Missions seems to be everybody’s problem. Everybody’s problem tends to be nobody’s problem — until that problem affects you and me. This page is about that. For every language group that has never been told about Jesus, there are more than one hundred and fifty thousand Christians who, at least by working together, could tell them about Jesus Christ. Whose problem is it that some language groups have not been told? Did Jesus have something to say about that? What should be my response to God’s purpose in the world?

Did you choose where you were born? Thousands of languages and dialects have no access to the Gospel. Is there a reason you have access to the Good News? Before God said “Let there be light,” before He divided the waters, before He created the land and oceans, the sun, moon, and stars, and every creature of the earth — God was thinking of you. And your neighbor. Therefore, each person has value and purpose greater than anything in or on the earth. (Ephesians 1:4; 2:10; Revelation 13:8; John 17:24; 1 Peter 1:20; Matthew 25:34)

For each of us who have believed God, other people intentionally laid down their lives to ensure we would be able to hear God’s message. Between the resurrection of Christ and our personal faith there is a long chain of people who believed God and acted. Some faced rejection to speak directly. Some crossed an ocean as a personal courier. Some invested their lives to translate God’s word into our language. Some were burned at the stake to make God’s message available to us. Made in the image of our Creator, we have the same ability to act with purposeful intention for the benefit of other people. Will we also lay down our own lives so that other people may hear the message of God’s glorious grace?

Our involvement may depend on how much we value God’s worth — how much we consider the knowledge of Him worth shipping.

Five reasons YOU should engage in global ministry

  1. 01

    Redeemed — You Are Not Your Own

    “Ye are not your own; for ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20) We were redeemed by the blood of Christ for a purpose: to know Him, to enjoy Him, and to reflect His glory. To know Him is to value what He values and engage in His purposes rather than our own. God’s goodness and character in redeeming us from death are reason enough to engage in His mission. Christ has ordained that His message be delivered through the redeemed who will, like their Savior, die to themselves so that others might live. (Titus 2:14; John 20:21; Luke 9:23; Galatians 2:20)

  2. 02

    Representative — Ambassador for Christ

    “Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us.” (2 Corinthians 5:20) God chose to employ human representatives to deliver His message of love and grace. Throughout the Bible you will find God using human instruments; His written word, presented by His people under the power of the Holy Spirit, is His normal way of proclaiming Christ to the world. In the parable of the talents, the servant who was judged was the one who buried the talent rather than use it for his Master’s benefit.

  3. 03

    Responsibility — Serving One Master

    “No man can serve two masters.” (Matthew 6:24) Our responsibility is not to snatch people from hell — God does that — but to extend His love and grace as His ambassadors, speaking the truth about His goodness, righteousness, justice, and grace so that people may respond by believing Him. God is honored when we willingly give at our own expense to bring Him glory, as the willing-hearted people did for the Tabernacle (Exodus 35:22, 29), and as David said: “neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the LORD my God of that which doth cost me nothing.” (2 Samuel 24:24)

  4. 04

    Rewards — Fruit of Labor

    Righteousness by faith in the finished work of Christ is a gift and not earned — but intentional effort to glorify God is expected, commanded, and rewarded. Each person’s work will be tested by fire to see what sort it is (1 Corinthians 3:11-14), and we will stand before Christ to give an account (2 Corinthians 5:10). Scripture describes crowns earned and cast at the feet of Jesus: the crowns of victory, rejoicing, righteousness, life, and glory. “So run, that ye may obtain.” (1 Corinthians 9:24)

  5. 05

    Rejoicing — The Joy of His Process

    Jesus, “for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross.” (Hebrews 12:2) It’s personal: no one else can do the good works God prepared in advance for you to do, believe God for you, or meet all the people God brings into your life. “Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.” (John 12:24) There is joy in the presence of the angels over one sinner that repents (Luke 15:10), and as John wrote, “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.” (3 John 1:4)

Love is not maximum emotion. Love is maximum commitment. — Sinclair Ferguson

Have you ever considered…

  • …that dedicating the rest of your life to serve God as a career missionary could be among the most rewarding and fulfilling decisions of your life?
  • …that there are needs uniquely tailored to your gifts and abilities?
  • …that there is a generation of a particular group of people who may hear the Good News primarily because you acted by faith to tell them?
  • …that doing good requires intentional action, and that you cannot accomplish His work without close fellowship with Him?

Go deeper

If you have seen that your role is important — what is the task? What is the vision? What is “well done”? Continue to Vision: Where Are We Going?