Guidelines for Selecting Missionaries, Part 1

In this part of the sermon: Pastor Martin returns from a missions trip and reviews the first three categories of Trinity Baptist Church's missions policy: the major tasks of missions (Acts 14:21-23), the…

Martin describes praying with his globe, setting it by the international date line, and praying for brethren from the rising to the setting sun. This illustrates his global perspective and prayer for the church worldwide, setting a missions-oriented tone.

Needless to say, it is a great joy for me to be back after being absent from you for three Lord's Days. And we were very conscious of your prayers and at no time were you not in our hearts and in our prayers. And God willing, since Mr. Dixon and I both took a number of photographs, both during our time in Australia and in the Philippines, once we get those all developed, we want to plan a presentation that will be a joint report using those slides that hopefully will add faces to names and places and thereby etch more firmly and clearly upon your minds and hearts these areas of the world where...

0:10 - 1:27 Read in full sermon

The point: Put on 'glasses' to filter out everything but the light texts shed on the selection of missionaries.

Martin uses the analogy of putting on special glasses to filter out all but the specific light a text sheds on missionary selection. This helps the audience focus on the precise question at hand during biblical exegesis.

Now that is our concern. And once again going back to my glasses imagery and analogy, I want us to put on the glasses this morning that will filter out of all the texts that we study everything but the light, which those texts shed upon the question of the selection of those who should serve as missionaries. Now let me say at the outset that while confusion and indifference to biblical norms abound in almost all aspects of the work of missions in our day. Perhaps nowhere, perhaps nowhere is there more confusion, subjectiveness, and blatant indifference to biblical norms than on this point of w...

11:15 - 12:30 Read in full sermon

The point: Put on 'glasses' to filter out everything but the light texts shed on the selection of missionaries.

Martin recounts hearing that Trinity Baptist Church's missions policy was being called the 'Trinity modality' and dismissed as merely one of many equally legitimate approaches. This illustrates the prevailing relativism and indifference to biblical norms in missions.

Now that is our concern. And once again going back to my glasses imagery and analogy, I want us to put on the glasses this morning that will filter out of all the texts that we study everything but the light, which those texts shed upon the question of the selection of those who should serve as missionaries. Now let me say at the outset that while confusion and indifference to biblical norms abound in almost all aspects of the work of missions in our day. Perhaps nowhere, perhaps nowhere is there more confusion, subjectiveness, and blatant indifference to biblical norms than on this point of w...

11:15 - 12:30 Read in full sermon

The point: Put on 'glasses' to filter out everything but the light texts shed on the selection of missionaries.

Martin shares his personal experience of being subjected to unbiblical patterns of thought regarding missions as a young Christian, leading to 'deep spiritual trauma' into his mid-thirties. This illustrates the harmful long-term effects of unbiblical approaches to missionary calling.

Well, it's at least good to know that what we're doing has to be reckoned with even though they've got to give it a fancy name. But this area, I say, is one where biblical norms are perhaps more than in any other area of missions ignored, blatantly overlooked, and regarded with great indifference. And I do not say that hastily. I say it as one who was subjected to some of the most unbiblical patterns of thought as a sensitive, earnest, young Christian of 18 years of age.

12:53 - 13:31 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The sermon begins examining the first grouping of texts, focusing on the Apostle Paul's call and sending, drawing from Acts 9 and 13 to identify common denominators in missionary…

Martin uses the metaphor of a 'spiritual, exegetical, biblical umbilical cord' to describe the common denominator or cohesive principles binding together various groupings of texts. This helps the audience understand the goal of finding unifying themes in Scripture.

And periodically throughout my life until probably into my early or mid-thirties still had areas of deep spiritual trauma because of the grave cloths of this unbiblical thinking that had been ingrained into me as a young Christian. So with this category, as with every other category, we shall examine the various groups, the groupings of texts seeking to discover the common denominator in those texts, what I call the spiritual, the exegetical, the biblical umbilical cord that holds them together, the cohesive principles found in each grouping of the texts. So now I'm going to read our first gro...

13:31 - 14:55 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Every case where anyone was set apart they were set apart out of the context of being embedded in the life of a local church.

Martin contrasts the biblical pattern of being embedded in a local church with the Urbana Missionary Conference model, where thousands are pressured to sign cards to become missionaries. This illustrates a common, yet unbiblical, method of missionary recruitment.

They weren't out at the Urbana Missionary Conference under the tremendous pressure of 17,000 peers and multimedia presentations of hunger and world need and then herded to the front to sign a card, I'm ready to be a missionary. Now that's what's done at Urbana under the auspices of the InterVarsity Christian Fellowship every three or four years. I was at such a meeting when only 7,000 were there. I understand at the last one 17,000.

27:13 - 27:49 Read in full sermon

The point: Expand our understanding of missionary selection to include the congregation's input and validation of God's call.

Martin describes the mentality that if a man 'can't preach out of a paper bag' or hold down a small church, he should apply to a mission board. This illustrates the inverted and unbiblical priorities in missionary selection in many contemporary contexts.

Not making disciples by any other way but by the proclamation of the word of God. Now if that's God's purpose and the primary function in missions then surely when He's going to call men He's going to call men who can preach. Just the opposite of the mentality in our day. If a guy can't preach out of a paper bag and couldn't hold down a church even out in some little rural community with 17 people then make him apply to the mission board and maybe he'll make it there.

28:53 - 29:22 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin critiques the prevalent 'standard scenario' for missionary calling and sending in the English-speaking world, contrasting it sharply with the biblical pattern and…

Martin details the typical path of a young, zealous convert who is told they are 'called to the ministry,' goes to Bible school, is exposed to guilt manipulation, and then seeks a mission board. This extended narrative serves as a caricature of the prevailing unbiblical system.

Let me tell you because I was a product of it for a while and I lived and studied in the midst of hundreds who were the product of it and to this day I have to counsel and write letters and deal with people who are the products of it because the scenario has changed very little in the 38 years since I was converted. God is pleased to save someone relatively young someone in his or her late teens and in the flush of their new found faith in Christ and under the passion of their first love they love to read the Bible. Some like myself wore out a Thompson Chain reference Bible in two years. I lit...

31:41 - 33:04 Read in full sermon

The point: Examine whether our practices align with biblical principles, rather than simply following tradition or what 'works'.

Martin shares his own experience of writing a letter home after a chapel service, declaring his call to Africa as a missionary, and later, with his wife, praying for specific mission fields. This illustrates how he personally experienced the 'standard scenario' he is critiquing.

You have missionaries come through and if there's two, three texts you learn if none other during the years of your Bible school pray the Lord of the harvest to send forth laborers the harvest is white the laborers are few and then you may find this guilt manipulation this kind of statement the burden of proof rests upon you that God wants you to stay at home you don't need any special call to go abroad you need a special call to stay at home and if you can't prove that God means to keep you home you must go to a mission field and some of us took it seriously the people were old enough to be o...

33:39 - 35:08 Read in full sermon

The point: Examine whether our practices align with biblical principles, rather than simply following tradition or what 'works'.

Martin describes the deputation process for faith mission boards as 'holy begging' or 'ecclesiastical prostitution,' where missionaries must 'sell themselves on the churches' to raise support. This vivid metaphor highlights the unbiblical and demeaning nature of the system.

church planting etc and then if you are accepted as an approved missionary now follow closely in a faith mission board and there are two basic kinds of mission boards faith mission board and denominational mission board once you are accepted as a candidate in the faith mission board then you are told you must now go out and go into the process of holy begging called deputation and so you compose a letter and I don't mean this to be sarcastic this is the truth hundreds of them have passed over my desk the bottom line of the letter is my name is so and so never heard of the person under the sun ...

36:38 - 38:08 Read in full sermon

The point: Do not claim to be Evangelicals who uphold the Bible's authority while allowing tradition to condemn or ignore the Word of God.

Martin recounts his experiences at two different Christian colleges, one emphasizing home ministry and the other missions, noting that in neither case did anyone seem to ask if the Bible provided instruction on missionary calling or sending. This illustrates the pervasive lack of biblical inquiry in these institutions.

of recognizing and sending a missionary they do what they do because it's been done because it's been done now if you're a Roman Catholic that's alright because you claim to have two courts of authority the Bible plus the church tradition but we claim to be Evangelicals who say that no tradition is sacred if it stands condemned by the word or does not express positive obedience to the word of God and at the root of this and I speak again as one who attended for two years a Christian college where the strong emphasis was on the ministry at home and a call to preach at home and I spent another t...

42:31 - 44:00 Read in full sermon

The point: Afford the luxury and grace of God of waiting upon God until he raises up men of proven character, proven gift, and a modicum of experience in the work of the ministry.

Martin describes how missionary appeals often use statistics of perishing souls and images of people 'dropping into hell' to create guilt and pressure young believers to go. This illustrates the carnal and unbiblical methods of recruitment.

how he may make his way to the place of God's appointment now oh my our time's gone so quickly got three minutes left and I do want to complete this first grouping of passages the second question this raises what does this say about the guilt manipulation and the carnal haste which prevails in our day you see there is this guilt manipulation the world is perishing so many souls every minute and they give you the statistics and picture the people dropping into hell and in the light of that how can you sit how can you not get up and go and there's a guilt manipulation that appeals to the tender ...

44:00 - 45:28 Read in full sermon

The point: Afford the luxury and grace of God of waiting upon God until he raises up men of proven character, proven gift, and a modicum of experience in the work of the ministry.

Martin uses the example of Jonathan Walker, who is laboring alongside John Ruther on the church payroll, to illustrate Trinity Baptist Church's commitment to biblical principles of preparation, even for a proven man in his early thirties. This demonstrates a practical application of the sermon's teaching.

if he was not ready to be sent until there was a maturation of knowledge of experience of ministering in different situations with different people learning to work with others if he was not ready till he was proven who in the world do we think we are to lay our hands upon little boys and send them out to do this tremendous task no unproven, untested, inexperienced man was ever sent by the Lord now do you see why we're doing what we're doing with Jonathan do you see now why is Jonathan Walker on the church payroll laboring alongside our dear brother John Ruther Jonathan's no kid Jonathan's in ...

46:55 - 48:22 Read in full sermon