Article reproduced from The Baptist Voice: May, 2007.

In the third epistle of John verse seven, John wrote the following statement to Gaius about some missionaries, “Because that for his name’s sake they went forth, taking nothing of the Gentiles.” In describing his ministry as a missionary Paul said to the Church at Corinth, “For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more. And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law; to them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law. To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. And this I do for the gospel’s sake, that I might be partaker thereof with you.” (1 Corinthians 9:19-23)

With these two passages in mind let us think about the question, “What is a missionary?” We often hear the statement, “Every believer is a missionary.” However, when we examine this statement in light of the Scriptures we find it is not technically right. If we are inferring that every believer should be involved in worldwide evangelism or that every believer should be a soulwinner, then there is some merit in that statement. The Bible definitely teaches that each of us who have been born again and know the forgiveness of sin have an obligation and a wonderful privilege of telling the world about this great salvation.

The word missionary is not in our English Bible. We get this word from a Latin word mitto which means, “I send.” This is closely related to the Greek word apostello which means “to send.” The Bible says of Jesus Christ in Hebrews 3:1, “…the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus.” When we say that Jesus was a missionary, we are not just using words. He was sent on a mission. He was God’s missionary to this earth. By the way, the apostles were never referred to as being sent by God, they were sent by Jesus. They were the apostles of Jesus. Jesus was the Apostle of God.

I often ask children the question, “What is a missionary?” After listening to their many attempts to define a missionary, I show them a penny and say to them, “This describes a missionary.” I then challenge them to tell me what a penny is. Eventually someone will say, “One cent.” I then tell them a missionary is “one sent.” The pronunciation of the two words is the same even though the meaning and the spelling are different. The word missionary literally means “one sent.”

The missionary does not occupy the office of “Apostle.” That official office and the apostolic authority ceased with the death of the apostles of Christ. However, the responsibility is passed on to the missionaries of this day.

In describing the missionaries, John gives us a couple of great thoughts. “For his name’s sake they went forth.” They were doing what they were doing (which was evangelizing unevangelized parts of the world.) Missionaries do not go to undesirable places to reach people whom they have not seen and do not know for their names’ sakes, but for His (Jesus’) name’s sake.

John said of these men, “…taking nothing of the Gentiles.” In other words, they did not appeal to the lost world for their financial needs. Missionaries are people who have voluntarily made themselves dependent on God’s people. They are not beggars, but people who depend on God to lay on the hearts of His people to supply their needs. A denominational missionary once said to me, “You independent Baptist missionaries live from hand to mouth.” After thinking for a minute I replied, “You are right, we do live from hand to mouth. It is from God’s hand to our mouths.” By the way, that is good living.

The Corinthian passage describes the cultural adaptation of the missionary in 1 Corinthians 9:22, “I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.” With these thoughts in mind let us look at the question, “What is a missionary?”

An apostle (missionary) is one sent. He is sent by Jesus Christ, and he is sent by the local church. It is said of Barnabas and Saul, “They sent them away.” The church at Antioch sent them. The missionary is a person on the go. He crosses international and/or cultural and religious lines with the Gospel. He is sent with Divine authority. He has a wonderful message—the Gospel. He occupies new frontiers for Christ.

The purpose of the missionary is first to evangelize the lost. Two-thirds of the world’s 6.7 billion people have never heard a clear presentation of the Gospel. Many of them are in Gospel barren lands. It is difficult—with churches everywhere and with Christian radio and television programs in an abundance—to realize that most of the world still lies in heathen darkness.

The missionary is to plant indigenous churches. Evangelization is preeminent, but the missionaries do not just preach the Gospel, see people saved, and leave them. “Evangelism is not complete until the evangelized become evangelists.” The Biblical missionary establishes churches.

Dr. George Peters states in his book A Biblical Theology of Missions, “In a technical and traditional sense of the word, a missionary is a Christian messenger of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, sent forth by the authority of the Lord and the local church to cross national borders and/or cultural and religious lines in order to occupy new frontiers for Christ, to preach the Gospel of redemption in Christ Jesus unto the salvation of people, to make disciples and to establish functioning and evangelizing Christian churches according to the command of Christ and the example of the apostles.”

Missionaries are ordinary people whom God calls and equips to do extraordinary ministries. We must not deify them, but we should respect them and honor them as God-called gifts to the church.