Five Missionary Impulses Misunderstood By The Church

Ministry practitioners (particularly those involved in active missions) often speak of “missionary rhythms of life.” These rhythms or habits lead to effective missionary work in whatever field. I believe there is something behind those rhythms that missionaries naturally possess or can develop. I call them impulses. These impulses can run contrary to societal norms. It’s like the impulse of a first responder running into a life threatening situation rather than away.

Unfortunately, these missionary impulses are often devalued in the Bible Belt ways of doing ministry. Because of this devaluing, those who are wired to be missionaries can feel adrift, not knowing what to do with these impulses. These impulses also can be misunderstood, mislabeled and used to mischaracterize the individuals that hold them.

DISCLAIMER: These are impulses that lead to distinct rhythms of missionary living. They are NOT what missionaries do ALL of the time but they do determine how they prioritize their time, spiritual gifting, and talents.

So, what are the things that missionaries have an impulse to do?

#1 – Influencing existing culture over creating Christian subculture.

Missionaries look for strategic ways to involve and inject themselves into the culture. I find that missionaries really operate at a high level in striking the balance of being in the world but not of it. So many are scared to go further into their community because they don’t want to be negatively influenced or don’t want the negative perception. But missionaries are not deterred by those things. They have something in them that sets their face towards the culture. They are drawn to engage the lost across various sections of the community. They are drawn to the lesbian owned, progressive boiling pot coffee shop in town. Rather than the one that they can find 4 other pastors and their congregants at. They would much rather play softball or basketball in a city league than in a “church league”.

Don’t get me wrong. Christian fellowship is beautiful and necessary for our spiritual formation. But I believe many in a culture that is considered predominantly Christian, have abandoned their post within the culture at large. For some, Christians can’t make music. They have to make Christian music. They can’t make movies. They have to make Christian movies. Rather than influencing their culture for Christ, they feel a need to create a Christian subculture. For this reason, the Christian Church’s influence in the culture is continuing to shrink.

The Church in the Bible Belt south is dealing with the repercussions and fallout of a multi-generational emphasis of prioritizing, creating, developing and growing a Christian subculture. Eventually, the Church in the south is going to have that hypothetical Maury Povich Show moment. The one where the paternity test results are in and we realize that we are the father of cultural Christianity.

Missionaries share and model the Christian worldview in culture that leads and influences others to follow. Influencing culture is not bending the will of the people to yours with your vote or your boycott. I remember having a conversation with a feminist woman about traditional, biblical complementarianism. I helped to diffuse some of her misconceptions. I also owned up to the real ways in which my viewpoints can be abused. By the end of the conversation, she told me that if my views of biblical gender roles were true, then she wouldn’t have that big of a problem with them. Voting and boycotting are our rights as citizens in this country. Engaging and influencing the culture around us with a biblical worldview are our marching orders from our King of our true country.

Following this impulse has opened me up to be labeled liberal or progressive in my theology by some in the Christian establishment. If you knew me, you would know that I am as conservative in my theology as they come.

Do you find yourself desiring to engage the culture of your city with the biblical worldview, but it operates outside of the Christian subculture ways? That is a missionary impulse.

#2 – Asking questions over providing answers.

Missionaries are curious people. They like to ask questions. They like to observe and examine their context. They love asking questions of people to better understand them. Sure, they like providing answers for people too. But their first impulse is to ask questions, in order to provide more effective answers.

I’ve only been back to the south for 6 weeks but here are the questions that I have wanted to know about my city:

Is there a clear cultural divide among Christians and non-Christians?

Where do non-Christians naturally gather? Particular coffee shops, restaurants, etc?

What are non-Christians’ perceptions of Christians in my town?

What are the trends in the stories of non-Christian people in my town?

Have they experienced church-hurt, abuse or trauma or the hypocrisy of cultural Christianity?

What is their understanding of the biblical gospel and why don’t they believe it?

Having this impulse can open you up to the mischaracterization that you don’t care about doctrine or theology. That you love people more than you love the truth. I had that reputation. Great missionaries care so much about the truth that they really want to understand why others don’t believe it as they do.

At times, missionaries have more questions than they have answers. With the culture at large being influenced less and less by the Christian church, many believe we need to equip ourselves with more answers. I believe, as a missionary, we need to ask better questions.

Is that you too? That is a missionary impulse.

#3 – Dialoguing over monologuing

Missionaries like to take their questions and go ask real people to get real answers. I love talking with non-Christians. I find them fascinating. Usually, those conversations are really refreshing. We can drop most pleasantries and pretense and get into real life. I’m more satisfied with a real dialogue about the gospel with an individual, than with a well presented lesson or sermon to a group. Don’t get me wrong. We need both. I have done both. I’m just saying that my impulse is to dialogue rather than monologue. This impulse is present not only in evangelism to the lost but also in discipleship. I’m much more drawn to a 1-on-1 mentorship relationship, than I am to preach. If I lead a small group, I’m spending more time developing questions that foster conversation about the content, than with communicating the content of the passage. For me it is based on a fundamental belief that sitting under a monologue can lead to indoctrination but engaging in a dialogue will lead to ownership and depth of faith. The ministry of preaching is central to the church. I believe that wholeheartedly. But preaching isn’t the only ministry of the Word the local church should be under.

My calling to pastoral ministry has been called into question by myself and many others, because I don’t have an impulse to preach. Because I would rather lead an effective small group or mentor several men individually, I am somehow less of a pastor.

Would you rather have a good dialogue than deliver a monologue? That is a missionary impulse.

#4 – Training up over building up.

With the impulse present for dialogue over monologue, missionaries are always looking for the few that are hungry for more. They desire to pour into those few. In fact, it is why they do most of the other things in ministry. It is to find those that want to go deeper, be bolder, be equipped, and be sent. They prioritize their time around coaching, training, and equipping. The best missionaries are really good practitioners and are just as good at training others to do what they do. Missionaries judge the impact of their ministry by what those that they’ve trained are doing. Not by how many are gathering under their teaching.

I have always been more concerned with training more people to do what I do, than I was training people to do things to make what I do easier. It is the difference in building numerically around my gifting or building numerically out from my gifting. I am way more concerned with how many are being developed into leaders, pastors, ministers, and missionaries. I don’t want my legacy to be the size of the ministry that I leave to another. I want it to be the size of the Kingdom impact of those that I have directly mentored, equipped, trained and sent.

Some have suggested that I am not ambitious enough to serve as a pastor and that I am wasting my gift to teach by not seeking to teach from a platform. I believe my calling and the way I use my giftedness are honoring to the Lord and are used by Him in leading others to salvation and spiritual maturity.

Are you more interested in how many you are sending, than how many you are gathering? That is a missionary impulse.

# 5 – Handing off over hanging on.

Missionaries are good at starting things from scratch. Which also means that they aren’t necessarily the best in managing established things. With their impulse to train up leaders to do what they do, they are also looking for the leader who will replace them. They have an impulse to share leadership and collaborate with others. You can’t be committed to training leaders and not want to relinquish some of your leadership to those you are mentoring.

There are some who get into church planting, because they want to pastor the church they plant. There are others who plant churches, because the Lord has gifted them the abilities to plant churches. Some have the gift to plant and not necessarily pastor. When we planted Mosaic Church, I knew I needed to bring in those who were going to pastor it, after I was gone. Thankfully, the Lord provided those men and did just that.

Missionaries have an impulse to lead in a way that prepares their replacement. What they build, they never own. They just steward it. They invite their replacement to co-lead and collaborate. They are honest and clear about when their time is up. When most ministers are finally at peace about staying, most missionaries know its time to move on. Missionaries know how to leave well.

Our model of shared leadership, within a plurality of elders at Mosaic church, was questioned and doubted by some. I was told that it was too idealistic and couldn’t be reproducible. However, I (we) believed it was the best model for our situation and has worked well.

Are you more interested in starting something and handing it off to others to maintain versus holding on to what you build? That is a missionary impulse.

Conclusion

Church, we need missionaries now more than ever. We need them, especially, in the Bible Belt south. These impulses don’t need to be minimized or resisted. They need to be identified, celebrated, fostered and encouraged. Those in your church who feel these and other missionary impulses are not weird. They are missionaries, who can be used of God to change our culture.