Does A Missionary Need A Church?

Stephen: If you know anything about mission work, you know it can be complicated. Once you know your call to the field, it isn't just a matter of picking a spot on the map or buying a plane ticket. There are so many things to navigate. There are sending agencies, fundraising, vaccinations, immigration processes, update emails to write one or more languages to learn, maybe even seminary or training school to attend. And that's just the beginning of the list.

Knowing exactly what the local church's role is in all of this can be complicated. In fact, it's becoming more common for missionaries to go to the field without any formal connection to a church at all. While this might seem like streamlining the process, it raises a lot of questions about a missionary's calling, accountability, and purpose.

Chad, our question today is when we hear a lot from our partners and at conferences. It's one we talk about a lot at Missionary. Does a missionary need a church?

Chad: This is actually a surprisingly relevant topic for our day. I'm concerned that we can incorrectly hear the Great Commission as a command given merely to individuals, rather than to the Church as a society. So we need to consider the context of the Great Commission. The audience who received it originally was the eleven apostles, according to Matthew 28:16.

There are some clues, however, that extends past them. For example, in Matthew 28:20, Jesus says, "I will be with you until the end of the age." Outside the eleven and the 12th apostle added in Acts 1, Matthias, the Lord Jesus directly added Paul as a missionary to the nations. Further, in Acts we see the apostles via the church, raise up other gospel ministers to send out: Stephen, Philip, Barnabas, Luke, Timothy, Titus, Silas.

The apostles were the foundation of the Church, Ephesians 2:20, and they've handed the keys of the Kingdom that Jesus gave to them to the Church. So now the Church sends out missionaries. This is our first consideration. The Lord Jesus by His Spirit sends missionaries through His Church. We see this directly in Acts 13.

Listen to this text starting in verse one.

"Now there were in the church at Antioch prophets and teachers. Barnabas, Simon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manian, a lifelong friend of Herod the Tetrarch and Saul. While they were worshipping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I've called them." Then after fasting and praying, they laid their hands on them and sent them off."

So being sent out by the Holy Spirit. So we need the church in order to be sent, and we must be sent. The Father sent Jesus, Jesus sent the apostles by the power of the Holy Spirit. The churches Christ established by the Spirit empowered apostles send further missionaries also by the power of the Holy Spirit. As Paul said in Romans 10:14,

"How then will they call on him and whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in Him of whom they've never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach, unless they are sent? As it is written, how beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news."

So we must be sent by the Lord Jesus through His Spirit-empowered church.

We see the same understanding as Paul appointed elders in Ephesus and then told them that the Holy Spirit had made them overseers. We see it in 2 Timothy 1, and in 1 Timothy 4 as the Spirit gave Timothy gifts, but Timothy received those through the ordination or the laying on of hands of the council of elders.

Secondly, missionaries are not only sent by the church, they're also accountable to the church. We read about Paul and Barnabas being sent by the church in Antioch. We also read about Paul and Barnabas returning and reporting to the church at Antioch.

"And when they had spoken the word in Purga, they went down to Italia, and from there they sailed to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work that they had fulfilled. And when they arrived and gathered the church together, they declared all that God had done with them and how He had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles. And they remained no little time with the disciples." -Acts 14:25

And in the midst of this furlough or this home assignment, Paul and Barnabas wanted to address an issue that had risen about the new Gentile Christians. So the church at Antioch sent them to Jerusalem to call together a council that would answer these questions. We read about this in Acts 15. And Paul and Barnabas would then be sent out to deliver that church council's determination.

In other words, they saw themselves as accountable to and under the authority of the church. Paul and Barnabas were not lone rangers. They were an extension of the Church of Antioch among the nations. So we are sent out by the Church and we are accountable to the Church.

Thirdly, we are supported by the Church. Paul speaks in Philippians about how the church there had supplied his need, even sending a co-worker to assist him in need. Paul tells the church in Rome that he wants their support as he heads to Spain to preach the gospel. John speaks this way about those who support missionaries in 3 John 8: "Therefore, we ought to support people like these that we may be fellow workers for the truth."

So missionaries need the church. The church is the body of Christ who is its head. Hold the authority to send missionaries. The church is the body to whom missionaries are accountable. The church is the co-laborer in the gospel with the missionaries as they support them.

If you're aspiring to the honor of naming Christ where He's never been named, then seek out the advice of your elders and pastors. Ask them if they'd be willing to send you. Ask them if they'd be willing to support you in prayer, advice, and training as you seek to be qualified and prepared to go. Your church may be more or less engaged in this process. Your church may be new to this, or they may be experienced. Your church may be reluctant or excited to send you. But the primary principle here is that missions is the work of the Church.

Stephen: Thank you for listening to Ask Missionary. Your church doesn't need to go alone when it comes to sending missionaries. Visit missionary.com/churchpartnership to find out about our church partnership program.

As a Missionary partner church, your church will receive our Missionary docuseries and Bible study along with new resources tailored to helping you and your congregation follow Christ's Great Commission.

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Thanks for listening.