BULLETIN ARTICLE
7 July 2019
OUR MISSIONARY GOD
God is a missionary God. From Genesis to Revelation, he calls his people to join in bringing the Gospel message to every tongue, tribe and person. To some, “missions” mean evangelism, while others include everything the church does. The list covers outreach, education, social justice, micro enterprises, community development, drug rehabilitation, etc.
What do churches expect, encourage and pray for in their missionaries? And what should mission committees and mission budgets look for in determining which mission organizations and missionaries to support? These are important and practical questions. And they cannot be addressed until we first answer the question: What do missionaries do? We may say that every Christian must be involved in missions, but not every Christian is a missionary. The term missionary is reserved for those who are intentionally sent out from one place to another. Missionaries, are called by God and sent by the church to further the mission where the gospel work has not yet been established.
Noted New Testament scholar Dr. Eckhard Schnabel describes the missionary task by these points:
– Missionaries communicate the news of Jesus the Messiah and Saviour to people who have not heard or accepted this news.
– Missionaries communicate a new way of life that replaces, at least partially, the social norms and the behavioral patterns of the society in which the new believers have been converted.
– Missionaries integrate the new believers into a new community.
Thankfully we have it easier today than missionaries like Paul and Barnabas did in early church times. With connected worldwide travels, social media, internet platforms, improved medical care, better hygiene, etc… But in other ways, the work of a missionary is even harder today, with greater cross cultural gaps to overcome than Apostle Paul did in his time. Paul didn’t have to learn a new language. He traveled within the borders of the Roman Empire. He ministered among those who shared something of the same educational system and political tradition.
Today, there’s the trend of “reverse mission, where newer and younger churches in the Global South, are sending missionaries to the West” even as workers sent from the Global North is “declining significantly.” Emerging Global South mission-sending countries include Brazil, South Korea, India, South Africa, Philippines, Mexico, China, Colombia and Nigeria. America sends the largest number of missionaries, “127,000 in 2010 compared to 34,000 by second ranked Brazil.” The prize for sending the largest percentage per million Christians in the population surprisingly goes to Palestine, with 3,401 missionaries sent for every million Christians.
The challenge of sending missionaries globally hasn’t ended. Let us faithfully pray for the next generation of BKC missionaries to arise! “Go and live out your calling with the training you have received!”
(BGST Founding Principal Emeritus, Dr Quek Swee Hwa)
