Without the early Christian missionaries diligently heeding to the call of God through the “Great Commission,” Christianity may well have fallen into the depths of history and possibly studied only as a “what once was,” instead of living among this current generation in a “what is here.” These early Christian missionaries, of course, knew their duty in fulfilling the directive spoken by Jesus to the Apostles, but even more, they embraced the goodness of the Gospel and felt an internal need to proclaim the good news that they had received from others unto others. They also recognized that the unreached peoples of this world were encompassed only by a general revelation of God through creation itself, and that there were many who were seeking God wholeheartedly but had no one to minister to them. Jeremiah 29:13 says, “you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.” Missionaries view themselves as the vehicles from which God will specifically reveal Himself unto the rest of the world. Throughout their lives and through their obedience to the Great Commission’s calling, Christians would be blessed by God in their missionary endeavors with His calling, empowerment, direction, and protection.
From Christianity’s very first Apostolic missionaries to those sent today by God to go “into all the world, and preach the Gospel,” Christians have heeded their calling by God (Mark 16:15). Paul being the very first missionary, took his specific “gentile” calling very seriously after his miraculous conversion on the road to Damascus. Traveling from city to city on three different missionary journeys planting multiple churches all along what is known today as western Turkey and Greece, Paul forsook everything in his calling, including his home, career, and family. Ruth Tucker explains in her missionary biography book, From Jerusalem to Irian Jaya, that after Jerusalem fell in 70 a.d., the early church was scattered, but other Apostles brought the Gospel message with them wherever they fled, including Russia, Persia, India, Egypt, and Spain (26). Even “callings” to be martyred, such as Polycarp, Perpetua, and Saturus, led many spectators to see the errors of their ways. Saturus’ testimony is even said to have personally led Pudens, a “prison governor,” to convert from his pagan lifestyle to the faith from which he himself would later be martyred (Tucker 35). Raymond Lull (1095-1291) personally received a calling to be “born again,” and another to stop his self-centered monastic lifestyle by challenging him to “go out into the world and bring others the message of Christ,” which he did by specifically targeting the Muslim community during very perilous times (Tucker 53-54).
God calls each and every Christian to be a missionary, and He also empowers them to accomplish His task. In the fifth century, St. Patrick was not only specifically called in a vision, but God also empowered his ministry so much so that it is said that “by 447, after [only] fifteen years of preaching, much of Ireland had been evangelized,” (Tucker 39). More than one hundred years later, Gregory the Great was a mere monk who felt an overwhelming need for the Gospel to spread beyond the borders of the Roman Empire. It was not until he was empowered as Bishop of Rome that he could finally make Britain a “top priority” of missions for the church (Tucker 44). And in the eighth century, authorized as an “emissary of Rome,” Boniface missioned the peoples who lived in the territories of what is known as modern day Germany. One distinct aspect of his ministry involved the first enablement of women missionaries who took a very prominent role.
Not only does God empower missionaries, He also directs them. One major example of God’s direction is from the New Testament records. Without God’s direction, Paul would have followed his heart’s desire and began missioning Asia, but God made sure that he was directed to the west instead of the east (Acts 16:9). Later, the Nestorians would also receive God’s direction in their missionary efforts as they were led into central Asia, India, Afghanistan, Tibet, China, Korea, Japan, and Southeast Asia (Tucker 45). The early Christian missionaries were called to preach to all the peoples of the earth, but they found that once they got there, the people’s language was a barrier. These missionaries had to not only be able to preach the Gospel, but they were also directed to write the Gospel in the people’s native languages so that, once the missionary was gone, the people missioned would have a lasting possession of God’s Word. In the fourth century, Ulfilas became one of the first to produce a translation of the Bible. He did so for the Goths, and it is noted that they “carried it with them” long after he was no longer present among them (Tucker 37). In the generations after Ulfilas, many others followed his example by making their own translations for the people groups they missioned.
Direction is important, but it is God’s protection that most instills a missionary to continue their appointed task, no matter the perils they may face in an unknown land. Death, of course, may come, but seeing God’s hand protecting one’s life and efforts opens a missionary’s eyes to the fact that God is indeed blessing and approving of their work. Paul witnessed God’s protection first hand in the safe keeping of the people in his ship during the violent storms. And as with Paul’s protection from premature death in his beatings, stoning’s, and imprisonments, St. Patrick received similar protection by being rescued twelve separate times from “life-threatening situations, including a harrowing kidnapping and a two-week captivity” (Tucker 39). Also, during Boniface’s aggressive evangelism tactics in the eighth century, which included chopping down a town’s sacred tree at Geismar and destroying many city’s temples, shrines, and sacred stones, he was protected from death. As previously stated though, death does come. Later in 753, God’s protection was lifted from Boniface when he and some “fifty assistants” were “slain by a band of armed pagans” (Tucker 49).
God chooses Christians to be the tools from which He reveals His gospel message to people that have never heard the name of Jesus Christ. Throughout a missionary’s life, He calls, directs, empowers, and protects them for the sake of His Kingdom’s message. Through the Bible and His Holy Spirit, God prepares a missionary’s heart by helping them understand that unless people repent of their ways, they will perish (Luke 13:3). A love for the lost souls separated from God to be reunited with Him is one of the many driving forces that God uses to propel His’ missionaries to the farthest ends of the earth. During their journeys into unknown lands for the “lost,” God also guides them to those that He specifically knows will be receptive to the Gospel message. Along with guidance, God also empowers and enables His missionaries before, during, and after their missionary journeys so that they will have the tools and resources necessary to accomplish their appointed task. Also, God’s protection is not always guaranteed as many missionaries are martyred during their expeditions, but they “know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose” (Rom. 8:28). It has been said by many modern day “health and wealth” preachers that “God has a wonderful plan for your life,” and He does, but one must remember that what one thinks of as typically “wonderful” may not be particularly pleasant. Following God’s plan in one’s life, no matter the sufferings to come, becomes a most wonderful plan when it works to the glory of God.
Works Citied
Holy Bible: NKJV, New King James Version. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982. Print.
Tucker, Ruth A., From Jerusalem to Irian Jaya: A Biographical History of Christian Missions. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1983. Print.
From Christianity’s very first Apostolic missionaries to those sent today by God to go “into all the world, and preach the Gospel,” Christians have heeded their calling by God (Mark 16:15). Paul being the very first missionary, took his specific “gentile” calling very seriously after his miraculous conversion on the road to Damascus. Traveling from city to city on three different missionary journeys planting multiple churches all along what is known today as western Turkey and Greece, Paul forsook everything in his calling, including his home, career, and family. Ruth Tucker explains in her missionary biography book, From Jerusalem to Irian Jaya, that after Jerusalem fell in 70 a.d., the early church was scattered, but other Apostles brought the Gospel message with them wherever they fled, including Russia, Persia, India, Egypt, and Spain (26). Even “callings” to be martyred, such as Polycarp, Perpetua, and Saturus, led many spectators to see the errors of their ways. Saturus’ testimony is even said to have personally led Pudens, a “prison governor,” to convert from his pagan lifestyle to the faith from which he himself would later be martyred (Tucker 35). Raymond Lull (1095-1291) personally received a calling to be “born again,” and another to stop his self-centered monastic lifestyle by challenging him to “go out into the world and bring others the message of Christ,” which he did by specifically targeting the Muslim community during very perilous times (Tucker 53-54).
God calls each and every Christian to be a missionary, and He also empowers them to accomplish His task. In the fifth century, St. Patrick was not only specifically called in a vision, but God also empowered his ministry so much so that it is said that “by 447, after [only] fifteen years of preaching, much of Ireland had been evangelized,” (Tucker 39). More than one hundred years later, Gregory the Great was a mere monk who felt an overwhelming need for the Gospel to spread beyond the borders of the Roman Empire. It was not until he was empowered as Bishop of Rome that he could finally make Britain a “top priority” of missions for the church (Tucker 44). And in the eighth century, authorized as an “emissary of Rome,” Boniface missioned the peoples who lived in the territories of what is known as modern day Germany. One distinct aspect of his ministry involved the first enablement of women missionaries who took a very prominent role.
Not only does God empower missionaries, He also directs them. One major example of God’s direction is from the New Testament records. Without God’s direction, Paul would have followed his heart’s desire and began missioning Asia, but God made sure that he was directed to the west instead of the east (Acts 16:9). Later, the Nestorians would also receive God’s direction in their missionary efforts as they were led into central Asia, India, Afghanistan, Tibet, China, Korea, Japan, and Southeast Asia (Tucker 45). The early Christian missionaries were called to preach to all the peoples of the earth, but they found that once they got there, the people’s language was a barrier. These missionaries had to not only be able to preach the Gospel, but they were also directed to write the Gospel in the people’s native languages so that, once the missionary was gone, the people missioned would have a lasting possession of God’s Word. In the fourth century, Ulfilas became one of the first to produce a translation of the Bible. He did so for the Goths, and it is noted that they “carried it with them” long after he was no longer present among them (Tucker 37). In the generations after Ulfilas, many others followed his example by making their own translations for the people groups they missioned.
Direction is important, but it is God’s protection that most instills a missionary to continue their appointed task, no matter the perils they may face in an unknown land. Death, of course, may come, but seeing God’s hand protecting one’s life and efforts opens a missionary’s eyes to the fact that God is indeed blessing and approving of their work. Paul witnessed God’s protection first hand in the safe keeping of the people in his ship during the violent storms. And as with Paul’s protection from premature death in his beatings, stoning’s, and imprisonments, St. Patrick received similar protection by being rescued twelve separate times from “life-threatening situations, including a harrowing kidnapping and a two-week captivity” (Tucker 39). Also, during Boniface’s aggressive evangelism tactics in the eighth century, which included chopping down a town’s sacred tree at Geismar and destroying many city’s temples, shrines, and sacred stones, he was protected from death. As previously stated though, death does come. Later in 753, God’s protection was lifted from Boniface when he and some “fifty assistants” were “slain by a band of armed pagans” (Tucker 49).
God chooses Christians to be the tools from which He reveals His gospel message to people that have never heard the name of Jesus Christ. Throughout a missionary’s life, He calls, directs, empowers, and protects them for the sake of His Kingdom’s message. Through the Bible and His Holy Spirit, God prepares a missionary’s heart by helping them understand that unless people repent of their ways, they will perish (Luke 13:3). A love for the lost souls separated from God to be reunited with Him is one of the many driving forces that God uses to propel His’ missionaries to the farthest ends of the earth. During their journeys into unknown lands for the “lost,” God also guides them to those that He specifically knows will be receptive to the Gospel message. Along with guidance, God also empowers and enables His missionaries before, during, and after their missionary journeys so that they will have the tools and resources necessary to accomplish their appointed task. Also, God’s protection is not always guaranteed as many missionaries are martyred during their expeditions, but they “know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose” (Rom. 8:28). It has been said by many modern day “health and wealth” preachers that “God has a wonderful plan for your life,” and He does, but one must remember that what one thinks of as typically “wonderful” may not be particularly pleasant. Following God’s plan in one’s life, no matter the sufferings to come, becomes a most wonderful plan when it works to the glory of God.
Works Citied
Holy Bible: NKJV, New King James Version. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982. Print.
Tucker, Ruth A., From Jerusalem to Irian Jaya: A Biographical History of Christian Missions. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1983. Print.