Mission, Missionary, and Performance Evaluation

It should be of interest to know that the words missionary and mission do not appear in the Bible, these are not Biblical terms. To have a mission and to be sent out on a mission are secular ideas and often associated with military applications. A missionary is merely a person who has been sent out on a mission. When my wife sends me to the grocery store to pick up a few things, she has sent me on a mission to accomplish a specific task; I am a missionary for my wife.

A missionary is anybody that has been given a mission. Most organizations have a Mission Statement. The goals and objectives of the organization are focused on accomplishing this mission. The people who work together to accomplish a mission are missionaries. NASA is an organization that has multiple missions and all of their employees are missionaries.

In your workplace, your supervisor receives missions from his superior and delegates them to his subordinates. Your job is to accomplish the tasks that you have been assigned and those tasks are related to the mission. You are a missionary for your supervisor. You are evaluated on your performance and are rewarded or reprimanded accordingly. Some people are good missionaries and some are bad, but they are all missionaries. Some are rewarded, some are promoted, some are reprimanded, some are demoted, and some are terminated.

All Christians are missionaries. All Christians have a mission that they have been assigned to accomplish. All Christians will be evaluated based on their performance. All Christians will be rewarded or reprimanded according to their performance. Some Christians will be rewarded, and some will be promoted. Some Christians will be reprimanded, some demoted, and some terminated.

If your Commander in Chief (the King of kings, the Lord of lords) called you in today for a performance review, how would fare? How well are you accomplishing your mission? Are you on task? What have you done to overcome problems? Are you a team player? Do you attend meetings regularly? Are you punctual? Are you pro-actively improving your knowledge and skills? And the list goes on.

You need to be evaluating your performance and making corrects on a regular basis. The Holy Spirit is your supervisor and he uses preaching and teaching to evaluate your performance, to make you aware of your mission, to encourage you, to determine your course, to give you correction. Every opportunity you have to expose yourself to good Bible preaching is an opportunity to evaluate your performance and to make corrections so that you will do well on your final review, which is the Judgment Seat of Christ.

 

My point is that most "Christians" believe that "Missionary" is a biblical term, when in fact it is not. Missionaries are anyone who have been given a mission to accomplish, not just people who minister cross-culturally. If a person is ministering intra-culturally, is he not a missionary? Since believers are all called to be a witness and testimony, of their Lord and Saviour, to those around them, that is their mission. Therefore, all believers are missionaries and their span of influence is their mission field. In addition, all believers will stand before the judgment seat of Christ and give an account of their Christian life, they will be evaluated on their performance. Some will be reward and others will loose reward.

There are some who mistakenly believe that salvation is the beginning and ending of the Christian life. All they are interested in is "Fire Insurance", they do absolutely nothing for the Lord, and they believe they will inherit all the blessings and rewards without having to earn them.

My point is that all believers will be judged according to the mission that God has given them, and yet most do not realize they have a mission. Some who realize their responsibility believe they can pay someone else to do it for them.

 

Wow John, I did not know you were so touchy and easily offended. I meant no offense, nor did I entend to be contraversial. I have have no intention of debating anything, so if you are looking for a fight, you will not find one here.

The words missionary and mission are not in my Bible, so I do not consider them to be Biblical words. However, that does not mean that the concept is not found in the Bible. Similar to "trinity", the word is not in the Bible, but the concept is.

My intention, John, is not to cheapen the term, but rather to call believers' attention to a mission that we all have been given and a judgment based on performance of that mission.

With respect and humility,
Daniel

 

Aha, this is exactly my point, well one of them anyway, although this diverts somewhat from the original context of the thread and may need to be moved to a debate forum for discussion.

There is no biblical office of missionary, but there is of apostle (Eph 4). There are people who call themselves missionaries, yet they do not do the work of an apostle. Conversely, there are people who call themselves apostles, yet they do not do the work of an apostle. Then there are true apostles.

Another point of my post (although hidden between the lines) is that American "Christians" have a misconception about titles and offices and responsibilities in the church. Now that is definitely a topic for a debate forum, and will need to be carried over there, for discussion.

John, I understand and feel the same way, I do apologize that you took offense, I did not intend to belittle those who serve. I too have served on the field (and I am still serving) and I have come to loathe the attitude, apathy, and apostasy of many American "Christians". Many "American Church Attenders" are clueless to the great danger faced by believers around the world; and even more shameful, many do not care once they become aware. They may stir for a moment, but it does not take them long to drift back to sleep.
(Yes, I know this is stereotypical, but it is true. For those who are the exception, do not take offense.)

Peace,
Daniel