“Go, send or disobey.”  

John Piper famously laid out these three options as the only three options as it relates to a Christian’s involvement in global missions.

Now, it’s generally understood that following Christ’s command to go into all the world and make disciples of all nations means that some of us are called to be missionaries.  Or to use a different term, some of us are called to be goers, to go across the map and across cultures to share the good news of Christ’s saving grace.

But what does it mean to send?  What does it mean to be a sender?  And is it true that if we are not sending, we are disobedient to God’s will and calling?

The truth is that missions, or the act of crossing cultures to call people who don’t yet know Jesus to follow Him, is of primary importance to God. In fact, more than 1,600 verses in the Bible talk about God’s plan for all nations to come to know Him (we’ve highlighted several of these verses in other blogs). And we also see that God is cross-cultural in His very nature, which He put on display by leaving Heaven, taking on flesh, and seeking out the lost to save them.

If this idea of making disciples of all the people groups of the world is of primary importance to God as seen in both scripture and His very nature, then it should be no less important to us as His church. So how are we doing?



Well, there are some things to celebrate. The good news is that evangelical Christianity is the fastest growing religion in the world. It’s estimated that 50,000 people are becoming Christ-followers daily and 3,500 churches are being planted weekly. 

42% of the world will live and die without ever hearing about God’s plan of salvation. That is unless someone goes and tells them.

But that’s far from being out of the woods, and there is still a lot of work to be done. 3.1 billion people are living among people groups with little or no gospel awareness. To put it another way, 42% of the world will live and die without ever hearing about God’s plan of salvation. That is unless someone goes and tells them.



Now, you may be thinking to yourself “we need more people to go and tell them then”.  And you’d be right! But look at what Paul says in Romans 10:14-15: "But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them? And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent? That is why the Scriptures say, 'How beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news!'"

Did you catch that last question? “How will anyone go and tell them without being sent?” Let that puzzle you for a second. Missionaries don’t simply go, they are sent.



This brings us back to John Piper’s quote, “Go, send or disobey”. We are all commanded to be about the work of making disciples of all nations. But we can’t all go. And even those who go shouldn’t simply shoulder the burden, buy a plane ticket, and disappear into oblivion. No, Goers need a whole team of people behind them to send them well. 

So this article isn’t actually about missionaries going, it’s about the rest of us - the senders sending.

But what do senders actually do? And how can you be a sender where you are now? Here are four practical ways that almost anyone can be a sender.  

"The man who mobilizes the Christian Church to pray will make the greatest contribution to world evangelism in history." - Andrew Murray

Pray

"The man who mobilizes the Christian Church to pray will make the greatest contribution to world evangelism in history." - Andrew Murray

We could fill this section with quotes on the importance of prayer in finishing the Great Commission. In Luke 10:2 Jesus tells His disciples, “The harvest is abundant, but the workers are few. Therefore, pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest.” When we see the vast needs of the world our first response should be to pray. 

There are many tools already available to help spur us on in our prayers but a crucial one we wanted to highlight is the Unreached of the Day app. Each day, this app will give you information and prayer points about a different unreached people group. Another helpful tip is to memorize Romans 10:15 and set a reminder to pray each day at 10:15.

We should be praying for more workers to be sent out but we should also continue praying for those that are already in the fields. Talk to your pastor about how you could get on the mailing lists of workers that your church has sent out. Or you can check out our Goers’ blogs and even subscribe to their newsletters here.  

Maybe you could even start a weekly or monthly prayer time at your church for people to gather and pray for more workers and pray for those that are already sent out and for those they’re striving to reach. 

Give

No surprises here, but that's because it's so important! Crossing oceans, doing outreach, and just living in a foreign place all involve financial costs. Thankfully we serve a God who is able to provide more than we can ask or imagine (Eph 3:20). He’s the God who owns the cattle on a thousand hills (Psalm 50:10). And He’s blessed His church with all the resources needed to complete the Great Commission.

According to The Traveling Team “The Church has roughly 3,000 times the financial resources and 9,000 times the manpower needed to finish the Great Commission.”



So why isn’t it done yet? One reason is that less than 1% of all money given to missions goes to unreached people and places. 

More and more mission agencies are sending workers to hard-to-reach places with no Gospel awareness and you have an opportunity to be part of sending them there. By giving some of the resources that God has blessed you with you have the opportunity to help make His name known among the nations.

One way you can give today is by supporting GoCorps’ Final Mile Fund.  The Final Mile Fund provides scholarships to Goers who have a particularly difficult path to being fully funded due to family, church, or cultural backgrounds. 

If you don’t already know of a missionary in your church that you could support you should check out Ergatas.org. Ergatas is a group whose aim is to connect individuals and churches with missionaries that they can invest in to be a part of what God is already doing around the world.

In Matthew 4:62 Jesus says, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” So we don’t give to missions to be charitable or out of obligation, but because it's an overflow of putting our money where our heart is as we connect with a missional God and what he's doing around the world.

Mobilize

A third way you can be a sender where you are is through mobilizing. Mobilization is the work of "assembling people or resources into readiness for active service".

At its basic level, mobilizing doesn’t require a special degree or training. It just takes being someone who is willing to share what you know about God’s word and the work He desires to do around the world.

Mobilizing can be as simple as pointing out to some friends what you’ve learned about God’s heart for the nations. Or you can even offer to lead a small group at your church through a resource like this free Xplore study guide. If you want to take it one step further you could check out a Perspectives course and maybe even start one in your community.

51% of churchgoers don’t know what the Great Commission is

Did you know that 51% of churchgoers don’t know what the Great Commission is? So if you’re reading this then you’re probably part of the minority in the church that needs to tell the majority.  

Encourage

3 John 1:6 tells us that we are to send our cross-cultural workers in a way that honors or pleases God. And Jesus concludes the Great Commission by saying He will be with His disciples always. When Jesus sends someone He goes with them.

So if we are to send people from our churches, families, and circles of influence in a way that honors God, then we can’t expect to be done once they’ve boarded the plane or got the passport stamp. Our work as senders continues in how we encourage and support those that are in the fields.

There are many ways to do this but some of the simplest can also be the most overlooked. We talked already about signing up for missionary newsletters. But what if you took it one step further and actually replied to a newsletter with an encouraging word or a reminder that you are indeed praying for them?

Or maybe there’s a missionary from your state that has been missing basic things from the place they grew up. You could change their whole week by sending them a jar of peanut butter or their favorite snack from the U.S.

Maybe there’s a missionary you know who you could bless by just visiting their loved ones when they can’t. Or you could host them in your home or lend them a car while they’re back visiting the states next time.

Try to put yourself in their shoes. If you and your family were living and serving in a foreign country what kinds of things would you miss or wish people would do for you?

Be a sender

It’s important to remember that these are not just boxes to tick on your to-do list. Being a sender should be as continual and constant as being a goer. Just as with goers, senders have been entrusted with unique sets of talents, resources, and experiences that we are to use for making disciples of all nations. How will you use yours?

Every Goer Needs a Sender

Over the last few decades, there have been several popular movies about medieval times.  While the movies track heroes and heroines as they seek freedom, justice, and love, there are epic battle scenes where two opposing armies meet each other across the battlefield.  Soon, the trumpets sound, and the archers are called forward.  They take out their arrows and aim high in the sky, pull back their bow, and launch their arrow.

Think about that arrow.  Without the bow, without the archer, the arrow is pretty limited in its ability to win the fight for justice and freedom.  Every arrow needs a bow.  In the same way, Romans 10:15 tells us that every goer needs a sender.    

Toward the goal of enlisting and equipping a new movement of senders, GoCorps has launched Project Send.  Each year on October 15, we invite Christians of all ages to participate in Project Send Day, where we draw two arrows on our hands and pray Romans 10:15 at 10:15 am, asking God to raise up a new generation of sacrificial senders to encourage and fund this generation of goers.

Just like every arrow needs a bow, every goer needs a sender.  We invite you to join GoCorps and Project Send and the #BEASENDER movement today!