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Bryan: Self-promotion and the Christian faith have never fit well together. And when a ministry becomes more about the minister than about Christ, it can be devastating. And the mission field is no exception. On a remote field with little oversight, a self-absorbed missionary is apt to do more damage than they ever imagined. But how much should aspiring goers and their sending churches let these cautionary tales influence them? In this episode, Pastor Chad Vegas answers this question from listener Abby Basset, who asks, "What would you say to someone who is interested in missions, but has turned away from the idea in the past because of those they see that use missions as a vacation or a way to glorify themselves?"
Chad: Thank you for your question, Abby. I actually laughed when I first read this because at one point, this was something that I myself struggled with. I was a youth pastor who had led several short-term mission trips and who had interacted with several long-term missionaries. And I was honestly deeply discouraged by what I had witnessed. In fact, I was becoming cynical about both short-term missions and long-term missions.
I started seeing short-term missions as a kind of exotic church-paid vacation with no real benefit other than giving people a kind of life experience. And I started seeing long-term missions as a way for people to live a life of leisure in a foreign location with zero accountability for how their time and money was spent. Further, I also wrestled with some cynicism because I saw missionaries returning from the field being treated like folk heroes with few real questions being asked about the work they were doing and their own lives before the Lord. And those missionaries themselves were even buying what they were selling as to the justifications about how they are due some unquestioned indulgence in the flesh in exchange for their sacrifice.
And that whole scenario isn't new to us. In fact, in early Protestant history, there were missionaries who went to places like India and scandalized the name of Christ and His church — this is as early as the 17th century — as they indulged themselves in these foreign lands. So this question and concern isn't new. Sadly, history is replete with these stories, and I have personally seen them. And based on your question, you or others around you have seen them.
What's more, the Bible is also not afraid to address them. There are both dishonest workmen in the early church, such that Paul must address them in 2 Corinthians, particularly chapters 10-12, where the apostle Paul addresses these "super apostles," and those missionaries with selfish ambition who were preaching a true gospel—unlike the super apostles—but were doing so from selfish motives. Paul has to deal with that in Philippians 1. These were missionaries during the era of the New Testament. So there's nothing new under the sun.
But sin and selfishness in missions is not the whole story. The missionary par excellence is our Lord Jesus. He laid down His life for His people. He sought no personal benefit and He is our model. The Holy Spirit has come to unite us to Christ and take all that is His and give it to us. He has come to renew us in the image of Christ in true righteousness and holiness. So we need to grow in this grace. Thus we always start there. We read our Bibles. We sit under the preached word. We prayerfully ask the Lord to give us a heart like Christ's. We don't go out on missions as imitators of anyone but Christ, and then all those who imitated Him. And there are many who have imitated Christ faithfully and who are currently imitating Christ faithfully.
At Missionary we tell the stories of faithful missionaries in the past. At Radius, we have the privilege of working with young men and women who are endeavoring to serve the Lord faithfully even now. So I encourage you to watch and read some of these stories that we put out at Missionary. Ask the Lord to make you like those saints, in as much as they were like Christ. Further, be encouraged that there is much good work happening in the missions world today. Is there enough good work? Certainly not. Do we need more? Absolutely we do.
And if you're going to engage in that work yourself, then ask the Lord to guard your heart from believing that you are above falling into the same sin and scandals as missionaries from the past. See, that's where we don't want to become arrogant nor puffed up. Because the seed of every sin is in my heart and in your heart. It only needs to be watered to grow. And we water it by letting our guard down and thinking we're above that sin. And so it begins to seep in and to take root and to grow and to produce cursed fruit in our lives.
So how do we fight it? We seek the Lord. We humble ourselves before Him. And we trust Him to sustain us and to mature us by His grace. And we pray that the Lord will be pleased to use us as faithful stewards of this gospel message to the ends of the earth for the rest of our lives, so that we both start and finish well.
Bryan: To learn more about biblical missions and how your church can become a sending church, visit missionary.com, where you'll find weekly blog articles, books, and feature films dedicated to inspiring Christians, families, and the local church to obey the Great Commission. Thanks for listening to Ask Missionary.