In his sermon "The Church's Role and The Great Commission," Ryan Bush emphasizes the crucial relationship between local churches and the fulfillment of the Great Commission, using 2 Corinthians 8 as his foundation. He asserts that churches are not only responsible for appealing to their members to consider missionary work but also bear the duty to send, test, and appoint missionaries with meticulous care. Bush outlines that churches should actively make appeals to their members, encouraging them to become missionaries. However, he clarifies that this call doesn't imply every member should go, but rather it’s about recognizing those whom God specifically calls.
Churches have the biblical mandate to send out missionaries, referred to as "apostles of the churches" or "sent ones," ensuring they are well-prepared and supported. To fulfill this role, churches must rigorously test potential missionaries for their doctrine, giftedness, and character, akin to the process for elders and deacons. This thorough examination ensures that those sent are genuinely prepared for the mission field's challenges. Bush highlights several key qualities of missionary candidates, including earnestness, willingness, sound doctrine, the ability to teach, and a life above reproach. Earnestness reflects a genuine, Holy Spirit-inspired zeal for the mission, while willingness indicates a sincere, voluntary desire to serve without compulsion. Additionally, missionaries should be well-grounded in biblical doctrine and capable of effective teaching and preaching, living lives of integrity and holiness that meet the same standards as church elders.
Bush underscores that the local church must take its role seriously in the Great Commission, ensuring that those it sends are well-prepared and spiritually equipped. This responsibility includes making appeals, testing, and supporting missionaries to honor God and effectively advance His kingdom.
In his sermon "The Church's Role and The Great Commission," Ryan Bush emphasizes the crucial relationship between local churches and the fulfillment of the Great Commission, using 2 Corinthians 8 as his foundation. He asserts that churches are not only responsible for appealing to their members to consider missionary work but also bear the duty to send, test, and appoint missionaries with meticulous care. Bush outlines that churches should actively make appeals to their members, encouraging them to become missionaries. However, he clarifies that this call doesn't imply every member should go, but rather it’s about recognizing those whom God specifically calls.
Churches have the biblical mandate to send out missionaries, referred to as "apostles of the churches" or "sent ones," ensuring they are well-prepared and supported. To fulfill this role, churches must rigorously test potential missionaries for their doctrine, giftedness, and character, akin to the process for elders and deacons. This thorough examination ensures that those sent are genuinely prepared for the mission field's challenges. Bush highlights several key qualities of missionary candidates, including earnestness, willingness, sound doctrine, the ability to teach, and a life above reproach. Earnestness reflects a genuine, Holy Spirit-inspired zeal for the mission, while willingness indicates a sincere, voluntary desire to serve without compulsion. Additionally, missionaries should be well-grounded in biblical doctrine and capable of effective teaching and preaching, living lives of integrity and holiness that meet the same standards as church elders.
Bush underscores that the local church must take its role seriously in the Great Commission, ensuring that those it sends are well-prepared and spiritually equipped. This responsibility includes making appeals, testing, and supporting missionaries to honor God and effectively advance His kingdom.
What does a local church have to do with the fulfillment of the Great Commission? That's our topic for tonight. 2 Corinthians chapter 8 says this,"But they put into the heart of Titus the same earnest care I have for you. For he not only accepted our appeal, earnest, he is going to you of his own accord. With him we are sending the brother who is famous among all the churches for his preaching of the gospel. And not only that, but he has been appointed by the churches to travel with us as we carry out this act of grace that is being ministered by us, for the glory of the Lord himself and to show your good will. We take this course so that no one should blame us about this generous gift that is being administered by us. For we aim at what is honorable not only in the Lord's sight, but also in the sight of men. And with him we are sending our brother whom we have often tested and found earnest in many matters, but who is now more earnest than ever because of his great confidence in you. As for Titus, he is my partner and fellow worker for your benefit. And as for our brothers, they are messengers of the churches, the glory of Christ." Lord, we ask your help this evening. Lord, we know that you oppose the proud and give grace to the humble, and that when we draw near to you, you draw near to us. Oh Lord, we want to understand your word and your will, and as a church, Lord, we want to be faithful to it. We want to carry out the task that's been set before us in a way that's pleasing to you. And we know that if we do that according to your scriptures, that that is pleasing to you, that that is the way we ought to conduct ourselves, specifically in regards to the Great Commission. Lord, make us a fruitful church, not only caring for the flock that is a part of this church, but also being diligent to seek out those other sheep that you made reference to, O Christ, in John chapter 10 that have yet to come into the fold. We want to be a part of that great work of bringing in the harvest in Christ, and we pray. Amen. You may have heard of a man named Samuel Moffat. He was a fairly well-known missionary in Christian history. In the late 1800s, he was sent by his church here in the United States to the Korean Peninsula. At that point, it was just one Korea unified. This was before, obviously, the war. And he went there really as one of the very first Christian missionaries. A few in China, in Japan, maybe one or two at Set Foot in Korea, but really not much to speak of in terms of the long-term work. He went there along with some fellow laborers, and the Lord blessed. They were able to establish several churches, and they began to raise up Korean men who could take over the church so that there would be indigenous leadership after a set amount of time. And the Lord did that. The Lord brought faithful, available, teachable men who would call the ministry to lead the church. And the day finally came, and he sent it out to Gyeong-yeon, the capital of the peninsula and now the capital of North Korea. Gyeong-yeon, a very waiting cyber-regionalist, would be in his wording as first in the ministry. This was a mind moment. They were all elected by what the team for their lives and their spiritual responsibilities never offered them. They sent all into the meeting. One of them said, "We be a third ministers of the Korean church, which has more than ministers. It has missionaries." And they looked at what was there with him, and they said, "You don't know what you ever saw, didn't you?" And they said, "You will be our first missionary." They walked into the assembly, and they were dangling. The vincer that man stoned, and so they pelted him with stones as he preached the gospel with Samuel Moffat. And Samuel Moffat was presiding over that assembly, and Samuel Moffat ordained this man to the gospel ministry. It wasn't long after that that this man was sent out by the Korean church as the first Korean missionary to an island a little ways offshore where he, in turn, was pelted with stones when he first stood to preach the gospel. Now, what is the role of the local church in the Great Commission, and how do local churches relate to missionaries? What do they have to do in that process? This evening I want to give you two lists, and I want to look at this question from two different perspectives. One is, what is a church to do? What's the to-do list for churches who want to be found faithful in the task of carrying out the Great Commission? What are they to do? The second list is, what are missionary candidates to be? A to-be list, if you will. A to-do list and a to-be list. Let's look at these together. If you notice in verse 17, the first part there, it says, "For he not only accepted our appeal." That's the first point we want to put a pin in. And it's simply this, the first item of the local churches to-do list is this. Local churches make an appeal. Local churches make an appeal. The call to serve as a missionary is often initiated by an appeal. An appeal is simply a strong plea, a request to carry out to a person or a group of people who can potentially meet that need. Well, local churches make an appeal to the members of that church to go. Now, that doesn't mean that all members should go. We sometimes have this idea that if a Christian would only become mature enough, then that, once they reach a certain level of maturity, then they go to China or they go to Africa. That's not how it works. The Lord does call some to do that, but not all. God specifically and especially chooses and calls some to go. Churches make an appeal in that process in order as a part of the mechanism of God's calling. Now, an appeal doesn't always have to come from the church for it to be a legitimate call. Someone could stand up tonight or talk to me afterwards and say, "I believe the Lord's calling me to such and such people group, and maybe we've never mentioned that or never made an appeal." That can very well be a legitimate calling, but churches are in a unique position to make an appeal first because they're aware of the state of the gospel across the world. At least they ought to be. We ought to be paying attention to the specific needs that God providentially brings before us, and we do that. We share those with you on a weekly basis. So this information is shared with the congregation, and that sort of appeal can be used by the Lord. Also, local churches know that the answer to the spiritual needs in the world, the lack of gospel among people groups, local churches know that the answer is sending their members as missionaries to that people group. That's ultimately the answer. Now, I don't want to frighten anybody. I don't have a sign-up list for Timbuktu tonight, but the Lord may very well call some of you, members of Grace Bible Church, to go to a place where the gospel has not been preached. Another reason that churches are well positioned to make an appeal is because pastors know their members and are aware of those members who might be wrestling with the call. In fact, I'm aware of several of you right now who have expressed to me, "I think the Lord might be calling me to missions." Some of you have said, "The Lord is calling me to missions. How do I get there?" So we have the ability to talk to you directly because we're aware of that information. Okay, here's number two. Local churches send missionaries. So local churches make an appeal. We make an appeal to the membership. Local churches also send. Verse 18, the first part, "With him we are sending the brother." Now, these men were called. They're in the text. You won't see it depending on your version, but they're towards the end. Let me see what verse it is exactly. Yeah, verse 23, "And as for our brothers, they are," do you see that phrase right after those two words?"They are what?""Messengers of the churches." I'm guessing that's what your version says as well. This is the ESV. Well, the Greek word there is "apostelos.""Apostles of the churches" is the actual phrase there. So that's a decision that translators have made in order to reduce confusion by using that term "apostel." But "apostel of the churches" is a term that we find in the New Testament. So we don't have time to go to all of the passages and follow this trail. But let me just ask this question. What's your favorite verse that makes mention of missionaries in the Bible? What's your favorite verse that uses the word "missionary"? Or better yet, what's any verse that uses the word "missionary" in the Bible? I'd love to hear it because there's no verses. If you have one, tell me. There are no verses in the Bible that use the word—you don't find that term. You don't find that title in the Bible. What you do find is this phrase, "apostles of the churches." And when we look at that pattern—it's used of Barnabas, it's used of Timothy, and Titus here and others—we see that that is the pattern that we ought to follow when we think of missionary. Now, there's more to that. I don't have time to share it, but there's a really good solid case for that in terms of where the term "missionary" came from and where that was translated from. So, "apostles of the churches"—they were sent out by churches in order to carry out the work of the Great Commission."Apostles of the churches" or "messengers of the churches"—it literally means "sint one of the church" or "sint out by the church." That's what the term literally means. And if we trace the word "missionary" back, that's what "missionary" literally means."Missionary" comes from the Latin "missionarius," which meant "sint out one.""Missionarius" was translated from "apostelos" into Latin."Missionary" means "sint out one." But "sint from whom?""Sint from what?" There's no such thing as a self-appointed missionary or self-sint ambassador. Those are representatives. By definition itself, those are representatives or "sint out ones." And what we see throughout the New Testament is the local church is the missionary sending agency. You are the missionary sending agency. You are. You have a really important part of that. I'll get into the nuts and bolts of that in just a moment. But local churches "sint missionaries." Local churches have to be careful not to outsource this responsibility to a parachurch organization. That's unbiblical and unsafe, unwise. Here's the third "to do" on our list. Local churches "test" missionary candidates. And this is where you come into play. Verse 18, "With him we are sending the brother who is famous among all the churches for his preaching of the God." And then verse 22, "With them we are sending our brother whom we have often tested and found earnest in many matters." Local churches "test," "evaluate," "consider" those who claim to have an inward call. We have to get rid of this idea that if someone steps forward and says, "God is quicker," we have to set this idea aside that we say, "Oh, well, God's called him so that must be true." Well, the inward call to missions is very important. Call is just as, if not more important than the inward call. The outward bolt, we gladly send him out. We gladly support him. We are part of the call. And a part of that examination is this. That word there in verse 22, "And with them we are sending our brother whom we have often tested and found earnest in many matters." We have often tested. That word "tested," and I'm not trying to get too, too Greeky here, but that word "tested" is the same Greek word that Paul used. Now, this is Paul writing this. It's the same Greek word that he used when he, when he talked about testing elders and deacons. It's the same word. I think there's a really strong argument to be made that we ought to hold those we send out to start churches in other lands to the same standard that we hold those to who stay here to lead churches and to pastor churches. I'll talk about that more towards the end of our time here. Missionary candidates must be tested by their local church, those believers who can observe their life most closely. What ought they to test? Their doctrine. We see that in verse 18 as preaching of the gospel. Their giftedness, so their ability to teach. Yeah, there's more I want to say there, but I don't have time. Their ability to teach, their doctrine, and their character. So are they above reproach? Now, that might sound familiar. Are they above reproach? Are they apt to teach? Are they sound and doctrine? What does that sound like? Well, it sounds a lot like a pastor, doesn't it? There's a good reason for that. So really quickly, there are five reasons why a local church must be diligent to test those they send to the mission field. There's more, but let me give you five really quick reasons. Diligent testing of missionary candidates honors God. This is honoring to our Lord who gave us the Great Commission. A king is honored when his knights are excellent in every regard. On the other hand, it's to his shame when they are slovenly dressed and poorly trained. It honors the Lord to send out well-trained missionaries. Number two, it acknowledges the importance of the task. The more important a task is, the greater care is taken in its completion. When banks move large amounts of cash, all manner of precautions are taken to ensure that all goes as planned. Number three, it protects the reputation of the church, the sending church, and also of Christ. Untested missionaries have done great damage to the name of Christ and his church in foreign lands. I know this firsthand. I've seen multiple missionaries shipwreck their faith, their testimony, and drag the name of the church and Christ through the mind because of their behavior, and that behavior seemed like it stemmed from not being tested. Number four, it safeguards the missionary. This is in the missionary's best interest that he be fully prepared before he goes into such a rigorous context. Number five, it's in the best interest of the people group. Those he is going to serve are better served if they are encountered by a missionary who is prepared. It's not difficult to see why an untested missionary can do more harm than no missionary at all. Consider a scenario in which a first-year medical student is asked to perform open-heart surgery, or an aspiring pilot is given the opportunity to fly a 787 full of passengers on his first outing. It's unwise, isn't it? Well, as unwise as that is, consider what hangs in the balance for people groups who have not heard the gospel. So churches must be diligent to test the character, giftedness, and doctrine of a man before they send him out as an ambassador of Jesus Christ and an apostle of the church. Let me make a mention there. I've used the masculine pronoun multiple times here. I've used man referring to missionary. I don't mean to say that women cannot be sent out as a part of a mission team to serve as a missionary on the foreign field. It's just easier to use the masculine pronoun here, and if you have questions about that, we could talk about it afterwards. The local church should test her missionary candidates with as much rigor and care as we test pastoral candidates. Okay, here's the neti for those who are sent out. Those missionaries who are sent out, those apostles of the churches are tethered to the church. They're held accountable by the church. In fact, if they fall into sin or they're not disciplined, ought to be begun in that situation. So appoint missionaries. Like here in this verse, it says that they've been appointed to travel with them to carry out that they were. When a missionary candidate is looking at going to the field, it's not that he's to do when I go to whatever country it is. That's not the right way forward. The proper way forward is for that candidate to decide together what will be the task of that missionary. They're appointed to that appeal test, and yes, we look for. So I want to give you a to-be list, and this is something that you might use this as a sort of rubric to evaluate your own life and heart. We're going to look at the same passage, but now what sort of missionaries ought to be sent out? The first one is this. They must be missed. The first item on our to-be list is this person must be earnest. Now, this is all over the passage here. Verse 16, "But thanks be to God who put into the heart of Titus the same earnest care I have for you." Verse 17, "For you not only accepted our appeal, but being himself very earnest, he is going to you of his own accord." Verse 22, "And with him we are sending our brother, whom we have often tested and found earnest in many matters, but who is now more earnest than ever because of his great confidence in you." If you're working through the Bible study process, you would have written that word down in repeated words. That tells us something. This is a really important element when thinking what he had in mind is this earnestness. What is earnestness? This is what we were today. What is earnestness? Describe it as a mixture of seriousness, full, diligent. It's like a fire, we could say, but not a fire fueled by the cedar logs that burns hot but for a short. It's fire, sealant, smoke, burnt out of the sustained heat. Earnest is an indicator of a true inward call for God. If someone's not earnest, called. Now, there, inward called certainly must be confirmed by the—a congregation may say, "Yes, this person seems like the perfect missionary candidate if there's no earnestness here." It doesn't matter. True earnestness can't be. It's raw in the heart of a person by the Holy Spirit. It's not self-generated. It's not a mere excitement. It does include anticipation. It's not merely an emotion deeper than that. The mere heart of an injury and willing to give up all he knows in order to take the gossiest Christ to or inland. Please say that. That's a little test. Uh, does your heart shrink back? Like, uh, that sounds crazy. No says. The desire is like a fire in his bones and contempt. Not possible to keep the heart of a person that will divine earth, but there will be evidence. This evidence is observed proven over time, but if it is there, it will conclusively be detected. Um, so what is evidence of the moral art submission? Just a couple of things that we can see here in the text. There's the same earnest care I have for dental art. I just say the same earnest care I have for you. The true earnestness is not simply an interest in the practical and concrete enough for a people that you haven't even met yet. It's this desire to do this. It's this spiritual good. Those businesses already envision themselves sharing the gospel in a new Havana, family of new believers, alums of Mombasa. Their earnestness has weight, concrete, but even some of their he's only due of his own. A man who is earnest about reaching a people group for Jesus Christ's higher to. Now we have to be careful here. Just because someone had, just because someone has ministry, let's say, that's not conclusive evidence of true divine earnestness or an inward call. We have to, we have to, discerning. There is an affect, a inward calling that says, "Whatever it takes, I will reach this." I respect that. This is a zeal that is not biblical. This is a foolish zeal, an untested zeal. So I think we can see here a fine line between godly earnestness and foolish passion, and we must be careful that we never confuse the two. This takes time and patience. This takes all of the congregation prayerfully laboring together to testament. That's why it's necessary to examine over a long period of time. One more point about earnestness. A man who's truly earnest, verse 22 says, if he's found earnest in many matters, a man who has an inward call to missions will also be faithful in his other callings. He won't only be earnest about reaching a people group, but he will also be earnest in his calling to be devoted to Christ. His devotional life will be vibrant and consistent. He will be earnest in his calling to shepherd his family. He will be earnest about living a holy life untethered to any enslavement to sin. Look at verse 17. Here's our second item on the to be list, willingness. For he not only accepted our appeal, but being himself very earnest, he is going to you of his own accord. One who is sent out by the local church to carry out the work of evangelizing and discipling in a foreign land ought to do so by voluntary acceptance. There ought to be no compulsion in this area. Of course, this dovetails with the idea of earnestness. All of this does actually, but the church makes the appeal, but the appeal needs to be accepted voluntarily, not in an obligatory way. Now, there have been cases throughout missions history where that happened. Some interesting cases where churches said a missionary is needed in Papua New Guinea. And Tom, congratulations. Pack your bags. You're going. I didn't mean that, but not really. But that's what has happened. In fact, if you've ever read Peyton's biography, John G. Peyton, who went to the New Hebrides near Papua, this denomination or association of churches there in Scotland, they had a burning desire to reach that island with the gospel. I mean, they wept. They agonized. They came together at an assembly, all the churches, all the ministers. They had all of the ministers sit up front and they asked all of the congregation to make two votes. Which two men should we send to the New Hebrides? And John G. Peyton was in the crowd. He wasn't a minister. He was in the crowd there. And they said whoever gets the most votes, the top two guys, that's who are going to send. Now, by God's providence, there was not a clear majority. It was so spread out, so even among the whole group, they couldn't send anyone. And it's amazing Peyton describes the moments there saying he could feel the hot tears running down his face and the cries of the heathen in the South Seas ringing in his ears. And he said, I knew I must go. So it's interesting how the Lord called John G. Peyton, even in the midst of that sort of unique way of getting a man into the field. So willingness. Now, this has to be tested as well. It's not a willingness to go because someone wants to go on an adventure and see a different part of the world. Or, you know, this would be at least this would be a steady income. Or I've had so many problems here in my own home church or home culture. Let's try another one. To become popular or famous or to be your own boss. None of those are good reasons to be willing to go. Obviously, we must test to make sure that their willingness and indeed their earnestness has to do with the spiritual good of the people by the spreading of the gospel, evangelizing, discipling, and church planting. Here's the next item on the to be list. The third one, sound in doctrine and skilled in teaching. Now you can see how these fit together with the to do list, right? These fit together with what the church ought to do. And this one in particular, the church tests this. But this missionary candidate ought to be sound in doctrine, skilled in teaching. With him, we are sending the brother who is famous among all the churches for his preaching of the gospel. Now, the first two characteristics, earnestness and willingness have to do with the inward call. This characteristic touches upon ability. A missionary should be sound in doctrine and able to preach and teach. Now, this is absolutely critical. A missionary must be, before he hits the field, sound in doctrine and able to preach and teach. This doesn't mean necessarily that he has had to have gone to seminary, but he does need to have been discipled. That can happen in a local church. He also needs opportunities to show himself able to teach and preach. He ought to teach and preach the congregation so that they can be observing, evaluating, and determining whether or not this candidate is ready to be sent out. Now, let's make a note here. If a man is not yet totally sound in doctrine, I'm not saying that he's a heretic, but maybe has some growth to do in his understanding of doctrine. If he's not yet a skilled proclaimer of the word, that doesn't mean that they're not called necessarily. That's not what that means. It means that their time of preparation might need to be extended so that they can be fully prepared before they're sent out. Here's our last item on the "to be" list. They need to be above reproach. Above reproach. Verse 22, we see that the apostles of the churches were tested, and with them we are sending our brother, whom we have often tested and found earnest in many matters. Again, this word "tested" is the same word that Paul used in his description of the testing of elders and deacons. Let me just read a short paragraph from Emission's text here. It says this in regard to this idea. The word "tested" is translated from the Greek verb "dokimatso," which was used to describe the testing or a saying of metals to determine their purity. This same word, "dokimatso," is used with regard to the testing of elders and deacons before they are ordained into the ministry. It is probable that the apostles of the churches were tested according to this same standard as elders and deacons set forth in 1 Timothy 3, 1 through 13. Now you might say, "Well, you're saying it probably was associated with that, so maybe it wasn't. Maybe we don't have to have such a high standard." Well, I think the biblical evidence is very strong, but logic would lead us to the same conclusion. So do we truly have a warrant to hold missionary candidates to such a high standard? I believe that we do, and at Grace Bible Church I believe that we ought to. I believe that they ought to be tested with the same rigor that a local church evaluates a pastoral candidate. Those men who are sent out by the church in order to carry the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ to foreign lands must be tested and held to the biblical standards laid out for ministers. Why? Because they're doing the work of the ministry. Some believe a willingness to go to the mission field is qualification enough to send them, yet this flies in the face of common sense and also the biblical paradigm. So think about this. We all agree that it is essential for a local church to be led by qualified elders, right? We believe that our elders should meet the standards laid out in the Scriptures, and if they fail to meet those standards, then they ought not to be appointed. And if while they're in that position and they fail to meet those standards, they ought to be removed. Likewise, when a local church plants another local church in a foreign land, it is essential for that new local church, would you not agree, to be led by qualified elders who meet the same standards laid out in the Scriptures? Thus, wisdom cries out that the missionary who is sent from the local church with qualified elders to establish a local church in a foreign land with qualified elders should himself be elder qualified. And what about identification, examination, and appointment of elders in that new church in the foreign land? Many people believe missionaries to simply be evangelists, simply sharing the gospel, and that's all they do, and certainly that's how many begin. But the hope and the plan is for local churches to be planted. Evangelism leads to discipleship. Discipleship leads to church planting, and church planting requires the development and appointment of pastors. Is it not foolish to send a missionary to appoint elders who must meet a standard that the missionary himself doesn't meet? And this begs a further question. Can a missionary who has never served faithfully in a pastoral role effectively identify, examine, and appoint an elder? Can he train an elder? If a missionary has no experiential knowledge of shepherding a flock, how will he teach others to shepherd the flock of God? It seems that it would be wise for local churches to require missionaries and to give them the opportunity to take up pastoral duties in their local church before going to the mission field. And there's a further practical reason, and this is what happened to me, actually, for missionaries to be elder qualified. It is not uncommon for the Lord to save souls and form them into a group that is then forming into a body of Christ long before there are any elder qualified men from within the group. In such cases, the new believers will naturally and rightly look to the missionary to shepherd their souls. And if this missionary is not elder qualified, then the sending church is in a predicament. Do they encourage the man who has been sent out from them to take up the role of the pastor, though he's never been tested or he's never been affirmed as being a qualified pastor? Or do they restrain him and leave the new believers without shepherding? The new believers certainly are not ready to test him and affirm themselves yet. Thus, wisdom would lead us to fully prepare and train a missionary before he goes on the field, testing to see that he is elder qualified, that he is able to teach, that he is sound in doctrine, that he is above reproach. So in this text, we see two important checklists, a to-do list and a to-be list. Local churches ought to make an appeal to their congregation. They ought to test the character, the doctrine, and the abilities of missionary candidates. They appoint those missionaries to a specific mission, and they send out missionaries by preparing them, supporting them, holding them accountable for the duration of their ministry. In the to-be list, a missionary candidate ought to be earnest, willing, sound in doctrine, and able to teach, and above reproach.
