What is true mission work?

Concerning Scripture...

What is true mission work? Is it just me or is good humanitarian aid being confused with the Great Commission?

I've never been a missionary to a foreign country, so your comments are appreciated.

HeGaveMeLife.com

beloved, washing dishes,child care,mechanic,cook, painter,driver,prayer worker,and a few preachers....etc.jimp

According to a 30 year missionary it is Discipling and Giving yourself away. Even right where we are this can happen and should.
Would that all who profess Christ make Him known in their immediate lives.

Discipling... "Go into all the world..."

Giving yourself away... "I am not my own..."

"Missions Exsist because worship doesn't" "Worship should be the fuel for Missions"

John Macarthur says that the word missionary is never used in scripture, only disiple is used. so missions is simply making disiples of others.

I agree that missions primary aim is to make disiples of all peoples teaching them all that Christ has taught us. If we can help others through humanitarian efforts great, but that is not missionary work.

Hi DesiJr...

What is true mission work? Is it just me or is good humanitarian aid being confused with the Great Commission?

I've never been a missionary to a foreign country, so your comments are appreciated.

We built buildings for the local Churches (who often met outside under trees). We dug wells in areas that were experiencing drought. We provided clothing, material and shoes for a people who experience a high mortality rate. We provided medicine and medical care for a group (the Tarahumara) who are often denied such treatment from the government. We taught basic life skills. While this is certainly [i]humanitarian[/i] in definition, it is distinguished from groups like the Peace Corp because this is fulfilled only as a result of the love of God. It is not mere pity – but a compassion that results from seeing a people as “sheep having no shepherd.” Everything that we did was mingled with the Good News of Jesus Christ. Most of the places we traveled had local pastors. Some of these pastors were converted to Christ during previous trips. Often, one or two of the “missionaries” would choose to remain for an undetermined period of time.

Sadly, I have also been on trips where the “missionaries” resembled “tourists” more than people dedicated toward bringing the Gospel to another people. I’ve been to places where the “missionaries” lived on salaries that resembled an American lifestyle rather than that of the locals. I’ve been on “mission trips” where the “mission” was obviously limited to cooking a few meals for the local people, giving away some gifts (food and clothing…ala Santa Claus), and where the “missions team” sang some songs, performed some dramas/puppet shows and put on a charismatic “show” for the locals. After a week, we packed up and left – while I felt entirely burdened by the question of what we truly accomplished.

In truth, I feel that humanitarian work is not nearly as important as spreading the Gospel. Jesus didn’t commission us to “go and spread Western lifestyles.” He simply commissioned us to go and spread the Good News. Humanitarian work can have a place – as long as it is relevant to the work of the Lord. Paul, of course, healed the sick. But what is it that separates our work from the work of groups like the Peace Corp? There is certainly a need for taking care of orphans, widows and the poor. But Jesus didn’t just come to take care of the physical needs of such groups. He came because of a ominous spiritual need. The difference, in my opinion, is the emphasis on things ETERNAL rather than things that are so TEMPORARY.

For some reason, this thread brought to mind a song by 1980s singer Don Francisco. While it is not speaking about foreign missionaries, it does seem to speak to our “mission” in our own hometowns. Enjoy!

[b]Steeple Song[/b]
by Don Francisco

I don't care how many buses you own
Or the size of your sanctuary
It doesn't matter how steep your steeple is
If it's sittin' on a cemetery
I don't care if you pave your parking lot
Or put pads upon your pews
What good is picture perfect stage
If you're missin' all the cues?

I don't care if your pastor's super-powered
And your program's always new
What you need is love and truth
And men are going to come to you
It doesn't matter that you know the Bible
If it's all just in your head
The thing I need to ask you is
Have you done the things I said?

Do you love your wife?
For her and for your children
Are you layin' down your life?
What about the others?
Are you livin' as a servant to
Your sisters and your brothers?
Do you make the poor man beg you for a bone?
Do the widow and the orphan cry alone?

I don't care if you pray for miracles
I don't care if you speak with tongues
I don't care if you said you love Me
In every song you've sung
It doesn't matter that your sacrifice of praise
Is loud enough to raise the dead
The thing I need to ask you is
Have you done the things I said?

Repeat Chorus

Lord, when were You a prisoner
That we did not come to You?
When was it that we saw You sick
That we didn't follow through
Every time you turned your head
And pretended not to see
When you did it not to the least of these
You did it not to Me

Do you love your wife?
With all you've got inside you
Are you layin' down your life?
What about the others?
Are you living as a servant
To your sisters and your brothers?
Do you make the poor man beg you for a bone?
Do the widow and the orphan cry alone?

:-)