.jpeg)
Bryan: Pastors have a lot of pressure on them to lead their congregations in obeying all of God's commandments, including the Great Commission. Missions pastors are especially burdened with this task. The work at hand often may be overwhelming, and it could be difficult to know where to start or what to prioritize. A listener, James Walsh, asks what is the best thing for a missions pastor to do to send out missionaries? Listen to Chad Vegas answer that question with advice on what to prioritize.
Chad: Thank you for your question, James. I think this is an interesting question on at least two levels.
On the first level, I think it's interesting because I want to challenge the notion of a missions pastor. I think what's happened in the modern era is in our segmentation of gospel ministry, in the specialized competencies, we have unintentionally sent the message that the Great Commission is not the responsibility of the whole church, nor the responsibility of every ordained gospel minister or pastor in the church. You see, missions is for those guys, you know, the ones who like exotic foods, international trips, and who wear odd African clothing. The fact is that the senior pastor, and indeed every pastor, is responsible for the Great Commission, for the church is a missionary society. The church is a lampstand. We're an instrument that exists to give light to the world. And what powers that instrument is the Holy Spirit. And what that light is, is the person and work of Christ. It is Him we proclaim. Therefore, whatever a missions pastor ought to do, every pastor ought to do.
On a second level, this question is interesting because the church really does need to take seriously the training, testing, and sending of missionaries to the unreached languages of the world. We need to do every part of that well.
So I think the best thing — when you ask the question, what is the best thing? — I think the best thing any missions pastor can do is to walk closely with Christ and to prayerfully give himself to the ministry. The teaching, preaching, leadership, and prayers of the missions pastor will come out of a life that he lives. If he walks closely with Christ, studying and meditating upon the Word, communing with Christ, and praying for his church, then the Lord will bless his work. Paul tells Timothy — and I believe all gospel ministers — to keep a close watch on yourself and the teaching, for by doing so you will save both yourself and your hearers. 1 Timothy 4:16. And I think every pastor must start there. This is the best thing he can do in his ministry. Everything else flows from this.
Then as a man who walks closely with Christ and who knows the word of God well, he can begin to teach and lead Christ's people in this mission. Now the question that really follows is, what are the most important tasks after this?
First, the missions pastor can pray for the Lord of the harvest to raise up workers for the harvest field. Notice the theme — we are ever dependent upon the Lord to send workers into His harvest. And so first we go to prayer.
Second, we need to teach Christ's church in every venue we have available to us about God's heart for the nations. It isn't just that God might save the nations — it is that Christ laid down His life for His church, His people in every tribe, tongue and nation, and it is God's good pleasure to save them all.
Third, we need to meet with young men and young women about giving their lives to this great cause. I think a lot of young men and women hear sermons about missions, read biographies about missions, maybe even watch the missionary films and never consider the question, what about me? And so I think you should sit down proactively and say, you know, we see the Lord's hand in your life and we think you should consider going. Now, that means you're going to send your best. In some sense, you feel like you undercut the future of your own church. But friends, if these people are not going to be a loss to your church, they are not going to be a gain to the world. They have blessed you. They will bless the nations as well.
Fourth, we need to encourage the church to read their Bibles prayerfully while watching for God's heart for the nations. So don't just read your Bible prayerfully, but ask the Lord to show you His heart for the nations across the pages of Scripture.
Fifth, we'd encourage the church to watch or read missionary biographies. One of the reasons missionary.com has made the biographical films that we've made is because we really believe that it's important that you see the stories of the Christian men and women who've come before us, and that as you hear their stories and see their stories, you're inspired to go and do likewise. So watch films like that. Read the biographies that we recommend. They will greatly encourage the church.
Sixth, I would encourage any missions pastor or any pastor to form a team of church members who can assist the elders in assessing candidates, ensuring the candidates are well prepared, they've gotten the training they need, that they are the kind of men and women who ought to be going — to test those candidates. Do they actually reach out to people? Do they serve this church? Are they good members here before we're going to send them to lead other people elsewhere? Have they sought the kind of biblical education and training or skills like Radius International offers that they need? And then that team also needs to care for those missionaries well and to follow up with them, check in on them.
In fact, that leads to my seventh point, which is forming smaller teams — perhaps couples in the church — who adopt a missionary unit, which could be a single or a family or a couple, that they regularly care for. They might meet with them monthly, check in on them, pray for them, and then come back and update the larger team and potentially even the elders.
Eighth, we should ensure our pastors are making annual visits to their field missionaries for pastoral care. As much as we can get elders, ministers and their wives to get to the field either annually or every other year, but in some rhythm by which you're checking in regularly on the missionaries and providing the pastoral care they need in their difficult circumstances, you ought to do it. That means you have to build that into your budget when you consider sending, but this is how you support them well.
Ninth, we need to regularly update the elders on the status of candidates and of our sent missionaries in the field, bringing needed issues to their attention for prayer and to address as needed, so that missions team could send representatives to update the elders. Here's where these missions candidates are. Here's where these missionaries who are sent are. We need to pray for them in these ways. In fact, we might need you brothers to step in in these ways. So I would just say that's a ninth thing you can do.
Tenth, we need to be following up with the sending agency. This is what we call these groups that assist the church in the division of labor, as they know how to do things the church elders probably don't — like language checks, language group surveys, helping them with international business, helping them with translation, assisting them in teaming, et cetera. So we want to follow up with that agency to check in on how well they're doing with their work and to make sure that they know that we as the church want to shepherd the people we've sent. And they don't need to feel the responsibility of that. They need to take care of the responsibilities we've entrusted to them and advise us as we care for them and shepherd them through this process.
So these are the kinds of things a missions pastor can do. But I want to come back to this as I end. This is the responsibility of Christ's whole church. The church has been given its mission, and every gospel minister and every church member bears responsibility to that mission — not just an associate pastor of missions, everyone. So above all else, I would encourage a missions pastor to prayerfully, patiently, consistently bring this before the elders so that the church understands her mission as a body.
Bryan: For more advice on how pastors can build a missions focus in their churches, read Eric Burns' article "Don't Blow Everything Up" at missionary.com/articles. To receive training in pastoral abilities, look into Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary. If you have a question you would like to hear answered on Ask Missionary, drop a comment on this episode, get in touch with us on social media, or send us an email through missionary.com and your question may be featured on this show. And don't forget to subscribe to the show to get notified when the next episode, Preparing Your Parents, airs next week. Thanks for listening.