Christian Mythology: 16. Missionaries – Myth: Only Certain Christians are Called

Every year at the missionary conference at church I hear the same message. "Everyone is a missionary." True. True. True. So why are most people still in the pew year after year? There are two possible reasons. On the positive side, some folks fulfill God's "missionary" purpose in their lives right where they are. They know God's will, they know and use their spiritual gifts, and they actively apply those gifts in prayerful pursuit of witnessing and making disciples. On the negative side, life is just the opposite. These folks have no idea of God's kingdom purpose. They don't know God's specific will for their lives. They have no idea what their spiritual gifts are. So naturally they are not engaged in the prayerful pursuit of witnessing and making disciples.

Why not?

Well, some are not Christians. Therefore they cannot know.

Others are Christians asleep in sin. Their ears are dull. Their eyes are dim. Their hearts are hard.

God saved me in October of 1980. I was awake for a few months. The aftermath of the witnesses wore off and soon I was back to my old ways. I had no discipler. Nobody taught me the Word of God. Sometime around 1985 the Word of God woke me up again. The goodness of God led me to repentance and the blood of Jesus was still sufficient to cleanse me from all unrighteousness. Then, Jesus became my teacher. Alone. In the desert of life He taught me then just as He teaches me now through the power and illumination of the Holy Spirit. I spent the years between 1980 and 1985 asleep, dull, dim, and hard. It still happens as I work out my salvation with fear and trembling. For the last ten years, I spend more and more time with Jesus, awake unto righteousness, and full of the joy of His salvation.

This is the missionary message we are called to take to the world. It is found in I Corinthians 15:1-5. This is the Gospel. Tell people about the death of Jesus as the price for sin.

This is the missionary message we are called to take to Christians asleep in sin. It is found in I Corinthians 15:34. This is also the Gospel. The death of Jesus is still sufficient a price for your sin. Wake up and sin not.

Only the Christian awake receives the teachings of the Word. Only those who sin not present themselves as holy and acceptable living sacrifices to God. Upon leaving the altar, they alone know God's will. They alone are filled with the Holy Spirit. They alone have His power to use His gifts.

It took me nearly twenty-five years to learn that, actively engage in my responsibility to work it out, and resolutely utilize His gifts to accomplish His missionary purpose through me. Do I wish I knew this stuff long ago? Yes. God is merciful and taught me now to use me now for His glory now. He will do the same for you.

The Call

By the time I was finished college I studied German for eleven years. It all started in the sixth grade. I was motivated by family history. During those college years, three significant things happened. First, God saved me. Second, I felt called to be a missionary to Germany. Third, I went to Germany for a six-week study tour. Another thing happened during college that was much more subtle. I became a writer.

Fast forward twenty years and I am still in the USA. God woke me up to a very specific purpose and calling. I just wasn't sure what it was. It began as a recollection of that desire long ago to be a missionary to Germany. Nobody but me bought into it though. Not my family, pastors, or friends. Was I somehow not hearing the call correctly?

It turns out God used that memory to stir up a few realities. First of all, my call was never to be a first-person missionary to Germany. He made that plain to me during that six-week visit. Nevertheless, my love for all things and people German did not diminish. I was missing a connection somewhere.

I have been writing very consistently for about three years now. God is using it in ways I do not know always know. But its purpose is clear as stated in the header of this blog. The writing and the working of God through it comes only when I am obedient to that calling and commandment to be pure, holy, and blameless before Him. It is then that He tells me what to write.

Yesterday as I drove to work, I prayed and worshipped. Then I asked God what He wanted me to do that day. You saw the answer at the top of the blog. Translate it into German. Suddenly twenty-five years of history became crystal clear. The call was complete. I am a writer by calling, chosen to write to the remnant. Part of that remnant are the Germans. I have friends in Germany and Italy who are missionaries to those people I love. With this blog, Facebook, and other connections, I can now minister directly to the Germans by translating my blog into their language.

Today will be the first attempt. Enjoy the blessings from heavenly places (Ephesians 1:3).