There are many important responsibilities applicable to Christian missions. However, of all that can be listed, there are seven essential tasks that are the most central. This article briefly outlines and discusses the seven main points relevant to Christian missions.

Christian Foreign Missions exists to:

1. Exalt the Name of the One True God

2. Exemplify the Body of Christ

3. Evangelize the unbelievers

4. Educate disciples

5. Establish local church bodies

6. Equip and empower national leaders

7. Encourage the National Church as Partners in Christ

Exalt the Name of the One True God

First, Christian missions exist to exalt the Name of the One True God. Christians believe that there is only one Lord God Almighty, Creator of the universe and all living things. He made each human being special, unique, with eternal value in his eyes. Exalting his Name means glorifying God or, in simple terms, making God look good and attractive to others. Certainly others have the right to reject God, but they should never reject him because of the unseemly character of a missionary group or team member.

Exemplify the Body of Christ

Second, Christian missions is about exemplifying the Body of Christ. Exemplifying the Body of Christ means modeling the kind of loving fellowship that comes from knowing Jesus and walking together in the Holy Presence of God. Christian missionaries are far from perfect, but as a group they exist to show others around the world a kind of support and camaraderie that doesn’t exist in the secular world. Christian missionary teams are envoys or ambassadors who represent the Kingdom of God, a place of refuge, a safe harbor from the storms of life. Exemplifying the Body of Christ means valuing each member along with their special quirks and quirks and helping one another thrive to God’s fullest potential. As such, team members seek God together and when conflict arises, as it inevitably will, they are quick to talk through differences, forgive each other and walk together, hand in hand.

Evangelize the unbelievers

The third essential task of the Christian Missions is to evangelize the unbelievers. Unfortunately, the term – evangelize – has a bad connotation, as it gives the image of a Christian beating a non-Christian over the head with a Bible until he cringes and submits and – prays the sinner’s prayer.- However, in this context, the term – evangelize – simply means – announce the good news – of God’s great love for them. To testify about him, who he is and what he has done.

If there is only one true God, then it is imperative that Christians, including Christian missionaries, tell others about Him and how they can have a relationship with Him. Telling others the good news also includes telling them about the Son of God, Jesus Christ, his loving sacrifice on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins, and how Jesus conquered death by rising on the third day.

Perhaps it should be written that giving the good news does not mean shoving Christ down someone else’s throat. Not even the most persuasive person can convert another person into a true believer through coercion. Christians are called to be loving, kind and cordial. It is God’s job to convince others to believe; it is the task of the Christian missionary simply to present the good news in a loving way.

Educate Disciples of Jesus Christ

The fifth purpose of Christian missions is to educate disciples. Raising disciples means teaching new believers how to grow in their faith and knowledge of God and Jesus Christ. The main source of teaching should be the Christian Bible. New believers should be taught or trained in the basic fundamentals of Christian faith and practice, including how to:

– Praise God

– Read and study the Bible.

– Pray for themselves and for others.

– Fellowship with other believers.

– Deal with conflict.

– Forgive themselves and others.

– Tell others about God and Jesus

Establish local church bodies

Another task related to Christian missions is establishing local church bodies or starting new church groups. Christians never intended to live their lives in isolation. Each person has been uniquely created to function within a larger organization of believers. The reason this is so is because each human being is finite in his abilities. Nobody is good at everything. Christians need each other to balance each other and help each other thrive to their full potential. The Christian Bible tells us that each member of the Christian family has been given unique spiritual gifts to assist in the administration of the church. The goal is to establish a place of loving fellowship where fellow believers can worship God and support one another in their relationship with God and his Son, Jesus Christ.

It should be noted that establishing a local church does not mean making the church resemble American or Western cultural norms. Each culture has its own unique expression of what it means to do church. Missionaries must allow national believers to explore what it means to do church in their own cultural context.

Finally, part of the task of establishing a local church body is to teach and train them in church administration. This includes guiding them through the process of:

– Define your own vision for the church,

– Write guidelines for church discipline.

– Learn to manage the finances of the church.

Equip and empower national leaders

A sixth purpose of Christian Missions is to equip and empower national leaders. The ultimate goal of Christian missionary teams is to be out of a job. Many missionaries lack faith and trust in God to keep His church going when they leave. Christian leaders are often too slow to let the reins of leadership go to national believers. It seems a bit ironic that these missionaries, who trusted God enough to leave home and family for a strange and faraway land, cannot muster enough faith in God to raise up competent leadership in their place. Even so, leadership development is a central task of the Christian missionary team.

Encourage the National Church as Partners in Christ

It is not a proper goal for the Christian missionary organization to remain on the ground forever. It is another imperative that mission teams define an exit strategy, clearly defining what a mature national church should look like and how to withdraw when the appropriate time comes. However, this does not mean that the relationship has to end. In fact, the seventh purpose of Christian missions is to encourage the national church as co-workers in Christ. Such encouragement may come through letters or periodic visits. When a mission organization has left a foreign field, the national church and/or one or more of the local bodies will have periods when they will experience difficult times. The mission group’s job is not to jump in and take over, but to be there to provide moral support and encouragement.

There are many important responsibilities applicable to Christian missions. However, of all that can be listed, there are seven essential tasks that are the most central. This article has outlined and briefly discussed the seven main points relevant to Christian missions.