There is something beautiful about a believer who is genuinely burdened for the lost, to see someone pray for souls, travel to difficult places, preach Christ in villages, sacrifice comfort, give generously to missions, and labour for the salvation of people.
PASSION, ZEAL and BURDEN matters.
But passion alone is not enough for missions. The apostle Paul said concerning the Jews:
“I bear them witness that they have a [certain] zeal and enthusiasm for God, but it is not enlightened and according to [correct and vital] knowledge (Romans 10:2).
Sincerity does not automatically produce accuracy and a person can be genuinely passionate about God and still communicate error if that passion is not governed by the truth of Scripture.
THE MISSIONARY MUST KNOW THE MESSAGE
A missionary is not merely someone who is willing to go but one who is sent with a message. If you are going to take the Gospel to people who have never heard it clearly, you must know the Gospel you are going with.
You must understand sin, repentance, salvation, grace, faith, the cross, the resurrection, the lordship of Christ, the new birth, the Holy Spirit, the Church and discipleship.
You must know the Scriptures and understand sound doctrine. You must be able to distinguish biblical truths from cultural traditions, popular religious ideas, emotional experiences and human opinions.
Why? Because people don’t merely need an emotional experience, they need truth.
Missions is not just about gathering people or creating excitement, it is to make and mould disciples of Christ who are established in the truth and taught to obey His Word.
YOU ARE NOT SENT ONLY TO SHOUT
There is a place for passionate preaching and there is also the place for crying aloud and boldly proclaiming the Gospel. But the missionary’s assignment doesn’t end when someone responds to an altar call. What happens after? Who teaches the new believer? Who establishes them in Scripture? Who answers their questions? Who corrects their errors? Who helps them grow into maturity?
Jesus said:
“GO then and MAKE disciples of all the nations… TEACHING them to observe everything that I have commanded you, and behold, I am with you all the days (perpetually, uniformly, and on every occasion), to the [very] close and consummation of the age. Amen (Matt.28:19–20).
Missions therefore involves both preaching and discipleship. We preach Christ, and teach people to follow Christ. We preach the Gospel, and we establish believers in the truth. We call people to repentance, and we disciple them into maturity.
PASSION MUST BE GOVERNED BY THE WORD
A passionate missionary may gather a crowd, but gathering crowd is not the same as building disciples. You can stir emotions without establishing convictions, create excitement without producing spiritual maturity. You can get people to respond to an invitation without teaching them how to walk with Christ afterward.
This is why missionary preparation matters because the mission field is not the place to discover whether you understand the Gospel or not, or the place to experiment with doctrine or repeat everything you have heard from another preacher without examining it through Scripture. When we stand before people in the name of Christ, we are handling eternal truths.
Paul told Timothy to:
“Study and be eager and do your utmost to present yourself to God approved (tested by trial), a WORKMAN who has no cause to be ashamed, correctly analyzing and accurately dividing [rightly handling and skillfully teaching] the Word of Truth (2 Timothy 2:15).
Notice the language: a workman. That is to tell you that MINISTRY IS WORK. Studying Scripture is work. Learning sound doctrine is work. Correcting our understanding is work. Reading, meditating, asking questions, listening and submitting our convictions to the authority of Scripture are all part of preparing for faithful ministry.
THE MISSIONARY IS BOTH A PREACHER AND A TEACHER
The missionary must be able to preach Christ boldly and also patiently teach people the truth. There will be moments when you preach to a crowd, and there will be moments when you sit with one new believer and patiently explain the Scriptures. There will be moments when you preach the Gospel publicly, and there will be months and years of walking with people as they grow in Christ.
Paul described his ministry this way:
“Him we preach and proclaim, warning and admonishing everyone and instructing everyone in all wisdom (comprehensive insight into the ways and purposes of God), that we may present every person mature (full-grown, fully initiated, complete, and perfect) in Christ (the Anointed One). (Colossians 1:28).
Preaching. Warning. Teaching. Building.
These are the work.
So, if God has given you a burden for missions, don’t neglect and despise preparation. Study the Bible. Learn sound doctrine. Understand the Gospel. Develop your prayer life. Learn how to explain your faith. Learn how to teach new believers. Learn how to disciple people. Don’t merely prepare your traveling bags, prepare your mind. Don’t only prepare your sermon, prepare your life.
BURN, BUT LET THE WORD GOVERN THE FIRE
We should never become so concerned about knowledge that we lose our burden for the lost. Knowledge without love can become cold. But we also should not become so passionate about reaching people that we neglect the truth we are supposed to give them.
Passion without knowledge can burn wildly. Knowledge without love can become cold, but when a heart that genuinely loves Christ and souls is governed by the Word of God, there is power to proclaim the Gospel faithfully and build lives upon Christ.
If you are preparing for missions, pray, but study. Go, but prepare. Preach, but learn. Burn, but let the Word govern the fire.
You are not merely going to make noise, you are going to carry a message, and that message must be the Gospel of Jesus Christ, faithfully proclaimed and faithfully taught.
Passion lights the torch, but knowledge directs the flame so that it does not burn down what you were called to build.
Welcome to October
Grace to you.
