10/23/2025
What is our mission? What has God asked us to do? Is it to feed the bodies of hungry people, or to feed their souls? Is it to cloth the naked with soft wool, or to cloth them in the white robes of salvation? Is it to quench the thirst of parched mouths, or to give them living water to satisfy the spirit? Jesus sent His disciples into the world to deliver the gospel, and today He sends us too. Although we mercifully feed, clothe, and quinch the thirst of the needy, our primary mission is to minister to lost souls… to deliver the gospel message!
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.”
2 Corinthians 5:17-19 ESV
I once listened as a missionary told of serving young people in a faraway place. He talked about giving them a home in which to live, clothes, food, an education, and then in a tone of great pride he spoke of all the things those kids had accomplished in the world. They were doctors, teachers, engineers, but after delivering all of the accolades, he closed with a quick “and they found Jesus.”
I think of Paul when I hear such accounts from missionaries as they travel from church to church seeking funding. I am disappointed in their primary focus if it is not aimed at saving the soul, and it pains me that any mission strategy based on earthly successes gains the prideful support of the churches they visit. Paul spoke of his mission in very explicit terms when he said:
“For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!”
1 Corinthians 9:16 ESV
Paul recognized his need to preach the gospel as the driving impetus of his mission. Nothing else he said or did mattered if this was not done... “Woe to me if I do not” he said.
As missionaries our greatest accomplishment, our joy, and most valuable treasure is not in this world, but in heaven. If we believe this to be true, then tell that story... tell of delivering the gospel to the lost... tell of saving souls, and the rest can be spoken of afterward. If we do not believe this is true then we are simply social workers.
“"Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
Matthew 6:19-21 ESV
When we celebrate missionary month and week in our churches, and we get to hear from each of the missionaries that our church contributes to during the year, we should listen for their true motivation and mission. When I listen I certainly want to hear things like how safe and nourished children are in a mission orphanage or sponsored foster home, but first and foremost I want to hear about how well fed in faith and how well dressed in the Word they are. All the rest will follow once they have become disciples to Jesus, and their souls rest in the hands of God.
I was friends, and worked for Dr. Frist Sr., a man who founded the healthcare company where I work. He had a saying that went like this... “Good people beget good people.” It sounds rather biblical doesn’t it? Probably because it is a paraphrase of scripture as it speaks of us as the children of God...
“If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him.”
1 John 2:29 ESV
When we are born of God we become like Him, and He is good. When we lead souls to that rebirth they too become good, and they become righteous. That is our mission. The mission of my company is to heal people’s bodies and minds, but our mission as Christians is to heal their spirits, and souls... we are well equipped by God to do both… are we answering that call?
“Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again[b] he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.”
John 3:3-5 ESV
“And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.”
Mark 16:15-16 ESV
Prayer:
Father, I thank you for allowing me to teach the gospel of Jesus Christ to those who have never heard it before, or who need to understand it better. Thank you for allowing me to reach souls around the world from the warmth of my prayer chair where I write your morning Word as you dictate. It amazes me Father when I hear of the breadth, width, and depth your Word travels in the world, and it humbles me to be a part of it. To think that you use my shaking finger on the face of an iPhone to deliver your message each morning astonishes me. Lord you called Moses who couldn’t speak clearly to free the Israelites from Egypt, and today, in lesser manner, you use the tremor impacted finger of a man in Nashville Tennessee to reach around the world. How unlikely the call, and how unworthy those you select. Let there be no doubt Holy Father that all good things come from you. Let the gospel of Jesus flow from my obedience, even as it did Paul, and let your Word and their gifts, make it so. Let nothing come before your will, and no mission before the gospel of Jesus. Praised be your name before all creation, and in all our gospel efforts may you be honored and glorified.
Amen!
“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.”
James 1:17 ESV
Rich Forbes