Missionary or Liar?

Bald guys with goatees get the look often. Bald guys with goatees who are pastors get the look even more often. People rarely articulate the question, but the look says it all.   

“Dude, who are you?”

I know this is what they are thinking. They want to know who I am and what gives me the right to speak truth to them.

 Now, the answers to this question vary.
  • I am a Christian
  • I am a husband
  • I am a father
  • I am a church planter
  • I am a pastor
 All of these answers are correct and tell you something about my core identity. However, I am beginning to rethink the answer to that question and add another response.
 
“I am a missionary.”
 Now I know the first thing that comes to your mind: 
 
“You live in the South, pastor a church, and have a strong Southern accent. You can’t be a missionary.”
 
And I must admit this is not the way that I typically thought of a missionary. I thought a missionary was someone that left everything, moved overseas, and shared the gospel in an unreached area. 
 
And in one sense, that is correct. They are missionaries. But they are not alone. The more I read Scripture the more I came to understand that everyone who claims the name of Jesus is a missionary. The only difference between one Christian and the next is the location of their missionary work.
 
C.H. Spurgeon says it this way, “All Christians are either missionaries or imposters.”
 
Or John Piper – “Go, send, or disobey.”
 
 There are no other options. Either you are a part of the redemptive mission of God in the world or you are simply wearing the name of Jesus in vain.
 
I am more mindful of this as I read the Easter story that we celebrate this weekend. I find Mary, having seen the resurrected Jesus, running from the tomb and telling everyone that she had seen Jesus. Mary did not have to be sent. In fact, she could not be stopped.
 
“Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, ‘I have seen the Lord’”
John 20:18
 
Seeing Jesus necessitates being sent by Jesus. 
 
Some are sent across the world and some are sent down the street. But we are all sent. Some are full-time vocational missionaries and some are lawyers, doctors, or teachers who are missionaries in their particular context. But we are all missionaries. 
 
This Easter in the state of South Carolina 80 percent of the people you meet will never have met Jesus. And guess what? You are the best missionary we’ve got for just those people.
 
Maybe the next time someone asks the question “Who are you?” the best answer you can give is,
"I am a missionary.”