Missionaries in the Bible

Missionaries are believers sent out to carry the gospel of Jesus Christ across cultural, geographic, and spiritual boundaries to people who have not yet heard or fully understood it. While the word "missionary" comes from the Latin for "one who is sent," the calling itself is deeply rooted in Scripture, from the prophets of the Old Testament to the apostles of the New. When the Lord asked, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" Isaiah answered, "Here am I; send me" (Isaiah 6:8). That same readiness to be sent defines every missionary heart. The missionary mandate flows directly from the command of the risen Christ. He told His disciples, "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost" (Matthew 28:19), and again, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature" (Mark 16:15). These commissions transform the church from a gathered community into a sent one, responsible to make Christ known among all peoples. The book of Acts shows missionaries being called and commissioned by the Holy Spirit and the church together. As the believers at Antioch worshiped and fasted, "the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them" (Acts 13:2). Paul became the model missionary, declaring his ambition "to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build upon another man's foundation" (Romans 15:20), reaching out to those who had never heard. Underlying all missionary work is a profound theological necessity. Paul asked, "How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard?" (Romans 10:14). Missionaries answer that need as Christ's representatives, for "we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us" (2 Corinthians 5:20). Whether across the world or across the street, every believer shares in this calling to make disciples and to plead with a lost world to be reconciled to God.