What is a Missionary?

The word "missionary" conjures up any number of ideas. From door to door LDS elders to people who leave their home country to preach the gospel in a foreign country missionaries are a common enough idea. Christians may have a misconception of what missionaries do. What is a missionary? What activities define what they are, and which are incidental?

The word "missionary" comes from the Latin word "mitto" which means, "to send". Based on this, a missionary is simply someone who is sent, like a messenger. But there is much more to Christian missionary work than that. Christian churches send out people from their congregation to regions in the world. While there, these missionaries should be spreading the gospel and ultimately planting churches.

The apostle Paul in the Bible went on several missionary trips. His home church was in Antioch of Syria. From there, he went to the cities of what is now Turkey, Greece, Crete, Cyprus and Italy. Many of the original 12 disciples of Jesus traveled and spread the Gospel. According to church tradition, all but Judas and John were killed for their faith. Matthew went to Ethiopia, Mark went to Egypt, Bartholemew went to Turkey, and Thomas went to India.

Modern day American Christians often have a misconception that a person must travel to a foreign country to be a missionary. They may assume that people who are not sent out by a church have less responsibility to preach the gospel. However, Jesus said to the disciples, before ascending to heaven, that they should begin in Jerusalem, and eventually go to Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth. Although the United States has a high percentage of Christians, geographically, compared to Jerusalem it is the ends of the earth. Crossing the ocean does not make one a missionary. Sharing your faith is not easier in a foreign country. Eric Liddel, an Olympic running champion and a missionary, rightly said, "We are all missionaries. Wherever we go, we either bring people to Christ, or we repel them from Christ."