Are They Ready? (You’re Good to Go)
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STATEMENT
Membership in a biblically-ordered local church is the primary context for missionary training. Sending churches should ensure that aspiring missionaries receive adequate training and testing in character, confession, and competency prior to being commissioned and deployed. The qualifications in 1 Timothy 3:1–13 and Titus 1:5–9 serve as guidelines for training and assessment.
Pete was brilliant. He had studied at one of the best schools in his home nation. He devoted himself to his campus ministry for several years. He knew his doctrine well. He was a passionate evangelist and apologist for the gospel. His organization was proud to send him out and even make him a leader of one of their teams. Yet he was not deeply known by his sending church or his organization. He always seemed to have his guard up. Others saw him as clever, wise, and friendly, but people never really knew him because he was “investing so deeply” in others. However, he wasn’t on the field long when unshared hidden sin became a stumbling block not only to himself but also to his co-workers and those he was ministering to. He was trained theologically and was competent to do the job, but his character was never tested. He was sent home for moral failure, leaving the ministry in shambles.
Brittany loved God and loved people. She wanted to make a difference in the world. Her life was above reproach, and she strove for holiness. She was sent out without reservation to work with other sent workers from her church and help with the discipleship of women of a local congregation. However, her sending church did not know that Brittany did not believe in the assurance of salvation. She strove for holiness, partially out of love for God but primarily because she feared she would lose her salvation. When she began serving in a local church, her faulty doctrine began to confuse the young sisters. Her character was flawless, and she could lead Bible studies well. But what she was teaching was unbiblical, and local believers were led astray and eventually walked away from the faith altogether.
John had walked with the Lord since he was young. He loved God’s Word. He had sat under solid biblical teaching his whole life and had rightfully caught the vision for God’s world. As an adult, John was deeply rooted in the life of his large home church and served faithfully in areas he was skilled in. However, when John was sent to do an evangelistic ministry among an unreached people group, he struggled. He had never really shared his faith with strangers before. He had never really discipled anyone. Truth be told, he wasn’t a people person at all. His team’s capacity to train him on the field was limited because of the deep ministry they were all involved in. John was godly and rooted, but he did not have the particular skills needed for the job he took on the field.
Each of these three people loved God and desired to serve as missionaries, yet each one had glaring issues that prevented them from making it long-term on the field or not doing severe damage to the cause of the gospel. Had each worker been carefully assessed and trained, their stories might have differed. Pete could have dealt with his sin before disqualifying himself for ministry. Brittany could have spent more time discussing these deep doubts in her heart and come to see that God’s saints cannot be lost. John may have found a missionary position better suited to his skills or realized he was meant to be a mobilizer and cheerleader for others being sent out.
Why Train?
A professor once told me, “A call to go (to the nations) is a call to prepare.” Just because someone feels called and even sees themselves as ready, it does not mean they are ready. Training is not “wasting time while the world is perishing,” as some might say. Taking the time to train properly helps ensure sustainable and fruitful long-term ministry.
Why is it essential for us to consider the training of missionaries? There are at least three reasons we must think well about the training of our missionaries.
First, many churches require a high degree of training and testing for those who aspire to serve as elders and deacons in their churches. Yet they are quick to affirm and send missionaries who received much less assessment and training. 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us that one must present themselves as one approved, a worker unashamed, and able to rightly handle God’s Word. They can only do this, in part, if they are rightly trained. If the qualifications for pastors and deacons are rightfully required in our churches, why would we send those less qualified and equipped to plant churches in some of the most challenging places in the world?
Second, the missionary task necessarily involves church planting. Suppose missionaries do not have the knowledge, character, and skills the Bible requires of leaders in a local church. In that case, they will be unable to effectively assess, equip, and advise those who will be leaders in the churches they are attempting to plant.
Third, missionaries will set the foundation of churches in places they are sent. If the foundation is faulty, everything that follows will also be faulty. Therefore, sending those who will build on a sure foundation (Isaiah 28:16; 1 Cor 3:11-12) is imperative.
Who Trains?
As we think about missionary training, we must consider who is responsible for their training. Is it the responsibility of the seminary they attend? Does it fall to the organization sending them? What role does the sending church play?
Churches plant other churches; ultimately, it is the job of the sending church to access and prepare those they send well. Look at the example of Paul and Barnabas in Acts 13. They did not decide they wanted to go out and plant a church and then go. They were trained and accessed and only afterward sent out by their local church through the leading of the Holy Spirit. This doesn’t mean everything they learned came from the church in Antioch alone. But the church in Antioch affirmed that Paul and Barnabas were ready and then sent. This does not mean that much training cannot come from seminary or Bible college. This does not mean agencies should not try to provide training opportunities to those they send. However, the sending church is responsible for the care of its missionaries, and there are few things more caring than ensuring a missionary is adequately trained for the job they are being asked to do.
Also, it is the church's job to ensure that its resources are being used to truly advance the kingdom of God through clear biblical teaching rather than sending well-meaning but misguided missionaries who lack theological depth and sound doctrine. The sending church must ensure that the missionaries it sends are men and women of character who are able to teach biblically and live lives worthy of the gospel they proclaim.
While helpful, seminaries and training organizations are limited in how much they can care for individuals in deeper, more personal ways. A missionary's training must happen before they are even in the sending process. Likewise, it is unloving to send a worker into a missionary position that they are ill-equipped or unable to fulfill. Conversations about the suitability of the job and opportunities to practice the skills required are essential in equipping future missionaries. This happens best in the context where potential missionaries are well known and have regular guidance on these issues, amongst others.
What Training Is Needed?
No training can prepare any missionary for every possibility of life on the field. No training fully prepares one for exactly what to do pre-church plant when one of their future members is caught in adultery. No amount of training can prepare one for when the police raid their church gathering on a Sunday morning. No training could fully prepare a missionary when they are suddenly kicked out of the village they have been teaching in for over a year.
However, training that covers both practical skills and biblical knowledge will serve to fortify missionaries as they face unexpected situations on the field. Training should include but may not be limited to:
ecclesiology-what does the Bible say about the church
systematic theology-the doctrines of the faith
biblical theology-how does the whole Bible fit together
preaching/teaching-how to teach the Bible expositionally
evangelism- learning to share the good news in the home context before going overseas
discipleship-learning to build relationships to do spiritual good to another intentionally
Culture/language acquisition- preparation for some of the practical realities of the culture and people the potential missionary will serve
What Happens When Training Is Done Well or Poorly?
While no training can completely prepare a missionary for every eventuality, nor can proper training always prevent a missionary from going amiss or being unable to remain on the field, adequate training can significantly help a missionary and their field of service.
The effects of a lack of proper training can be deeply felt by the missionary and those they go to serve. When a sending church has not put in the effort to deeply know its missionaries, it often sends underqualified missionaries who do little or poor kingdom work. Worse yet, it sends missionaries who have bad character or teach false doctrine. True believers may be led astray, non-believers are inoculated to the true gospel as they are taught false and distorted gospels, and the reputation of Christ is tarnished.
Another effect of poor training of missionaries is that the marriage and family of missionaries suffer. They may struggle to prioritize their own spiritual life and that of their own family because they are so committed to seeing the spiritual needs of others outside their home met.
If marriage or family challenges arise, a missionary may not know where to turn for support during this time, especially if they fear struggles of this nature would automatically lead to being pulled off the field. However, if a sending church has walked with its missionary through the “going” process and helped train them, the trust needed has been built between the sending church and the missionary.
When we wanted to be sent to the mission field, our sending church delayed us for about two years. They took the time to know us and ensure we were trained to join one of their church planters in Asia. After several years on the field, we hit a rough patch in marriage; we went first to our field church for counsel and support. When our field church did not feel like it had the ability to support us as we needed, our sending church was brought in for counsel. They decided that a sabbatical time in the US at our sending church would help us walk through this difficult time and get us back on the field even healthier than before. It was because of the time that the sending church took before sending us that helped us know when we needed help and where to look for help: first, our field church and then our sending church.
Finally, poor training can also lead to missionaries becoming susceptible to pragmatic, worldly methods that are not based on God’s word or glorifying to God. However, when missionaries are trained well, everyone benefits. The right gospel is preached. Sound doctrine is taught. Healthy churches are planted. God is glorified. Properly trained missionaries are better equipped to endure the difficulties and trials of life and ministry on the field. They also know when and who to ask for help when needed. Finally, properly trained missionaries equipped to evangelize and disciple others will lead to indigenous Christians being equipped to evangelize and disciple well long after the missionary leaves.
Are They Ready?
In this age of modern missions where travel is easy, and conferences abound to stir up zeal and passion, we have seen churches and organizations alike jump at the opportunity to send anyone devoted (dare I say, crazy?) enough to want to go abroad for the sake of the Gospel. Many are mobilized by the thousands to go and are, by God’s grace, doing much good work.
However, if we look closely, we will see hundreds of workers sent, only to leave the field before their term was complete and before they persevered in the long hard work of language and cultural acquisition and the even harder work of church planting. We would see millions of dollars spent on work that did not go much farther than the bags of rice given or a church building built for a congregation yet to exist. We would see many so-called churches grow under the teaching of a false gospel because missionaries sent by good churches gave into pragmatic methods that increase numbers rather than make true disciples. We would see that in many of these cases, proper training of the missionary might have prevented much of the heresy taught and the heartbreak caused. It would have led to more healthy and lasting fruit.
Are your missionaries ready? Is your local church committed to slowing the process and decreasing the number of missionaries you send out in order to send better-equipped and qualified missionaries who are firm in their character, confession, and competency? Local Church, the buck stops here. You are responsible to and for your missionaries! Know them, train them, and send them well!
