taught parables and sermons from mountains and performed many miracles along the way, but there were even people then that did not believe He WAS the messiah. My point here is that He invested His time, energy and Spirit into these twelve men. If we look at this to emulate Christ, as one person you can't save everyone. BUT, if we each took 6 to 12 people in our lives and made disciples of them, taught them all that He commanded us, and truly poured our lives into them, teaching them to start the same process with 6 to twelve of their own, do you see where multiplication is mightier than addition? It is not all about numbers folks, but more about the true relationship we have with people. Are we going to always get along with everyone along the way, NO. Does that mean we shrug them off because we didn't see eye to eye on something, absolutely not! But we must run the race for the endurance to prove our faith by our works. We must fight the fight against the snares and schemes of the evil one, shielding with faith and fighting with the sword which is the Word. Our endurance and fight must outweigh whatever the enemy can throw our way.

     If we take this and now take a deeper look into missions, are we putting our faith in God for all things? Are we living our lives with so much faith, that those we are around can see that we are humble and weak because He is strong?
     When did we lose focus of what our calling was really about? When did missions become about construction projects and buildings? When did missions become about essentially giving handouts and creating a dependency on man? Is missions for the benefit of the giver or the receiver? Now I know I will strike some veins here that will rest uneasy with some. I will add, yes, there is a time and a place for building projects on a mission field, but we must determine where to draw the line and that line in the sand will look different depending on where you are and what you are dealing with. However, we must at all times be receptive to when and where and how when doing missions.
   
     As we are here, I have talked with many pastors and church leaders now about the needs here in Belize. I simply ask, "What are the greatest needs in your church?" Open ended question loaded with possibilities. Well as I near close to a dozen church leaders now, I must say it saddens me to hear the common answer, "Well brother, we need a Sunday school building, or a new roof, or new paint, or the pastor needs a truck or a house, or a laptop or tablet or phone." Where in that list is there the slightest mention of anything relating to Spiritual growth? Men's outreach, women's Bible study, Children's program or even youth activities to keep them out of trouble? I will not even think about going into doctrine for many reasons at this point, but are we equipping with tools or creating dependency? I can tell you that I have spoken with other people involved in missions around the world and this is not an isolated problem to Belize or Central American, South America or even Africa.

     But, Dan, what about where Christ tells us when we have helped the least of these we have helped Him? Great you bring that up! If you go on a Mission trip and you see a person who clearly is malnutrition, then sure go by that person a hearty meal and feed them. If you see people that are barely clothed due to the lack of and not trying to make a fashion statement, clothe them. If you know of someone living on the street, help find them shelter. I will also state that He also told us that we are greater than the birds of the air who do not sow nor reap yet our Heavenly Father feeds them. The lilies of the field provide a covering, therefore He covers us as He did Adam and Eve who had just sinned against Him! Our heavenly Father is greater than an earthly father and we all know that our dads would help us out, I hope anyway. So, back to helping, are we truly helping when we go abroad and build buildings? Are we truly helping when we build new homes for pastors or people in general?

     What are we doing to stay mindful about not creating a hands out mentality? Do we create a greater problem when we help too much? Can we help too much? Where do we draw that line?

     Where is your mission field? What does it look like? For anyone who may read this, are you going therefore for Christ? Are you just merely keeping the pews warm on Sundays for Him? We all have a mission field, some are called to go abroad and away from all friends and family from everywhere to everywhere else, but ALL are called to go. Go next door, next town, next village, next county, next state. Remember, He gave you and I His Spirit, so what are you afraid of? Just do your part and get outside your box of comforts and watch what He can use you for!

     I am continuously amazed at the ways God uses me, blesses me and guides my daily life. I am truly blessed to be called by Him for His purpose. I never know where, how or even why, but I just ask Him to show me and He does more faithfully than I do for Him! It is a blessing to serve here in Belize and I look forward to serving Him in a ministry capacity here on Earth until that glorious day He calls me home. We are not promised tomorrow, so what are we waiting on? Discipleship starts today, and our faith is most displayed by the way we work for Him!