Q. Is missionary work (evangelism) for all members of the Church or for just those called to it?

Everyone. Speaking to the whole of His people, God said: "You are my witnesses...and My servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe Me and understand that I am He. Before Me no god was formed, nor will there be one after Me. I, even I, am the Lord, and apart from Me there is no Saviour" (Isa.43:10-11, NIV).

The reason is clear -- it is only as we witness that we come to know and believe in God and understand who He is. Paul said the same thing to Philemon: "I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ" (Phlm.1:6, NIV).

We can only appreciate what we have by sharing it. Only when we see how our spiritual blessings bless others can we really come to a deep appreciation of them and thereby draw closer to God.

When a small child receives a gift he usually wants to tell everyone about it so that they can share in his joy. It should be the same with Christians. The gift of salvation is so wonderful that someone experiencing it cannot hold back the wonderful news to others!

If all we had to do was to receive Christ and then hold onto Him selfishly we would eventually lose Him. And that's exactly what happens to many Christians. They treat Jesus as their personal Saviour but as nobody else's. Jesus is our personal Saviour but He is also the Saviour of the whole race -- our duty is to make that message known to everyone.

There are those called into full-time missionary work and others who are called on shorter missions. We encourage all youth to serve the Lord on a full-time mission for at least a year. Those who do treasure the experience for the rest of their life because it brings them close to the Lord like no other service does.

Why don't you plan for a mission? If you have a family, this might be difficult unless you move your whole family to a new missionary field and help plant churches that way. Or why not start saving for a one year mission (or shorter) between school and college, or between school and your first full-time job? There are many possibilities.

If you desire to serve on a mission you can be absolutely sure that the Lord will guide you. Take it in prayer to Him and talk it over with your Pastor. There is always work to be done whether locally or abroad. Start locally. Get involved with missions in your local colony. Become a serious student of the Church's Bible Groups because these will give you the theological training you need for a mission (for example, Foundational Teachings of the Bible). There is always alot of preparation to be made. It may be that there is missionary work to be done in your own neighbourhood.

This page was created on 2 May 1998 Last updated on 2 May 1998

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