Article #1 - Why is missions important? - Pastor Valiante

As we begin our weekly articles focusing on various topics pertinent to our upcoming missions trip, I thought it would be fitting at the start to lay a foundation for missions and take a look at its importance.

Missions (which holds the goal of seeing people receive Jesus Christ as their personal Savior who are then baptized and discipled) does not find its primary importance in the great need of the lost (though this need should sober, challenge and stir up believers as it did the Lord [Matthew 9:36]). Instead, missions work holds great value because of the God who has commissioned His children to go forth and spread the seed of the gospel (Mark 16:15). As with all matters of theology, it is easy to shift from a God-focused understanding of Scripture and life to one which is primarily man-focused. In our lives, it is vitally important to be driven by proper theology. A theology of missions that is solely focused on man’s need will result in an unbiblical practical outworking of that theology.

The reason missions is important is because it is important to God. Missions is not important because of the intrinsic value of men (though God has set His love upon men who scorned and rejected Him [Romans 5:8]). The value in the commission (“to go into all the world and preach the gospel”) lies in the commissioner.

In making these statements, the question is raised, “Why then is missions important to God.” Possibly one of the most important passages in regard to a Christian’s witness, upon which missions is built, is found in II Corinthians 2:14-16. Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit writes, “Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savor of His knowledge by us in every place. For we are unto God a sweet savor of Christ in them that are saved, and in them that perish. To the one we are the savor of death unto death; and to the other the savor of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things?”

When you read that Paul said that he always triumphed in Christ (with the context of the passage referring to presenting the gospel), we need to stop and consider what he means. If Paul only triumphed when he presented the gospel and a person received Jesus as their Savior, then in the end Paul was a miserable failure. Far more people rejected the gospel he preached than accepted it. What then does Paul mean that he always triumphed? The answer is found in the following section. The triumph Paul speaks of has nothing to do with a person or group’s reception of the gospel. It had everything to do with the spreading of the gospel. He makes an even stronger statement by declaring that when we present Christ to the lost, we are a sweet smell (savor) to God. This sweet smell (or something which is pleasing to God) is not just attached to those who receive Jesus as their Savior, but also with those who reject Him.

Missions is important to God the Father because it spreads the knowledge of the Son of God which in turn brings Him great pleasure. The Father takes pleasure in His Son. He takes pleasure in the fact that He can offer the free forgiveness of sins based on what His Son did on the cross. This is why missions is important. It is all about God. It is the spreading of the knowledge of God to a world in darkness which is separated from God because of sin; a world that God so loved that He gave His only begotten Son. Whether six billion people accept or reject the offer of the gospel, the commission remains the same. When you tell others about Christ, the bottom line is that God is pleased, and it is for that reason missions is important.

*Check back next week to read Willie's article which will look into the question, "How should missions be accomplished?"*