What is a Missionary?

All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations. (Matthew 28:18–19)

What comes to mind when you hear the word “Missionary?” Do you think of far off lands and people laboring to reach lost peoples? Growing up that was the picture I had in my head based mainly on what I heard at church about missionaries. While that is a picture of what some missionaries do, it is far from the biblical view.

We are ALL called to be missionaries to the lost and dying right around us!

“…you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)

But we have to remember that we are not the ones who do the saving. Our calling is to be witnesses for Him in all we do. We are to called to be, as Oswald Chambers writes, “teaching and preaching out of your living experience of Me.”

That means we need to be spending time living and experiencing Christ in our lives! That comes from some very basic disciplines that cost us nothing but time: Time in the Word, time in prayer, time in worship, and time in fellowship with other believers.

We all have work and other tasks of life to take care of, so that doesn’t mean we do this exclusively. For most of us it means being intentional about setting aside time and developing a routine for your time with Him. It won’t happen unless you make time for it to happen.

The result will be being able to immerse yourself in Him so much so that the life we experience can’t help but ooze our of us and onto others. Our contact with people should reflect Christ and point people to Him.

People should never walk away impressed with us, but impressed with the Christ in us.