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Bryan: When a local church recognizes her role in the Great Commission, the duty to disciple and send missionaries transforms from a burden to an honor. Sending your best to plant churches among the unreached is an effort that demands energy and resources that each duty of the church deserves. But like the question Brooks answered in our last episode, it can be hard to know where to start. This week, Chad Vegas tackles a similar question, but for sending churches, answering an email we received from Matthew McClain, who asked, "How should a local church intentionally prepare someone who is aspiring to become a missionary? What does that look like practically?"
Chad: Matthew, thank you for your question. The local church's work in preparing someone to serve as a missionary has been something my own church has been thinking about for better than a decade. We want to send and support our missionaries well. And this begins with qualifying them and preparing them. So I want to address your question with a two-part answer.
First, I want to address the qualifying and preparing of a gospel minister. Biblically, any gospel minister is to be tested as to their godliness, giftedness, and doctrinal soundness. The gospel minister must be able to set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity— 1 Timothy 4:12. In other words, the gospel minister is to be a godly example. The gospel minister must be able to teach sound doctrine and refute those who contradict— Titus 1:9. They must be faithful men who are entrusted with the apostles' doctrine— 2 Timothy 2:2. Finally, the gospel minister must demonstrate gifting in teaching the Word of truth. Surely the gospel minister's gifts can be honed as he fans to flame the gift of God within him— 2 Timothy 1:6. Now, in these ways, the qualification and training are all the same. Does this missionary candidate demonstrate godliness in life, soundness in doctrine, and giftedness in ministry? In the church where I pastor, we test those things prior to formal training like seminary or Radius International.
With that said, let me turn to our second point. I want to address the preparation for some of the unique challenges for the gospel minister among unreached language groups. While gospel ministry is gospel ministry everywhere in the world, there are some unique challenges to ministering among unreached language groups. First, you must learn a new language, or usually two new languages. Second, you must learn a new culture. Third, you have to establish a business to maintain a visa in closed countries. Fourth, you may have to create a written language— many language groups do not have a written orthography, so you have to create one. Fifth, you'd have to teach people to read their written language. Sixth, you have to translate the Bible into their language. Seventh, you have to establish a Christian church among a language group for the first time in history. Eighth, you have to be actively engaged in evangelism with people who hold a distinct worldview, which will require considerations regarding your polemic— in other words, how do I take the Christian understanding of the world and compare it to their understanding of the world and show them why their understanding is not true. Ninth, you'll likely face diseases, governments, foods, and a variety of other challenges you just don't face at home.
All of this means that you need training in at least four additional regards. First, you need training in linguistics and cultural analysis. Second, you need training in cross-cultural church planting and evangelism that helps you provide a polemic that contradicts their worldview. Third, you need training in international business. Fourth, you need training in biblical suffering and grittiness.
Now, with all that said, I would make the following recommendations to every church. Here's my first recommendation: do not send anyone who is not already an excellent church member. If this person is not a loss for your church, then they are not a gain to the world. Second, expect your missionary candidates to be evangelistic in their home context. If they're not doing evangelism here, then they likely won't do it in a more stressful and difficult setting where more is on the line for them. Third, encourage your missionary candidates to have some good work experience in the business world. If you're going to have to have a business overseas to maintain your visa to be there, then you would do well to have had some business experience here. Fourth, encourage your missionary candidates to gain the Bible training needed for faithful long-term ministry. In my own church, we want our candidates to go to seminary. Fifth, send your candidates to Radius International for the training needed in linguistics and culture, cross-cultural church planting and worldview analysis, international business and biblical suffering. We will help them develop some of the discipline and grittiness needed for this task. Sixth, test your missionary's character, doctrine, and teaching. Can they clearly articulate the word of God to a group of people? Are they able to faithfully handle the word of truth? Is their life a good example in speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity?
This kind of qualifying and training takes considerable time, but a lifetime of ministry is wisely preceded by laying good foundations in the hearts and minds of our missionaries.
Bryan: If your church isn't part of the Missionary church partnership program yet, please visit our website at missionary.com/partner to learn more. As a partner church, you'll receive missionary films, books, prayer guides, and more, all tailored to help you inspire a culture of sending and going. And if you have a question about the Great Commission, get in touch with us through the website or on social media, and it may be featured in an upcoming episode. Don't forget to subscribe and tune in for our episode next week when missionary Brooks Buser answers a listener's question about how to return home from the mission field. I hope you'll join us. Thanks for listening to Ask Missionary.