Focal Point
Who Owns the Missionary?
Dr. Michael G. Loftis, President ABWE International
Michael G. Loftis
President, ABWE International
Perhaps the title question might better be phrased, “Who owns or authorizes the missionary task?” From the perspective of the New Testament, the Lord of the Harvest owns both the workers and the task (Matthew 9:35–38). The basic concept in this passage is that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, saw the helplessness and neediness of the people all around Him well before His disciples, as He always does. His response to such need was a heart moved to compassion. He then commands His disciples: “Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest” (Matthew 9:38).
Our problem is that long ago we culturally lost the understanding of what a lord of the harvest really is. Jesus’ disciples understood much more clearly than we do today that a lord of the harvest is the owner of the harvest. As owner, Jesus is in control of the entire harvest and knows precisely which workers He needs in every field at certain times. His compassion, His initiative, His strategy, and His reputation are always at stake—not the agenda of any individual worker or group of workers.
But the reader of Scripture will notice that in the next verse, Matthew 10:1, the Lord Jesus called His disciples to Him and sent them out to demonstrate His power and proclaim His gospel. Later, in Matthew 16, Jesus proclaimed, based on Peter’s recognition of His deity, “I will build my church,” which evangelical believers throughout history have understood to mean that the focus of Jesus’ work now is to build His church around the world. This was clarified in Matthew 28:18–20, “And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go Therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you.’”
So we see that the ownership of the task of missions belongs to Christ, the authority for the task of missions comes from Christ, and the strategy for the task also comes from Christ, who has delegated this task to His body— the Church. This is illustrated throughout the book of Acts as the Church spread the gospel from Jerusalem throughout the Mediterranean and beyond. Some important patterns of missions began during that time, which still continue today.
Missionary and Church
The call of God from the Holy Spirit came simultaneously to the missionary and to the church leaders in Acts 13. God obviously desired the first missionaries to work together under the authority and with the support of the church in Antioch. Today a missionary’s sense of call is often completely detached from the church of Jesus Christ, but the principle that seems to be clear from this passage is that missionaries and churches need to work together.
Missionary and Missionary
The Apostle Paul and his fellow missionaries rarely traveled alone but moved about in everchanging groups that broke up and re-formed based on new opportunities and challenges. Disciples were trained and sent out to strengthen the new churches and accomplish various strategic tasks, and they were directed and encouraged by mail as well as in person. Such was the nature of missions in the first century. Such will likely be the nature of missions in the twenty-first century. Today we speak of flexible and internationally integrated teams. The principle involved here is that missionaries need to work together with other missionaries— especially in situations involving risk and persecution.
Missionary, Church, and Agency
In the book of Acts, missionaries who originated in Antioch rapidly moved out to relate to other churches in other nations. Soon they were communicating with a loosely knit fellowship of churches scattered about the empire. Money for the support of churches and missionaries was received and transferred by the missionaries and their colleagues, between sending and receiving churches, with great trust. Reports of the ministry, requests for prayer, and testimonies of God’s power were sent by letters and personal representatives to churches across the Roman Empire. What is this if not the administration of the task of missions?
It is this very task of coordinating, resourcing, communicating, and caring for the growth of a movement that today is done by mission agencies authorized by fellowships of churches. Some would say that the mission agency is nowhere seen in the pages of Scripture; however, the book of Acts provides a prototype of the mission agency of yesterday and tomorrow. The principle here is that churches and missionaries need to work together with other churches and missionaries in a coordinated way. Thus, missionaries, churches, and mission agencies need to work together for maximum productivity in world missions.
So we see that ownership of the missionary and the mission task must be shared. The risk and costs must be shared. The burdens and caring must be shared.
And the communication of needs and answers to prayer as well as spiritual breakthroughs and victories must be shared. When ownership is shared, the burdens are made lighter and the blessings are enjoyed by all. Somehow this reminds us of the words spoken by Jesus to His disciples, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matthew 11:28–30). Is it any wonder that the same Christ who desired to share the burdens of His disciples would want them to learn the blessing of sharing one another’s burdens?
Such is the heart of the Lord of the Harvest who truly owns the missionary, the mission, the Church, and the agency.
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