Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you; and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen. – Matthew 28:18-20

In life, every man has his priorities and what drives him. Some are driven by money; some fashion and yet others fame and power. Whatever be the force that propels your life, remember that you shall one day account for your time here on earth. For us as Christians, whatever we do, God expects us to be driven by the mission of saving the lost.

A man on a mission is a man with a sense of assignment. He lives each day knowing that he is sent, and with a singular responsibility of delivering on his assignment and returning with results. Do we as believers have this mindset?

For us as Christians, whatever we do, God expects us to be driven by the mission of saving the lost

Everything God does in us, for us and through us is for this mission to succeed. Have you abandoned this ultimate mission and are running your own deals? This ultimate mission was Christ’s final emphasis before departing this earth. This mandate is generally called the Great Commission. In it is contained various components such as the command to go into all the world; preach the gospel; make disciples of all nations; baptize them; teach them to observe the whole gospel; and an assurance of His ever-abiding presence.

Biblical Examples of Mission-Minded Men

The Apostle Paul: The Apostle Paul lived with this sense of mission from the day he was called. Having asked the Lord, ‘What would you have me do?’ (Acts 9:6); he never lived for himself henceforth. His life was consumed by the mission of seeing sinners saved and delivered from the power of sin. This is evident from the Acts of the Apostles to Paul’s epistles to the Churches and brethren in the early Church. When Prophet Agabus prophesied his arrest at Jerusalem for the sake of the Gospel, the brethren at Caesarea pleaded with Paul to avoid the mission to Jerusalem. Paul responded, “What do you mean by weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus” (Acts 21:13). To the Roman Believers he wrote, “For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek” (Romans 1:16). He was continually burdened and saddened for the salvation of Israel (Romans 9:1-3). He travailed in prayer for their salvation (Romans 10:1). Writing to the Corinthian Church, Paul expressed the necessity laid on him to preach the Gospel which was the main reason for his conversion (1 Corinthians 9:16; Philippians 1:20-21). The man Paul lived and died for this cause – preaching the Gospel. What are you living for?

The Early Apostles – The early Church gave themselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the Word (Acts 6:4). Notwithstanding the persecution that broke out on them as a result of the Gospel, they were unrelenting – “Therefore, they that were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the Gospel” (Acts 8:4). In the midst of the fiery persecution, one man, Philip, took a whole city for the Lord. He didn’t do that by physical weapons or by war but by the power of the Gospel (Acts 8:5-14). The early Apostles were occupied and preoccupied by this mission to save the lost. They preached everywhere, and to everyone irrespective of their beliefs, and the Lord did great miracles and wonders through their hands. They never sought for pulpits in the Church, but they preached on the streets, from house to house, in synagogues, in the marketplace, etc. They lived and died for this Gospel, and we’re to continue from where they stopped.

The early Apostles were occupied and preoccupied by this mission to save the lost

The Lord Jesus – Christ made it clear while He was on earth that He came to seek and to save that which was lost (Luke 19:10). He lived every bit of His life driven by this mission to save the lost. He fulfilled this mission through one-on-one evangelism (John 4:5-26; 8:10-11); household or family evangelism (Luke 19:1-10); rural and city-wide evangelism (Matthew 4:13-17); synagogue evangelism, healings, miracles and wonders (Matthew 4:23-25). He used every given opportunity to preach the gospel. For Him, this mission was a necessity and a matter of urgency, therefore, He lived as a man on a mission (John 9:4). The climax of His mission on earth was the laying down of His life for all to be saved.

Marks of a Mission-Minded Believer

You Must Be Born Again: This is a basic necessity for everyone who will be used of God for this mission: you must be born again (John 3:7). The matter of being born again is a ‘must’. There is no sitting on the fence; it’s either you are born again or not. So, then they that are in the flesh cannot please God (Romans 8:8). Doing God’s work in the flesh is tantamount to effort in futility. It is only they that are led by the Spirit of God that are the children of God, and this begins at salvation (Romans 8:14). So the enrollment point into this mission is being born again.

Understand Your Mission Field: For every believer, there’s a calling and a specific assignment. An understanding of your assignment makes this mission easier. Upon his call, Saul (Paul) quickly asked the Lord, ‘What would you have me do?’ (Acts 9:6). Every child of God ought to ask this question upon coming to the Saviour. It is the answer to this question that will provide the energy for the fulfillment of your mission. Christ clearly understood His mission field and never ventured out of it. With His jurisdiction in mind, Christ said to the Canaanite woman, “I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matthew 15:24). He understood the place of His primary assignment – His starting point to be Israel, and His target audience were the Jews. Even though, He ministered to non-Jews at certain times, He maximized His primary place of assignment. He did not veer off out of zeal. On the other hand, the Apostle Paul understood His mission field to be the Gentile world, calling himself the Apostle to the Gentiles (Romans 11:13; Galatians 2:8; Acts 9:15). Little wonder he succeeded in planting Churches in Gentile regions such as Corinth, Ephesus, Philippi and Rome and most of his letters were written to predominantly Gentile believers. He had a strong burden for the Jews, yet his primary apostolic assignment was to bring the Gospel to the Gentiles. Do you understand your mission field? Are you called to labour among children? Why struggle to become a Pastor? Are you called as an Evangelist? Why struggle to oversee a Church? Your mission field may be primarily in your neighbourhood. Why seek to travel to distant lands? Identify your mission field so you can be relevant to the Kingdom because you are only rewarded for doing your own assignment and not another man’s.

Identify your mission field so you can be relevant to the Kingdom because you are only rewarded for doing your own assignment and not another man’s.

Be Prayerful: The mission-minded believer is a prayerful believer. The soul of man is the most embattled entity in the universe. Satan wouldn’t bother much if lives are healed and delivered; but it bothers him much when souls are delivered from the power of sin and translated from darkness to light. He will put up a fight. Therefore, being mission-minded is being ready for a fight to snatch souls away from Satan’s claws. The Apostle Paul prayed for the salvation of Israel (Romans 10:1). The early Apostles were totally given to prayer for the souls of the lost (Acts 4:24-31; 6:4). John Knox took Scotland for the Lord in the place of prayer.  Evan Roberts prayed for eleven years to secure the Welsh revival in 1904 at the age of 26. When we pray, we gain boldness to preach the Gospel. Prayer also prepares the heart of the unsaved for a fruitful harvest into the Kingdom. In prayer, hindrances and barriers to the Gospel are destroyed. And prayer also secures direction and guidance from the Holy Spirit for effective ministerial assignment. The more prayerful you are concerning soul-winning, the higher the tendency of being fruitful for the Kingdom. Lasting fruit is a product of much investment in prayer. Every saved person is someone’s answered prayer. Christ prayed for our salvation thus: “Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word” (John 17:20).

Being mission-minded is being ready for a fight to snatch souls away from Satan’s claws

Seek Wisdom and Divine Guidance – In being a mission-minded believer, the need for wisdom and divine guidance is inevitable. Christ is referred to as the wisdom and power of God (1 Corinthians 1:24). So, in seeking His power for soul-winning, we must also seek His wisdom as we go about the Kingdom’s business of soul-winning. Since we are His, and on a mission for Him, we must seek His guidance and wisdom in every step of the way because it is they that are led by His Spirit that are His children (Romans 8:14). If we do not seek His wisdom in this life-saving mission, we might ‘zealously’ but sheepishly wander into the snare of the enemy. It is He who knows when a soul/people is/or are fully ripe for harvest. He determines when you should intercede and when you should preach. He sets the pace for this important mission, therefore, we must seek His wisdom. As zealous as Christ was, He didn’t seek to evangelize the whole world when He lived on earth; He worked as led by the Father. He did nothing of His own but solely depended on the Father for guidance as He confessed: “I can of mine own self do nothing…” (John 5:30a).

If we do not seek God’s wisdom in this life-saving mission, we might ‘zealously’ but sheepishly wander into the snare of the enemy

As zealous as the Apostles were for the salvation of souls, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit at a certain time not to preach in Asia and Bithynia (Acts 16:6-7). On the other hand, they were led by the Lord through an open vision to preach in Macedonia at the same time, which they obeyed (Acts 16:9-10). Asia was later evangelized at the appointed time. Christ and the Apostles fulfilled their mission because they strictly adhered to divine guidance. Have you been deployed by the Lord to a new office as a worker or you got admitted into a school as a student, and are wondering where to begin in evangelizing and winning that space for God? Seek His wisdom and guidance. Are you an employer or businessman and desire to win your employees or clients to the Lord? Seek Him for divine guidance and wisdom. We are told to ask God for wisdom, and it will be given (James 1:5-6).

Be Empowered by the Holy Spirit – Knowing that the salvation of souls will evoke the greatest resistance from the powers of darkness, there’s the need to be empowered by the Holy Spirit before embarking on this daring mission. Understanding the necessity of the Spirit’s role in this mission, Christ charged His disciples to tarry or wait in Jerusalem until they were empowered by the Holy Spirit to fulfil this mission of soul-winning (Luke 24:49). Venturing to preach without the power of the Holy Spirit is like going to war without arms. The battle around the salvation of a soul is the greatest battle that is being fought today, and this is why we need to be empowered by the Holy Spirit for this mission. When the Holy Spirit descended at Pentecost, the same Peter who hid himself during the Lord’s passion, received power and boldness to witness Christ such that three thousand souls were immediately convicted and won to the Lord (Acts 2:14-41). It is the Holy Spirit who convicts the sinner of sin, righteousness and judgment (John 16:8).

Venturing to preach without the power of the Holy Spirit is like going to war without arms

All the signs, wonders and miracles which the Apostles did that led to the salvation of thousands of souls were done by the power of the Holy Spirit; without this empowerment, our Gospel would be dry and unappealing to men. Christ had to wait for this commissioning by the Holy Spirit at the Jordan river during His baptism before venturing into public ministry (Luke 3:21-22). The Gospel was communicated with the demonstration of the Holy Spirit’s power. The Jews could not resist the wisdom and spirit by which Stephen spoke because being full of faith and power he did great wonders and miracles among them (Acts 6:8,10). The city of Samaria submitted to the lordship of Jesus because Philip preached with power, and great manifestation of miracles through healing of the sick and deliverance of the possessed. The people with one accord gave heed to the Gospel and there was great joy in the city (Acts 8:4-8). This was only possible by the power of the Holy Spirit.

A Passionate Call for Labourers

The mission has always been and will always be as long as Christ tarries to come. Are you in? Jesus said, “The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his field (Luke 10:2).The recruitment for labourers is still ongoing because the harvest is indeed great. Would you like to be an answer to the prayer for labourers? Do you see the harvest in your family? Do you see the harvest in your workplace? Do you see the harvest in your school and neighbourhood? Will you claim ignorance of the ripeness of the harvest and allow them to be lost?   

The recruitment for labourers is still ongoing because the harvest is indeed great. Would you like to be an answer to the prayer for labourers?

Hark, the voice of Jesus calling,

“Who will go and work today?

Fields are white and harvest waiting,

Who will bear the sheaves away?”

Loud and long the master calls you;

Rich reward he offers free.

Who will answer, gladly saying,

Here am I. Send me, send me”?