The “Missions Guy” is Not a Missionary

It was one of the most significant conversations in my entire life, one of those hinge moments upon which the entire trajectory of your life turns.

In college and seminary, I had begun to see God’s passion for his glory among the nations all over Scripture. I also started learning about how many people in the world had never heard the gospel, and I thought, “This is a no-brainer. I need to be a missionary.”

I started talking to Heather about this, and she was fully on board. One day, Jerry Rankin, who was the president of the International Mission Board—an organization I later had the privilege to lead—came to our seminary campus. He was coming to our campus to preach and I was asked to take him to breakfast. The night before, I told Heather, “I’m taking the president of the IMB to breakfast. I’m going to tell him we’re ready to go overseas. Is that okay with you?”

Thankfully, she said, “Sounds great to me! Go for it.” We prayed together that night, and the next morning, and off I went.

An Unexpected Answer

As soon as Dr. Rankin and I sat down for our breakfast, I started pouring out my heart. “I see God’s passion for all nations in His Word. I see the need for the gospel in the world. My wife and I are ready to be missionaries.” Dr. Rankin looked back at me, and for about 60 seconds, he encouraged me in response to what I had just said.

But then he spent the rest of breakfast—almost an hour—talking to me about the need for pastors who lead churches where the gospel has gone to send more people where the gospel hasn’t gone. I was so confused.

That night, Heather asked me, “How did it go?”

I said, “I think the president of the IMB just talked me out of becoming a missionary. I couldn’t figure out why.”

Confused, she asked, “What did you say?” as if I had just blown an interview and bungled the plan for our life.

I responded, “I don’t know!” I replied, just as confused as she was.

A Category We Can’t Miss

But here’s why I’m so thankful for that conversation with Dr. Rankin. He created a category in my mind that wasn’t there before. It should have been there, but for some reason, I had totally missed it.

There is a type of person who is passionate about the spread of the gospel to the nations but who doesn’t go overseas as a missionary. The more I thought about it, the more I realized, “Of course, there’s that type of person. It’s called a Christian.”

Every person who has the Spirit of Christ in them wants the world for Christ. Do you have the Spirit of Christ in you? Then you are passionate about the world being reached with the good news of Christ. Passion for mission apparently is not just for missionaries.

The Global Call of Every Christian

We are all created and called by God to follow Jesus and make him known in the world–with a consuming passion to see the glory of his name spread to all the nations. This is part of what it means to be a Christian.

When I think about over 3 billion people unreached by the gospel in the world, we don’t just need hundreds, or even thousands, more missionaries passionate about the gospel spreading to the nations. We need hundreds of thousands and millions upon millions of Christians passionate about the gospel spreading to all nations.

Until that happens, ever-increasing numbers of people will die without ever hearing the gospel. And in the process, we will miss out on what it means to follow Jesus.

Editor’s Note: This article first appeared in The Commission, Radical’s biweekly newsletter featuring global gospel stories and encouragement from David Platt and others to help you follow Jesus and make Him known.