WINTER 2017
The Local Church – Commissioning the Missionary by Dr. Bud Steadman
“And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away. So they, being sent forth by the Holy Ghost, departed” (Acts 13:3-4).
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he record of the call and sending of the first two New Testament churchplanting missionaries is foundational to our understanding and implementation of missiological principles in the twenty-first century. Once the will of the Lord was made clear to the church at Antioch concerning the call of Barnabas and Saul, the next challenge lay in the commissioning or authorizing of the missionaries. Thus, they were set apart to the work of God in a congregational assembly that serves as a model for us today. We rightly refer to such as the commissioning of the missionary. The term “commission” is used most commonly today in a military context—an understanding of such will assist us in comprehending what the church at Antioch was to do relating to its missionaries. A commissioned military officer is a member of the armed forces who holds a position of authority derived directly from a sovereign power and, as such, holds a commission charging them with the duties and responsibilities of their specific office or position. Such is the concept of a commissioning—after the training of an officer is completed, a commissioning service is held, and he then assumes his rank and the responsibility for which he has been authorized. While the authority for the missionary work of God comes from the Holy Spirit, the vehicle of that commission is the local church. The New
Testament sets the example of the local church setting apart missionaries, because such congregations are the manifestation of the body of Christ, “the pillar and ground of the truth” (1 Timothy 3:15). It is important to see how this was done in the first missionary church in Antioch so that we might understand the local church’s relationship with those called and commissioned in our day. First, in commissioning, the local church is demonstrating personal authorization and identification with those called (“…laid their hands on them,” Acts 13:3). The laying on of hands was not a mystical act, but rather, a spiritual picture of the church’s relationship to the one being sent. As the leaders of the congregation lay hands on a God-called servant, the church membership is symbolically joined to them, authorizing them to go and identifying with their call from God and their projected tasks for which they are being sent. Foundationally, this means that as commissioned missionaries go forward to serve the Lord Jesus, they represent their local church. As Paul makes clear in Romans 12 that the church is a body with many members, the commissioned missionary becomes the eyes, hands and feet of the congregation on the foreign field. Next, in commissioning, the church is demonstrating prayerful intercession for those called (“…fasted and prayed,” Acts 13:3). As the church leaders gather around missionaries for a prayer of dedication, they are presenting a foretaste of the ongoing intercession that the church must be committed to in the sending forth of laborers. Luke describes such continual prayer backing in Acts 15:40, where the Continued on page 3
In This Issue
2 Highlights from the Highways & Hedges
3 Mission Matters: Confirming the Churches The Local Church – Commissioning the Missionary (Cont.) Ready to Go
4 Itineraries