Who is a Missionary?

 Sometimes we give names to things that identify just what they do. In English, we have a word for a device that would print letters on a paper in a way that was designated by the owner of that device. It is called a typewriter. It writes type and so we call it that. It was interesting for me to go to Spain and try to learn the names of devices in a foreign language. The word for a typewriter in Spanish is a “machine that writes,” or a “machina de escribir.” It is the name of something that describes what it does. One day, I wanted a hole punch at the local “paper” store and tried to describe it a little machine that made holes. That was what it was called, a machine that makes holes. Acts 13:3 says, “And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.” We sometimes look at this passage and describe it as the first mention of missions even though the word, “mission” does not occur in the text. It simply describes what happened when the local church at Antioch sent out Paul and Barnabas to do a work for the LORD.  The word, “missions” does not occur in the King James Version of the Bible but the concept is there. You can use verses like the above verse or the “great commission” as found in Mathew 28:19-20 and we again see the mission of the church in reaching people around the world with the message of the Gospel. We may often think of missions as going to a different country into the darkest parts of the jungles or to a people who have never heard the gospel message. That, however, is only a part of the idea of missions. You may already have a burden for a certain people or a group of people in some part of the world and it may be right next door. It doesn't have to be across the ocean or across international borders. It can be and probably is, just across the street. Some churches have a sign located above the door of the church that everyone can see as they exit the building. It reads something like, “You are now entering the mission field.” If a person is not worshiping the Lord Jesus Christ, then you have a mission field right before you. Some have stated that “missions exists because worship doesn't.” Perhaps it is over simplified, but the truth is there. As long as there is one person on the earth who is not worshiping the Lord, that person is a mission field. You became a believer because of a “missionary” who told you the gospel message. You perhaps didn't call them a missionary and they were not introduced to you as a missionary, but that person who told you the gospel was a missionary. We have also come to the conclusion that a person is not going to do something in a foreign culture that they are not already doing here in the culture in which they live at the present time. The Apostle Paul was spreading the gospel wherever he went and to everyone who would listen. He wanted to spread the message of salvation to all who would hear and to especially to those who had never heard it before. Someone also stated, “Why should a person hear the gospel message twice until all have heard it at least once?” How many of your neighbors have heard the gospel? How many of your friends or business associate have heard the gospel message? Do you sometimes feel that you are the only Christian in your place of business or school or neighborhood? If so, guess what? You are the missionary with the message of hope to those around you. There was a youth chorus that went, 

“Be a missionary every day
Tell the world that Jesus is the way
Be it in the town our country or the busy avenue
Africa or Asia, the task is up to you

Tell the world that Jesus is the way
Be it in the town our country or the busy avenue
Africa or Asia, the task is up to you

So, be a missionary every day
Tell the world that Jesus is the way
The Lord is soon returning
There is no time to lose
So, be a missionary, God’s own emissary
Be a missionary today!

Praise God today that He sent someone to speak to you with the Gospel message.