Author : Keith Sharp
“The Christian Chronicle” is “An international newspaper for Churches of Christ.” A search at its website for the term “missionaries” turned up numerous hits. “African ministers and missionaries gather this month for Jabulani, a celebration of 100 years of Africa evangelism” (www.christianchronicle.org/article1407484). “About 150 church members got a taste of Mexican culture at the Pan American Lectureship in early November. The week-long excursion demonstrated the trials and triumphs of life in the mission field and connected missionaries to the congregations that support them” (Ibid. Article 1210048). And on and on.
I admire immensely the dedication of missionaries. They of their own choice leave their friends, extended family, in some cases their children, and country to travel far to be of benefit to strangers whose customs, foods, and sometimes their language are strange to the missionaries. They are examples of self sacrifice (Matthew 16:24), dedication (Galatians 2:20), and love (1 Corinthians 13:1-3,13). Every Christian should be determined to use his time, opportunities, abilities, and resources to take the saving gospel to a world lost in sin (Mark 16:15).
“Missionary” is the standard word employed in mainline (institutional) Churches of Christ as the name for those who leave their homes to go to foreign countries for religious service. The term “missionary” means “a person who has been sent to a place, usually a foreign country, to teach their religion to the people who live there” (http://dictionary.cambridge.org).
I used an English dictionary to define the term rather than a Bible lexicon because the word is nowhere found in the Bible. A search of the King James Version, American Standard Version, New King James Version, New American Standard Bible, English Standard Version, International Standard Version, and New International Version turned up zero usages of the word.
This fact is significant because words are important. Words convey ideas. God revealed His will to man “not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches” (1 Corinthians 2:13). “Whoever speaks must speak God’s words” (1 Peter 4:11, International Standard Version).
Corruption of speech reveals corruption of thinking. When Ezra and Nehemiah were restoring the law to the Jews after their return from Babylonian captivity, Nehemiah was dismayed to see “Jews who had married women of Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab” and to learn that “half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod, and could not speak the language of Judah, but spoke according to the language of one or the other people” (Nehemiah 13:23-24). This change of language meant they were losing their Jewish heritage. When we quit speaking “God’s words” and use the language of our denominational neighbors, we are losing our uniqueness as the people of God (Titus 2:11-14) and becoming like the denominations around us (cf. 1 Samuel 8:4-5).
And yet, there is a Bible word, found eighty times in the New Testament, that in some contexts might possibly be translated “missionaries.” This is the Greek word “apostolos,” meaning literally “a delegate, messenger, one sent forth with orders” (Thayer, e-Sword), usually transliterated as “apostles” (58 times) or “apostle” (19 occurrences), but also translated “messengers” (2 Corinthians 8:23) or “messenger” (Philippians 2:25), and once represented by the phrase “one who is sent” (John 13:16).
Jesus Christ is the one and only apostle of God (Hebrews 3:1). At the beginning of His ministry on earth Christ Jesus sent out twelve apostles to “the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matthew 10:2-6), and at its end He sent His apostles “into all the world” (Mark 16:14-15). But Barnabas also is called an apostle (Acts 14:4,14), though He was not one of the personal messengers of the Lord Jesus Christ. Rather, He was “sent away” by the church in Antioch to preach the gospel (Acts 13:1-3), and later he and Paul reported to this congregation on the work they had done (Acts 14:26-27). Earlier, Barnabas had been sent by the church in Jerusalem to go “as far as Antioch” (Acts 11:22-23).
Barnabas would come the closest to fitting the modern idea of a missionary. But even here, there are some key differences.
Modern “Churches of Christ” missionaries are overseen by the elders of the church which sends them out. I suggest you check the web sites of missionaries you know to confirm this statement. I spent eleven hours in July in one on one studies with missionaries who defended this arrangement.
These same missionaries receive support from many congregations. The funds are sent to an account their overseeing congregation keeps for them. Thus, the elders of their overseeing congregation are supervising the evangelistic work of a number of congregations. Elders have the oversight of and only of the work of the church where they are members (1 Peter 5:1-2). This maintains the autonomy (independence, self government) of each local church. New Testament congregations sent directly to the evangelist or evangelists they were supporting (Philippians 4:15-16; 2 Corinthians 11:8) rather than sending to an overseeing congregation.
Evangelists have fellowship with congregations that send them to preach (Philippians 4:15-16). The New Testament never records elders in the church in Antioch, and they sent out Paul (Acts 13:1-3). Did a church without elders oversee the work of an apostle of Christ (2 Corinthians 1:1; 11:5), who himself was ruling, along with the other apostles, over the universal church (Matthew 19:28; Luke 22:28-30)? If elders were overseeing the “missionary” work of Paul and Barnabas, why didn’t they settle the argument between them over John Mark (Acts15:36-40)?
These same missionaries attend the business meetings of the congregation where they are preaching and exert great influence on the decisions made. Yet, some state they are members of the supervising congregation which sends them out. How, then, can they participate in the decision making of a congregation in which they are not members? How could they ever be selected to be elders in the congregation where they preach if the elders of another church oversee their work? Whatever happened to congregational autonomy?
Not all missionaries sent out by the Churches of Christ do evangelistic work. There are many medical missionaries as well those who build houses for poor people in the lands to which they are sent. This involves the churches who send them in benevolent work to the general populace, whereas the local church is limited in the benevolent work it is authorized to do to the relief of needy Christians (Acts 2:44-45; 4:32-35; 6:1-4; 11:27-30; Romans 15:25-28; 1 Corinthians 16:1-4; 2 Corinthians chapters 8 – 9; 1 Timothy 5:16).
Lest someone claim I oppose foreign evangelism, let it be known that I have made six trips to Africa, working in four nations, four trips to Belize, in one of which I also preached in Mexico, and three to American Samoa, in one of which we also went to the nation of Samoa. Of course, I’ve preached next door in Canada more times than I can recall, and some would call our move from the South to Northern New York, where Sandy and I lived for fourteen years, foreign evangelism.
I am an evangelist (Ephesians 4:11; 2 Timothy 4:5) or preacher (Romans 10:14; 1 Timothy 2:7; 2 Timothy 1:11). My work is to preach the word wherever I have the opportunity (2 Timothy 4:1-5). I am a member of the Highway 5 South Church of Christ in Mountain Home, Arkansas (Acts 9:26-28) and participate in the decision making of that congregation alone (Acts 6:1-6). Churches that support me have fellowship in my work (Philippians 4:15-16), I report to them on that work (Acts 14:27), and I thank the Lord for them and their help.
Zeal for the Lord is essential to our salvation (Titus 2:11-14). But there are many zealous Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormon “elders” and “sisters,” and denominational missionaries. Zeal without knowledge will lead one to reject the righteousness of God and be lost (Romans 10:1-3).
