Acts 18:27
Guidelines for Selecting Missionaries, Part 2
In "Guidelines for Selecting Missionaries, Part 2," Pastor Albert N. Martin continues his exposition of Trinity Baptist Church's missions policy, focusing on the biblical criteria for selecting missionaries. Drawing from Acts, 1 and 2 Timothy, and 1 Corinthians, he argues that missionaries must be men of proven character, gifted in teaching and evangelism, biblically commended by their local church, and willing and able to adapt culturally without compromising biblical norms. Martin critiques common contemporary practices that bypass the local church and emphasize subjective calls over objective qualifications, stressing the need for thorough training and testing.
Primary Texts
Topics
Outline 8 sections · 59 min
- Introduction and Review of Missions Policy 0:00
- The Selection of Missionaries: Men of Proven Character, Gift, and Experience (Review) 4:56
- Principle 2: Missionaries Must Have Valid and Biblical Commendation 10:34
- Principle 3: Missionaries Must Be Faithful, Well-Trained, and Gifted to Teach 18:02
- Principle 4: Missionaries Must Be Proven, Tested, and Not Hastily or Inflexibly Assessed 26:52
- Principle 5: Missionaries Must Have Sufficient Proven Preaching Gift to Evangelize and Edify 36:54
- Principle 6: Missionaries Must Be Willing and Able to Adapt to Culture 46:19
- Conclusion and Prayer 57:18
Key Quotes
“If I left them uncorrected, then people would have wondered if I had any discernment, and then if I corrected a visitor, they would have wondered if I had any grace.”
“Not one word about the church. The only word is that this girl felt led to missions, at missions conferences in her church. For the rest of it, it's as though the church of Christ does not exist.”
“God was never in a hurry to make a man of God. When he decided to make a universe, he opens his mouth and speaks it into being in the space of six days. But when he's going to make a deliverer of his people, he takes 80 years.”
“And you see, it is this carnal, man-centered approach to missions which leads to shallow surface assessment of character and inadequate training and preparation. And when boys go out to do the job, they make a mess of it.”
“You see that? That the assessment of a man's fitness at any given point may not necessarily be final and conclusive.”
“Now one man in our generation said the ministry is cursed with nice guys who can't preach. And if that's true of the ministry in our own country alas we must say the missionary enterprise is cursed with devout self-sacrificing godly men many of whom can't.”
“I'm become all things to all men that is we're going to have a gospel mime team coming all things to all men to gain some we're going to have a gospel striptease team all means save some where do you stop where do you stop in the context he's saying I'm not using my liberties he's not talking about altering the divine method of proclaiming the gospel which is by preaching not by plunking guitars and strumming instruments and parading mime troops across the stage God ordained by the foolishness of the thing preached preached the gospel to the whole creation”
Applications
Pastors & those called to ministry
- Do not hastily lay hands on individuals for ministry; allow sufficient time for character and fitness to be proven.
- Be willing to counsel men to drop out of training for a period if areas of character or absence of gift come into focus, and be transparent with the congregation about such judgments, acknowledging they are not necessarily final.
All listeners
- Participate in the class by raising your hand if you are a member, to ensure responses are within the framework of understanding the Word of God and to avoid awkward situations.
- Reject carnal, man-centered approaches to missions that lead to shallow assessment and inadequate training, as they result in ineffective ministry.
- Understand the rationale for the academy's rigorous, multi-year training, which aims to thoroughly prepare men for ministry, including assessing character and gift over time.
- Be willing and able to adapt to the ways of the culture you enter as a missionary, so as to give no unnecessary offense or raise unnecessary barriers to the reception of your person or your message.
- Recognize that the Scriptures provide the answers for missions policy, and seek God's grace to search, understand, and obey them.
- Pray for God to raise up men who meet the biblical standard for missionaries and send forth laborers into the harvest of our generation.
A full transcript is available on the tab. 115 paragraphs, roughly 59 minutes.
Introduction and Review of Missions Policy
This Adult Sunday School class was held on September 3, 1989, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey. I would second that word of greeting that Pastor Dixon has given to all of you visiting with us, especially the many singles who have come in for this lengthy weekend. And particularly for your sakes, I do want to say two things. Number one, I'm very sorry that I was unable to be present at the picnic yesterday or even at the prayer meeting.
I've had a delayed reaction from the unusual strain upon my vocal cords in the preaching ministries in Australia and the Philippines. And since preaching at the opening days of the academy on Friday, I have gone into a kind of self-imposed cocoon of silence, until this morning. And that is the only reason that I was not with you yesterday. I understand that there were a goodly number of you gathered at the picnic.
You were upon my thoughts, in my thoughts, and upon my heart much throughout the day. And then the second is to give a word of explanation as to how we conduct this adult class, or at least when I conduct it. I do conduct it as a class, and when I ask questions, they are generally not rhetorical questions, but questions that are meant to be answered. I do not intend to elicit a response from you, but so that I will know who you are and be assured that your responses are within the framework of our understanding of the Word of God, we do ask that just the members of the assembly raise their hands, and that way I can recognize you by name and also preserve the class from the embarrassment
that we have known in times past when visitors, in their innocence, have said things that put me in a position of disdain, that put me in a position of disdain, that put me in a position of disdain, that put me in an awkward position. If I left them uncorrected, then people would have wondered if I had any discernment, and then if I corrected a visitor, they would have wondered if I had any grace. So I hate to be put in the awkward position of being thought graceless or without discernment. So that's the rationale for our policy.
Now let me explain what we are doing in our class, for today is the eighth in a series of studies in which we are examining together the missions policy of Trinity Baptist Church. Some months ago it was decided by the elders that I should lead the adult class after Pastor Nichols completed his series on the divine covenants and spell out, with the Word of God open before us, the policies pertaining to our own missionary program. And by missions we mean, in a broad working definition, our part as a congregation in fulfilling the commission of our Lord
to take the gospel to the ends of the earth according to the commandment of Matthew 28, 18 to 20, with special concern for this task as it relates to crossing cultural and linguistic barriers at a distance that is usually such as to make direct day-by-day involvement impossible. And in opening up our missions policy we have thus far covered three very critical aspects of that policy. We have first of all identified the major tasks of missions with Acts 14, 21 to 23 as our pivotal text,
and then secondly the authorization and warrant for our undertaking the work of missions. Who in the world are we as a local church to undertake the work of missions? And we've seen that the warrant for our undertaking this task rests essentially upon Matthew 28, 18 to 20 and 1 Timothy 3, 14 and 15. And then we spent several weeks considering the practice of inter-church cooperation in the work of missions.
And looking at seven major groupings of texts in the book of Acts and in the epistles, we saw that, indeed, inter-church cooperation was a vital part of the apostolic missionary enterprise and therefore our missions policy must reflect the sensitivity to these biblical norms. And we noted in our study of these many passages that the main areas of cooperation were communication, counsel, financial and material support, and prayer. And then we began, last Lord's Day,
The Selection of Missionaries: Men of Proven Character, Gift, and Experience (Review)
to consider the fourth of the major elements of our missions policy, namely the selection of those to serve as missionaries. Who should be recognized and sent forth by the church to do the work of missions? And after introducing the subject by asserting that perhaps nowhere is there greater confusion and indifference to biblical norms than this area of concern, the selection of those to serve as missionaries, we looked at our first grouping of texts. And we cannot go back over that ground.
I'll simply mention the texts, Acts 9, 1 to 5, verses 15 and 16, verses 19 to 22, Acts 13, 1 to 3, Acts 15, 6 through 8, and 16, 1 to 3. And the clear principle which you as God's people saw in those texts was that it was men of proven character, gift, and a modicum of experience in the work of ministry in one form or another who were set apart and sent out to do the work of missions. Men of proven gift,
and character, and with a modicum of previous experience in the work of ministry. And then, in the light of the teaching of those verses, I said this raised some very crucial questions. And the first question was, what does it say about the standard scenario which has owned the field for many, many years, in which people have a subjective inclination, to missions, and then go off to Bible school, apply to a mission board, and are sent forth? Well, lest any of you think I was setting up a straw dummy, I received this week
a letter dated August 1989. Dear Pastor, and I will omit the names, this is another letter about famine in Ethiopia, but this famine cannot be solved by any food distribution program. There's a famine for the word of God. That's the first paragraph.
Second paragraph. My wife and I are appointees with blank mission, and then the mission is named, to do Bible translation and literacy work among some of these people groups. Our goal is to leave for Ethiopia in 1990. We would like to assist your church in its missions program.
We are appointees by such and such a faith mission board, to work as translators. We want to come and tell you about our work in terms of your missions program. So it's obvious they regard their work as that of missions. We want to challenge people to greater involvement in fulfilling the great commission.
And then they tell us what they're prepared to do. Then they give a little brief historical resume, just briefly about ourselves. Blank grew up in blank, and came to know Christ as a child. At her church's missions conference, she was challenged to consider missionary service.
Was I setting up a straw dummy? Remember I said, pliable, sensitive young people, hear about the need and respond? Here we are. Letter came two days ago.
She was challenged to consider missionary service. She attended blank Bible college, and Rutgers University, and has a BS in nursing. I am from Pittsburgh, and became a Christian after high school. I began to pray about being a missionary as a result of two things.
Urbana 73 missions conference. Remember I mentioned even Urbana, where InterVarsity calls together thousands of students. That's where I first was challenged. And the influence of one of my professors who served as a Bible translator.
So a para-church organization's missions conference, and a professor in a secular university. I moved to Nutley to work as an engineer, and attended evening Bible classes at New York School of the Bible in Manhattan. Blank and I were married in 1980, and studied at the Summer Institute of Linguistics, conducted by Wycliffe Bible Translators. We sensed God leading us to become Bible translators, and were appointed by, and then he names the mission, in 1985.
Not one word about the church. The only word is that this girl felt led to missions, at missions conferences in her church. For the rest of it, it's as though the church of Christ does not exist. Brethren, I was not setting up a straw dummy.
There it is, as fresh as the mail two days ago. And we see that this pattern cannot be justified in the light of the word of the living God. And then we tried to demonstrate why we do what we do in many of our particulars in the light of this great principle. Well, that's a rather lengthy review, because we recognize that we had so many visitors among us.
Principle 2: Missionaries Must Have Valid and Biblical Commendation
But now we want to move on in this fourth area of concern. Who should be recognized and sent to our second grouping of passages? And these subsequent groupings of passages are much briefer, and in a real sense, they expand upon the major grouping and the major conclusion that only men, males, of proven character, gift, and a modicum of previous experience in the work of ministry should be recognized and sent out to do the work of missions. So, if you'll take your Bibles, please, and seek to discover the umbilical cord, the living nerve
that binds these four passages together. The first is Acts 18 and verse 27. You put on your special glasses that filter out anything other than what these verses teach us about who should be recognized, set apart, and sent to do the work of missions. Acts 18, and I read verse 27.
And when he was minded, that is, Apollos, to pass over into Achaia, the brethren encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to receive him. And when he was come, he helped them much that had believed through grace, for he powerfully confuted the Jews, and that publicly, showing by the Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ. Now, Colossians chapter 4, and verse 10. Colossians chapter 4, and verse 10.
Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner, salutes or greets you warmly, and Mark, the cousin of Barnabas, touching whom ye received commandments. If he come unto you, receive him. All right. Then 2 Corinthians chapter 3, and verse 1.
2 Corinthians chapter 3, and verse 1. Are we beginning again to commend ourselves, or need we as do some epistles of commendation to you or from you? And then back to Acts chapter 15, and verse 40. Acts 15, and verse 40.
In the midst of this paragraph dealing with the dispute that arose over Mark's suitability to go forth for another missionary foray, we read in verse 40, but Paul chose Silas and went forth being commended by the brethren to the grace of the Lord. Now, question class, what is the undergirding, undergirding principle that binds these texts together? What is their common denominator? What is their umbilical cord
of shared life with regard to this one question, who should be recognized and sent forth to do the work of missions? Anyone see it? All right, Jerry. All right, the brethren who, the brethren sent them forth, the brethren recognized them and commended them.
All right, anyone else want to express it in a different way? Oh, I think it's quite self-evident, isn't it? The way I've answered it, men were sent who had a valid and biblical commendation. Men were sent who had a valid and biblical commendation.
You see, the people that commended Apollos were not old classmates who had occasionally shared a form letter over the last ten years since they graduated from college. You'd be amazed the people that put me down to recommend their character as Christian men and their provenness as Christian ministers when they're applying for a church. And I write back, have not had sufficient contact in the last ten years to make any commendation. Sorry, I did it in a letter and the secretary will verify this.
Just before I left for the Philippines, someone with whom I've had next to no contact in ten years had the nerve to put me down as someone to recommend his character in very detailed ways. Apollos was commended by Priscilla and Aquila who had spent hours with him right up to the moment that they commended him. You see that? And then in the other passages, Paul speaks of men with whom he had living, deep, interpersonal interaction.
And the practice was obvious since there were false teachers floating around. This matter of the necessity of letters of commendation grew up as a practice in the early church. I commend to you Philip Hughes' excellent comments on this passage in his commentary on 2 Corinthians. It's on page 86.
And then here in chapter 15, in verse 40, even after this disruption over who was suitable and who was not suitable, the church obviously came down on the side of Paul's judgment with regard to Mark because there's not a word spoken about the brethren commending Barnabas and Mark in their missionary enterprise. But rather, Paul chose Silas and went forth being commended by the brethren to the grace of the Lord. And he went through Syria and Cilicia confirming the churches. Now that God used Barnabas and Mark,
there is probably no question. But they did not at this time have the commendation of the church. Luke is very careful to underscore that it was Paul and Barnabas, I'm sorry, Paul and Silas who had that commendation. So we see in answer to the question who should be sent forth, not only the generic response of those many texts that we looked at last week, men of proven gift and character with a modicum of experience, but men who have developed that provenness of character and gift and experience in real live church service,
Principle 3: Missionaries Must Be Faithful, Well-Trained, and Gifted to Teach
situations up to the point of their being set apart for a new sphere of ministry and responsibility. Alright, now we'll look at the third grouping of texts. And here we have just two texts. And they're both in the pastoral epistles.
2 Timothy chapter 2 and verse 2. 2 Timothy chapter 2 and verse 2. Among the many responsibilities laid upon Timothy in conjunction with the ongoing maturation and development of the church at Ephesus, Paul writes to Timothy, Thou therefore, my child, verse 1, be strengthened in the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and the things which thou hast heard from me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful or trustworthy men,
men of proven character, who shall be able to teach others also. The same commit to faithful men who shall be able to teach others. And then back to 1 Timothy with regard to himself as a chosen vessel of the Lord. Notice what the apostle says in 1 Timothy 1 and verse 12.
I thank him that enabled me, even Christ Jesus our Lord, for that he counted me faithful, trustworthy, appointing me to his service. Now what's the common denominator of these two passages as it relates to the one question who should be recognized and sent forth to do the work of missions? Anyone see the common denominator? All right, Ernie.
All right, they must be faithful men, trustworthy men. And that has reference primarily to what, Ernie? Gift or character? Character, all right.
In character, they must be men worthy of the trust of being sent forth with this awesome responsibility of bearing the good tidings of Christ and all that surrounds that task, particularly in a missionary situation where there are unusual pressures brought to bear upon a servant of Christ. But what else is part of the common denominator of these two passages? Kenny? They must have what?
They must have gifts. Where do you find that? And one of the things that they're going to teach, they got to speak up so the class can hear. So you're going to do that for us.
All right, you're on target. You got them so good. Thunder it out. All right, you notice what Paul says.
He says, Commit to faithful men, which has primary reference to character, who shall be able to teach others also. And of course, Paul's provenness as to gift, in a sense, was something that was even prior to his conversion because he speaks of his tremendous usefulness, outstripping his own peers in zeal and in propagating the Judaism that he thought was the truth of God, but in reality was a horrible perversion of it. So the great principle then in these two passages is that the men that are to be sent forth should be faithful men,
well-trained and gifted to teach. Paul says to Timothy the third, and he says, And I will tell you that I have heard of the things that you have heard of me among many witnesses, that is, the whole body of apostolic truth. You are to commit that entire body of truth, not just a minimum amount because the world is going to hell so quickly. And if we don't get people out, so many are going to drop into hell and then they bring out the statistics, how many people die without ever hearing the name of Christ.
So we have to give him a six-month intensive Bible school, give him ten verses on the deity of Christ, ten on the Trinity, ten on sin, ten on salvation, ten on faith, give him a little smattering of church history and then send him out. Nonsense. Nonsense. He says, The things you have heard of me among many witnesses, the whole body of apostolic truth, committed to men that you know well enough to make a judgment as to their character and be involved in that work of commitment long enough until they have such a grasp upon the whole body of apostolic truth
that they can impart it to others also. And it's very, very interesting and I did my extra homework to make sure I was accurate in this. Do you know that it was at least eight or nine years from the time the Apostle Paul was converted until Barnabas sent for him at Tarsus and brought him back to Antioch to become involved in the teaching of that infant church? With all of his background, with all of his skill and training, God was in no hurry
to prepare his man adequately for the tremendous task that was to be laid upon his shoulders. And one of the statements the men in the academy constantly hear from me is this, God was never in a hurry to make a man of God. When he decided to make a universe, he opens his mouth and speaks it into being in the space of six days. But when he's going to make a deliverer of his people, he takes 80 years.
40 years in Egypt, 40 years in the wilderness, for 40 years of service to the people of God. God is never in a hurry to make a man of God. And you see, it is this carnal, man-centered approach to missions which leads to shallow surface assessment of character and inadequate training and preparation. And when boys go out to do the job, they make a mess of it.
This is why we won't send boys. And this is why we've had people appear on our doorstep and want us to consider their character and their fitness in a matter of months. And when we wouldn't, then they ran off somewhere else where someone else would lay hands upon them hastily. We're not going to do it.
Now do you understand a little bit more the rationale for the academy? Men give the better part of four years, hours and hours to learn two strange languages, hours and hours to trace out the great controversies that have occurred in 2,000 years of church history and the aspects of biblical truth that have been highlighted and brought into sharp focus in the crucible of controversy. They spend hours in historical theology. They spend hours sitting under Pastor Nichols learning systematic theology, seeking to collate the total witness of the Word of God on all of its major themes.
Why? Why all of this? Don't they have their Bible and have the Holy Ghost? Well, people had the Holy Ghost in Paul's day.
They even had living apostles. And yet he said to Timothy, take this body of apostolic truth and commit it to faithful men who shall be able to teach others also. All right? Group number four.
Principle 4: Missionaries Must Be Proven, Tested, and Not Hastily or Inflexibly Assessed
Group number four, all under this one concern, who should be recognized and sent? And here I have five texts. First Timothy chapter three and verse 10. First Timothy chapter three and verse 10.
Speaking with reference to the qualification of deacons, Paul writes, and let these also first be proved, then let them serve as deacons if they be blameless. Ask yourself, why in the world would we be introducing a verse about deacons when we're concerned about who is qualified to be sent forth as a missionary? Well, that's a good question. Keep it there as we look at the other verses and I think the answer will become obvious.
Chapter five now of the same epistle. First Timothy five, verse 21. I charge thee in the sight of God and Christ Jesus and the elect angels that thou observe these things without prejudice, doing nothing by partiality. Lay hands hastily on no man, neither be a partaker of other men's sins.
Keep thyself pure. And then back to Acts chapter 15. And here you've got to keep these three passages together. They form a trilogy.
These next three passages they paint a very beautiful picture that is a vital part of thinking biblically about the question who is qualified. Let these first be proved. Lay hands hastily upon no man. Acts chapter 15.
Passage we looked at in another light a short while ago. But now let's read the entire passage in case it's not familiar to any of you. Verse 36. And after some days Paul said unto Barnabas, Let us return now and visit the brethren in every city where we proclaim the word of the Lord and see how they fare.
And Barnabas was minded to take with them John also who was called Mark. He was his little cousin. So his cousin was buzzing around and Barnabas wanted to take him with him. There were perhaps some very legitimate ties beyond just mere spiritual affinities.
He was related to him. And so he wanted to take Mark. But Paul thought not good to take with them him who withdrew and went not with them to the work. Referring to a previous incident in the life of Paul when Mark was one of their companions and he withdrew from that particular missionary journey.
And there arose a sharp contention so that they parted asunder one from the other. And Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away unto Cyprus. But Paul chose Silas and went forth being commended by the brethren to the grace of the Lord. So here in this incident Paul makes a judgment.
Mark is unfit for the task of missions at this point in the light of a rather recent previous spiritual deflection. He went not with them to the work. He went home to Mama. But now tie this in with Colossians 4.10
and 2 Timothy 4.11. Colossians 4 and verse 10 a passage we looked at earlier. Aristarchus my fellow prisoner greets you and Mark the cousin I said nephew it's cousin of Barnabas touching whom you received commandments if he come unto you receive him.
Now the apostle says if Mark shows up receive him. That doesn't mean just show him hospitality. Receive him in terms of the mission upon which he is sent. 2 Timothy 4 and verse 11 2 Timothy 4 and verse 11 only Luke is with me take Mark and bring him with thee for he is useful to me for ministering.
Now this fourth group of passages what does it tell us about the question who should be recognized and sent to do the work of missions. Really an amplification of some of the strands that we've already seen but it does have some peculiar nuances of its own. Anyone want to venture a response? All right Jerry.
So what does that tell us by way of instruction? Is our assessment of a man inclusive and final in all cases? No. You see there's the principle.
You see that? That the assessment of a man's fitness at any given point may not necessarily be final and conclusive. The same Paul who at one point judged no he's manifested a weakness of character I do not want him as our associate with the passing of time it became evident to Paul that that weakness of character was not a fundamental character flaw. It was a temporary lapse and when he had had sufficient time truly to prove himself then he was commended for the very work
which at one time the same man said he was not fit to perform. So the way I've expressed it here and the way our elders have in the stating of our missions policy this fourth group of passages sets before us the fact that these who are sent should be proven and tested and not hastily nor inflexibly assessed. You see that principle in these passages? They should be proven.
If you are not to conclude too quickly that a man meets the standard for a deacon which is not a ruling preaching teaching office but a serving office. If you are not to jump to the conclusion that he meets these standards but having tentatively come to that conclusion you are to let him be tested by time. Let these first be proved then let them serve. If that's true of the lesser office in terms of responsibility spiritually how much more of the higher and the more demanding.
So we argue from the lesser to the greater. They must be proven men. They must be men who are not assessed hastily. Lay hands hastily upon no man.
Well obviously Timothy wouldn't be tempted to lay his hands and set apart a man who had no evidence of grace and gift. But what Paul is saying is don't be too hasty having come to that conclusion. Let some time pass to make sure the conclusion is a valid one. Lay hands hastily upon no man.
And then we see in these instances with the three passages pertaining to Mark this principle those who should be sent forth should be proven tested. Tested and not hastily assessed nor inflexibly assessed. Now you'll see why there are times in the midst of a man's stay in the academy. We counsel him to drop out for a period of time.
There are areas of character or absence of gift that may be coming into focus. But we are careful in most cases to state not only to the man but to you as a congregation in a privately called congregational meeting why we have made that judgment and that it is not a final judgment or the law of the Medes and the Persians. If the Apostle Paul was unashamed to leave in permanent record the fact that he changed his assessment of Mark when such change of assessment was warranted then we are not at all embarrassed to say that our assessment has changed
with the passing of time and the emergence of facts. Alright? Now we come to group number five. And this is one of the areas where perhaps we have erred more grievously in the past than in others and where certainly in the Church of Christ there is great deflection from biblical norms.
Principle 5: Missionaries Must Have Sufficient Proven Preaching Gift to Evangelize and Edify
Group number five. In answer to the question who should be recognized and sent turn please to Acts chapter 11. Acts chapter 11 verses 22 to 26. In the opening verses of this paragraph there is this account of how the Gospel came to Antioch by these unnamed preachers who were wonderfully blessed of God with great success.
Verse 22. And the report concerning them came to the ears of the Church which was in Jerusalem. And they sent forth Barnabas as far as Antioch who when he was come and had seen the grace of God was glad. And he exhorted them all that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord for he was a good man and full of the Holy Spirit and of faith and much people was added unto the Lord.
And he went forth to Tarsus to seek for Saul and when he had found him he brought him to Antioch and it came to pass that even for a whole year they were gathered together with the Church and taught much people and that the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch. Now chapter 14 in verse 1. Try to find the common denominator now in these passages. And it came to pass in Iconium that they entered into the synagogue of the Jews and so spake and there is a bringing together
of two Greek words hutos hoste which puts the emphasis upon the manner of their speaking. They spake in such a manner that a great multitude both of Jews and of Greeks believed. They so spake or they spake in such a manner that a great multitude believed. Chapter 15 in verse 7.
In the council at Jerusalem Peter rises up and when there had been much questioning Peter rose up and said unto them brethren you know that a good while ago God made choice among you that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. That by my mouth the Gentiles might hear and believe. And now chapter 15 in verse 32. And Judas and Silas being themselves also prophets exhorted the brethren
with many words and confirmed them. And this word translated in the ASV confirmed I believe in every instance I think there are five instances means strengthened them. They spoke they exhorted with the result being that believers were strengthened. Now what is the peculiar area of emphasis in all of these verses?
With respect to our major question who should be recognized set apart and sent to do the work of missions? What's the emphasis of these verses? Alright, Doug. Alright, that certainly is there in every case there's a record of preaching and teaching.
So that would come back to what the primary task of missions is to make disciples by preaching. But let me throw back a question to you, Doug. Is all the preaching you've heard preaching that edified? Suppose you were home sick today and you turned on your Christian radio station and listened to preaching all day.
Would it all be edifying and strengthen you in the Lord and instruct you? Huh? Unfortunately, no. So there's another strand of emphasis.
Someone had his hand raised here at the back. Alright, Tim. Alright. The ability to speak words that would encourage, exhort, and strengthen.
Good. And there's also another strand of emphasis. Someone had his hand raised over here. Alright, Jim.
And come to faith. Alright, there's another added strand here. That these men not only preached and taught so as to encourage and strengthen but they were used of God as instruments of what the old writers would call conversion. Alright, let's take a look at the next section.
Alright, someone else? Did you see something? Someone else had his hand raised. Was that the...
Alright, Bill. Pardon. There were two. And now we're getting into our next section.
That's going to be pillar number five in our policy. So can we just drop that for now? Alright, good. Let's try to get through number four this morning, okay?
Alright, anyone else see any nuances in these groupings of verses? I think you've caught the major strands. I think you've expressed it in putting our missions policy down on paper. Who was recognized?
Who was sent forth to do the work of missions? Men who had sufficient proven preaching gift to evangelize effectively and to edify God's people with sustained profit. Men who had sufficient proven preaching gift to evangelize effectively. They so spake that a multitude believed.
God made choice among you that by my mouth the Gentiles might hear and believe. And that was no unproven commodity. It was by that mouth that 3,000 were brought to faith on the day of Pentecost. And so in our policy we are articulating the biblical principle in this way.
They must be men who have sufficient proven preaching gift to evangelize effectively and to edify God's people with sustained profit. And Barnabas were no six sermon wonders. I remember a young man and that's what I called him a six sermon wonder. First time I heard him preach I said maybe Spurgeon's back from the dead.
Second time I said well maybe half of Whitfield's back from the dead. Third time maybe someone else is back from the dead. But after six times all of my estimation was reversed. Because he simply did not have the tools either spiritually, intellectually, academically to minister with sustained profit.
If he could only go around the country preaching those six sermons and move on he'd be greatly useful. But if you kept him longer than six weeks people were going to begin to get antsy. Not because they were overly fastidious but simply because there was not the substance necessary for sustained edification. Now one man in our generation said the ministry is cursed with nice guys who can't preach.
And if that's true of the ministry in our own country alas we must say the missionary enterprise is cursed with devout self-sacrificing godly men many of whom can't. And their inability to preach has nothing to do with their sincerity or their walk with God. Some of the most godly some of the most precious saints of God I've known are missionaries who've buried their lives in another culture and struggled to learn another language subjected themselves to sacrifices for Christ that made me feel
unworthy to be in their presence but the facts were God did not endow them with a gift of utterance. And if there is no gift of utterance one cannot edify one will not be an instrument of conversion work. And all the sincerity and dedication in the world will not make up for the lack of a divinely imparted and properly cultivated gift of utterance that will enable a man to evangelize wisely and winsomely and passionately and to edify with sustained profit the people of God. Alright?
Principle 6: Missionaries Must Be Willing and Able to Adapt to Culture
Now let's hasten on because I think if we just gird up the loins of our mind and whack the horse a little we'll get through this fourth aspect and I do desperately want to get through it this morning. Group number six two passages 1 Corinthians chapter 9 remember now we're looking for one thing what kind of men should be sent forth and we're getting a composite picture from all of these groupings. 1 Corinthians chapter 9 now notice as I begin reading in verse 19 Paul is basically teaching in this passage he has not exercised and used to the full the liberties
that were his blood-bought right in Jesus. He says let's back up to verse 18 what then is my reward that when I preach the gospel I may make the gospel without charge so as not to use to the full my right in the gospel for though I was free from all men I brought myself under bondage to all that I might gain the more and to the Jews I became as a Jew that I might gain Jews I was willing to forgo my liberty to eat all kinds of food so I eat only kosher food I wouldn't go sporting my ham sandwich under a Jewish friend's nose that I was trying to win to Christ to the Jew I became as a Jew I was willing to live
with the dietary laws etc. that I might gain them to them that are under the law as under the law not being myself under the law that I might gain them that are under the law to them that are without law as without law not being without law to God but under law to Christ that I might gain them that are without law to the weak I became weak that is those who had a weak conscience those who felt that certain things were sinful even though they weren't he said I acted as though I had the same scruples I lived a self-denying life I did not indulge what were my legitimate liberties that I might gain the weak I am become all things to all men that I may by all means save some
save some and I do all things for the gospel's sake that I may be a joint partaker thereof now verse 22 is one of the most abused verses when taken out of context I'm become all things to all men that is we're going to have a gospel mime team coming all things to all men to gain some we're going to have a gospel striptease team all means save some where do you stop where do you stop in the context he's saying I'm not using my liberties he's not talking about altering the divine method of proclaiming the gospel which is by preaching not by plunking guitars and strumming instruments and parading mime troops
across the stage God ordained by the foolishness of the thing preached preached the gospel to the whole creation but he said in the course of doing it I accommodate myself to weak consciences to the scruples of Jews to the non scruples of the Gentiles and I do all of this that I might gain the more alright and then Acts chapter 16 verses 1 to 3 Acts chapter 16 verses 1 to 3 and he came also to Derbe and to Lystra and behold a certain disciple was there named Timothy the son of a Jewish that believed
but his father was a Greek the same was well reported of by the brethren that were at Lystra and Iconium him would Paul have to go forth with him and he took and circumcised him because of the Jews that were in those parts for they all knew that his father was a Greek alright bringing those two groups of passages or those two passages together what is the obvious principle with regard to who should be sent forth to do the work of missions with regard to we see the principle in Paul and we see it also in Timothy what is the principle how would you state it
alright Paul men that are willing to adapt to the culture in which they are sent to which they are sent good someone want to add something to that or qualify it alright Pete alright having a sensitivity and tactfulness in dealing with other people without violating Biblical norms bending up to the point of where the word of God if I bent anymore would condemn me for sinning alright someone else want to express it a different way someone else had his hand raised yes Tim
sanctified accommodation to gain a hearing for the gospel this is the way it's put in our missions policy these verses show us that missionaries must be men who are willing and able to adapt to the ways of the culture they can't read my own writing here I'm sorry yes the culture they enter so as to give no unnecessary offense or raise unnecessary barriers to the reception
of their persons or their message because you see those two things are very very intimately bound up together if people reject your person because of the way you dress they're not going to listen to your message if people reject your person because of your ham sandwich they won't hear the glorious news of the bread of life that's in your mouth you can't have the ham sandwich and the bread of life at the same time with some people you got to throw your ham sandwich away or put it under the car seat or stuff it out of sight so the men that are sent forth must be men
who are both willing and able willing and able to adapt to the ways of the culture they enter so as to give no unnecessary offense or raise unnecessary barriers to the reception of their persons or their message now I do not mean in any way to be funny or coarse but when an adult male consents to be circumcised that is an act of great self-denial the local rabbi did not have ether but Timothy there's no indication
he put up any complaint it was worth it to him for the rest of his days to bear the mark of being one of God's covenant people he was a half Jew the scripture tells us that he might clear away any unnecessary barriers so that when Paul would preach and Timothy would preach and some prejudiced Jew was there and would hear that his father was a Greek they'd say, are you circumcised? he could produce his certificate and say, yes sir that took away that barrier now you see some people may be willing but they simply lack through a combination of a number of factors some of which go back to the way God scrambled them up
in their mother's womb to their upbringing their training, their personality they don't lack the desire but they lack the ability to be sensitive they don't know they have tunnel vision with regard to adaptability for example when I got to Pakistan some years ago one of the first things the missionary told me as we sat on the train with a Muslim man next to us I started to cross my leg and he slapped it down and then whispered in my ear don't ever show the bottom of your foot in the presence of a Muslim alright, so I sit flat-footed terribly uncomfortable and being left-handed
the man offered us a sandwich and I said I started to reach across and the missionary knocked my left hand back I said first is my foot then is my hand maybe I better go back home and I found out why the left hand is used for personal hygiene you never touch the food with the left hand but only with the right now, having once been made aware of that because of my upbringing second oldest of a family of ten where it was programmed into me to be sensitive to what was going on around me and to be observant and if you saw something on the floor that one of the little ones could trip over to pick it up and a number of other factors it was relatively easy for me
to make that adaptation for a period of a couple of weeks and then to slough it off when I left I can't take credit for that it's a combination of factors but now whether it was sin or just the way God put a certain man together I met a missionary in that same period of time who'd been there for fifteen years and who never once had embraced a Pakistani the proper greeting there in Pakistan is not just a handshake but you start with a handshake Pastor Barker will validate this then it's an embrace over one shoulder embrace over the other and then embrace back to the first and end up with the handshake it's a rather long involved process
however, to do anything less than that is to say to the Pakistani I really don't salute you that is greet you warmly and imagine fifteen years a missionary and you'd never embraced a Pakistani is it no wonder the man was not greatly loved though he had mastered the language and was respected for his linguistic ability he was not loved why? he apparently could not or would not adapt to feeling male due to a male body pressed to his chest
Conclusion and Prayer
now I had to learn that in that culture you don't touch the women if you're an older man you can put your hand upon the forehead of a little girl like a priest giving a blessing but when you get in the presence of a woman you don't touch a woman you don't embrace the women there that's bad that's out of bounds completely but there has to be both that willingness and the ability and oh my it's 10.36 well, I'm really sorry I did not mean to exceed the time and we'll just have to mop up on the group seven and then take some very vital applications God willing next week but I hope if you've seen nothing else especially those of you visiting with us
if you've assumed that the experts are the ones who should hammer out missions policy I hope your study this morning is convinced you this book does have the answers and may God give us grace to search it and to understand it and to obey it and as soon as we're done praying we would request that unless you're planning to stay right on where you are that we all exit the auditorium take care of personal and family needs and any visiting in the foyer downstairs or in the downstairs hallways so that this building will be empty and quiet by quarter till the hour for those who want to come and prepare for worship and I am sorry there is no clock staring me in the eye
and I just lost track of the time sorry let us pray Father we do thank you that the scriptures are indeed a lamp unto our feet and a light to our pathway oh that you would indeed raise up men who meet the standard of the word of God and send forth laborers into the needy harvest of our own generation hear our cry and answer us we beg of you in Jesus name Amen
This transcript was generated by automated speech recognition and may contain errors. It is provided for study and reference only; the audio recording is the authoritative source.
Passages Expounded
This passage is expounded to establish the principle of biblical commendation for missionaries.
This passage is expounded to emphasize the need for faithful, well-trained, and gifted teachers for missions.
This passage, along with Colossians 4:10 and 2 Timothy 4:11, is expounded to illustrate the need for proven, tested, and flexibly assessed missionaries.
Texts Expounded
Also Referenced
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