Missions is a pivotal a vital proponent to the work of God's ministry. If it weren't for people who go and preach the gospel, much of Christianity wouldn't exist today. God's call is clear that churches are to get involved in preaching the gospel to the nations, but before we can even get involved, we need to be rid of wrong mindsets that can limit or even prohibit the work of God trough missions.
Jesus commanded in Matthew 28:19, "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." The gospel was not meant to remain in a courtyard or a construct where only a select few would worship God. It was meant to go. But for it to go, people who go must know what going truly looks like and what it does not. Here are three wrong concepts of missions that can limit and even prohibit God's work.
The only way it's done is vocational missions
While much of missionary work today still exists through people who preach the gospel overseas at a vocational level, that is changing. With the advent of transportation and globalisation, more people are travelling overseas for work- especially Christians.
I recently met an engineer and His wife who travelled for work to Saudi Arabia only to be led by God to start a small house church there which has grown tremendously. Are they getting paid to work for the kingdom of God? Yes, they are! But the channel looks a whole lot different. Not to discredit those who professionally do God's work. We will forever need those who vocationally go, but that shouldn't be an excuse for tentmakers not to rise.
It's a calling that lasts forever
Not every missionary retires as one. Also, majority of missionaries had careers and callings even before going into the mission field and those callings are no less important than the call to missions. Not everyone is a "Jonah" fleeing from the call by going into a different one.
So many people who are called into missions are afraid to jump into it thinking that they'll be living in a suitcase or a hut in the middle of the forest for the rest of their lives. Nowadays, that's not the only way missions is done. Many missionaries don't remain missionaries forever, but actually go back to their home towns to either continue ministry locally or even go back to a corporate job. Sometimes God calls people to missions for only a fraction of their life only to be called to a different ministry or a different profession.
Only those who go get involved
Probably one of the biggest misconceptions today is that only those that go can get involved in missions. Missions don't only need goers, it also needs senders. We can get involved in missions right where we are. We can give to missions financially or start committing to pray for missionaries and countries that must be reached. We can also get involved in local-level outreach initiatives. We can get involved at some level even if we stay.
