This is the eighth article in a series based on the book, Detours: 10 Roadblocks to the Great Commission, by Paul Seger. Real pastors were asked, “Why would a church NOT want to send missionaries from their congregation?” “Detours” explores the roadblocks these pastors have experienced and seeks to provide solutions for the church to fulfil this vital role in the Great Commission.
3-1/2 – Minute Read
Training and sending a missionary from your church is costly in at least two ways. First, you will be losing a key leader. Second, you will financially support someone who was previously a financial giver. That makes it a double hit. There is no doubt that in missions, there is a high price to pay.
My first ministry after Bible college was to serve as an assistant pastor in a church in North Carolina. That was a wonderful experience, and God blessed richly. To this day, we fondly remember those days of ministry. When I joined an agency and headed to South Africa as a missionary, the church took on half my support. The irony was that half of my support as a missionary was more than my salary as an assistant pastor. Sending me away actually cost the church more than if I had stayed! Fortunately, the church was mission-minded and eternally focused, so we could get to the mission field as we felt led.
“LOSING” KEY LEADERS
In addition to the financial cost, losing key leaders for your church is a high price to pay. The assumption is that anyone who is a missionary should first qualify as a church leader (1 Timothy 3). In other words, this is a key leader in your church, and when he (and his family) leaves for the mission field, he will be missed (by the way, if he will not be missed, you should not send him.) It cost the church at Antioch dearly to let go of Paul and Barnabas. There is no way around the fact that training missionaries and sending them is a costly endeavour.
In Luke 9:57-62, Jesus made it abundantly clear that following Him was going to cost something.
As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”
He said to another man, “Follow me.” But he replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”
Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.” Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”
God’s way comes with an expensive price tag. We shouldn’t be surprised when missions digs into our resources. Here are a few thoughts to guide our perspective on this.
SENDING CHURCH PERSPECTIVES
- We cannot buy our way out of the Great Commission. For many churches, the easiest thing to do is write a check–that’s even easier than praying. It’s much more convenient than going, but we cannot escape that the Great Commission has the word go in it. To be obedient to this command demands that some of us will need to leave where we are, and every church is to send.
- When our churches stop sending our own people, missions will eventually grind to a halt. It’s healthy for some of us to sacrifice our lives and give up close proximity to loved ones for the sake of missions. When we have skin in the game, we stay engaged. Writing a check can be mechanical, but sending my kids and grandkids engages my heart. And with that, we will inevitably feel the cost of sending.
- We have relied on cross-cultural mission work for many decades, which has been necessary for spreading the gospel. We are all a product of missions in some way or another. As South Africans, we must carry that torch forward and go and/or send into countries that need to hear about Jesus. Our country is multicultural, with diverse people and many languages. It’s the perfect training ground for cross-cultural ministry. It may cost us to send our people out, and it will cost them as well, but the return is eternal and the command is clear. We are not exempt from it; we are actually made for it!
- Missions is not limited to affluent churches. A few years ago, I listened with fascination to an African pastor talk about why they were effective in missions because of their poverty. If we are only writing checks and funding other churches or ministries in their missions efforts, we may be robbing our own people of the opportunity and joy of going. And we could also be missing out on experiencing God’s miraculous provision in sending His people.
THE COST IS HIGH, BUT THE REWARD IS GREAT
There is no way around the fact that the Great Commission will cost us a lot, but Jesus didn’t give us a pass on missions if it became “too expensive.” The work of world missions belongs to the local church. If you are a pastor or church leader seeking to begin or increase missions efforts in your church, our free workshop, “Mobilising to Light the Globe,” is a great place to start. We come alongside and provide the training and tools to help church leaders evaluate the present status of missions in your church. We use this snapshot to identify gaps and opportunities and help the leadership team chart a course to become a “sending” church. Contact us and get started!
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