If there is to be a renewed missions zeal in our church, it should start with the pastor. The pastor is the leader of the church and if our churches are going to be led back to bringing missions to the forefront, the pastor must lead his church that way. A pastor must have a passion and zeal for seeing the world reached with he gospel. If he doesn’t, then a missionary zeal will not be found in a church. A pastor must preach that God desires the world to be reached with the gospel! If a pastor does not have a vision to see the Great Commission fulfilled, then the church will have a hard time sending missionaries and doing their part to reach the world with the gospel. So, how can a pastor help stir up a missions zeal and fix the missionary problem in his church?
– His preaching—If a pastor does not preach about missions and the true mission of the church to get the gospel to the ends of the earth, then his people will not catch the spirit and heart of missions. Most messages a pastor preaches should, in some way, point people to the need in the world and their responsibility to do something about it. If pastors preach more on missions, then the missionary problem will begin to be fixed in our churches today!
– His teaching— Each pastor should be teaching others in his church. He should be equipping the next generation of preachers and missionaries from his own church. Through his teaching, he can teach others to have a heart and passion to see the world reached with the gospel. All Christians should be involved in discipleship at some point, but a pastor should be doing more to raise up young people to give their lives to ministry and even more to missions. As the pastor teaches, he can show, through the Bible, the great need of getting the gospel to the world!
– His life— If a pastor has a missions-minded heart, his people will see that in how he lives. He will put missions at the forefront of his life. This will mean he will be in interested in taking trips to the mission field. He will be a big giver towards missions. He will bring missionaries into his church and will keep missions and missionaries in front of his church. If a pastor truly sees that the purpose of the church is missions, he will live it out in his life. He will be out sharing the gospel and discipling others so that he can train them to go and take the gospel to the ends of the earth! If a pastor lives his life with missions at the forefront, the people of his church will see it and try to live their lives the same way!
Pastors in churches today are a major key to the missionary problem. If they get a heart and have a passion to see the world reached with the gospel, it will pour out in their churches. As it pours out in their churches, their people will respond, missionaries will be sent out and the world can be reached with the gospel! So Pastor, it starts with you. That doesn’t excuse others from doing what they can, even if their pastor is not on board but it does mean, as a pastor, you have more responsibility to help raise the missionary spirit in our churches!