There is a moment that happens in congregations all over the world, quiet and easy to miss: a young man or woman sits in the pew, heart stirred by the Spirit, wondering whether God is calling them somewhere far away to proclaim the name of Jesus. They look around at their church family—the same people who taught them to pray, who brought meals when they were sick, who wept with them at funerals—and they wonder: Will this community send me? Do they even know I am here?
That question deserves a serious, gospel-shaped answer. Ryan Robertson, president of Reaching and Teaching International Ministries and an elder at Third Avenue Baptist Church, has written a practical and convicting piece on exactly this challenge. Read the source article for his three concrete recommendations to church leaders. But behind every practical strategy lies a deeper theological reality: the local church is not merely an organizational sending unit. It is the body of Christ, the community through which the risen Lord continues His mission in the world.
What Scripture Says: A World in Need of the Gospel
To understand why missionary sending matters so profoundly, we must first understand the condition of those who have not yet heard. Paul does not soften the diagnosis. He writes that all people, apart from Christ, are “dead in the trespasses and sins” in which they once walked, “following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air” (Ephesians 2:1–2, ESV). This is not merely cultural disadvantage or spiritual confusion—it is death. And death requires resurrection, not renovation.
“For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent?” — Romans 10:13–15, ESV
Paul’s chain of logic in Romans 10 is relentless and beautiful. Salvation requires calling. Calling requires believing. Believing requires hearing. Hearing requires preaching. Preaching requires sending. The local church, then, is not optional in the missionary enterprise—it is the divinely appointed link in the chain. When a congregation neglects to send, real people in real places remain in the darkness Paul describes. The stakes could not be higher.
Christ at the Center: The Sent One Who Sends
Before any church can faithfully send missionaries, it must reckon with the One who was Himself sent. Jesus said to His disciples, “As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you” (John 20:21, ESV). The mission of the church flows from the mission of the Son. Jesus was not sent to advise or inspire—He was sent to save. He bore the full weight of human sin on the cross, dying the death we deserved, and rose bodily on the third day, defeating death and vindicating His claims. Every missionary who crosses a border or learns a language is carrying this message: the Son of God has come, has died, has risen, and is Lord.
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” — Matthew 28:19–20, ESV
The Great Commission is not a program the church administers. It is the command of the risen Christ, given with the full authority He declared in verse 18: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” The church sends missionaries not because it is a good strategy, but because Jesus, who holds all authority, has commanded it and promised His presence to sustain it. This is why Robertson is right to insist that faithful sending never happens by accident—because it is, at its root, an act of obedience to a living Lord.
Living It Out: How the Local Church Becomes a Sending Church
Robertson’s three principles—be intentional, don’t outsource what you can do yourself, and stay connected—are not merely managerial advice. Each one is a discipleship practice rooted in the nature of the church as a covenant community.
1. Cultivate Intentional Missionary Vision
Elders and pastors should actively look for members who are already fruitful in evangelism and faithful in discipleship. Paul tells Timothy to “do the work of an evangelist” and to “entrust” what he has heard “to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also” (2 Timothy 4:5; 2:2, ESV). This culture of intentional identification is not recruitment—it is discipleship. Pastors who pray over their congregations with missionary eyes will begin to see what God is already doing in individual hearts.
2. Own the Formation of Your Missionaries
Seminaries and missions agencies are gifts to the church, but they are not substitutes for it. A member who cannot practice the “one anothers” of Scripture in their home congregation—bearing burdens (Galatians 6:2), confessing sins (James 5:16), encouraging one another (Hebrews 10:25)—will not suddenly flourish in cross-cultural ministry. The local church is the proving ground. Meaningful membership, regular accountability, opportunities to preach, and sitting alongside elders in shepherding work are irreplaceable preparation. As Robertson notes, send a developed candidate to a training partner—not someone still at the beginning of the path.
3. Remain Covenantally Connected to Those You Send
Sending is not releasing. When a church commissions a missionary, it does not end its responsibility—it extends it. The early church modeled this well: Paul consistently reported back to Antioch, the church that had sent him (Acts 14:26–27). Today, that connection looks like pastoral visits to the field, praying for missionaries by name in corporate worship, and creating space for missionaries to update the congregation when they return. Robertson wisely notes that when a church goes silent, the damage compounds slowly—loneliness, disconnection, and eventual discouragement. Staying connected is not a courtesy; it is a covenant obligation.
The Gospel That Drives It All
Every missionary sent, every prayer prayed, every dollar given for cross-cultural gospel work is an echo of the greatest sending in history: God sending His own Son into a world lost in sin and darkness. We were not merely confused—we were dead (Ephesians 2:1). We were not merely wandering—we were enemies of God (Romans 5:10). But Christ came. He lived the life we could not live, died the death we deserved to die, and rose from the grave with power over sin and death. He offers forgiveness and new life to all who repent and trust in Him alone.
If you have never received that gift, the invitation stands open today. Confess your need, turn from your sin, and place your faith in Jesus Christ—crucified, risen, and reigning. And if you have received it, know this: you belong to a community that has been given the most urgent and glorious task in the world. Whether you go, send, or pray, you are part of the chain that Romans 10 describes. The ends of the earth are waiting. The risen Christ is sending. Will your church answer?
