Jared C. Wilson on Why Missionaries Need the Gospel Too

It’s easy for those in full-time ministry to start to believe they’re justified by works. Jared C. Wilson explains how we can ground our identity in Christ, not performance.

Pastors and missionaries are supposed to be sharing the gospel, but inwardly, many believe that they’re justified by their own performance. In this episode, Jared C. Wilson—a “failed church planter” who “once made a mess of his marriage” (his words, not ours!) whose rediscovery of gospel-centeredness transformed his life and ministry—shares why missionaries need to be preaching the gospel to themselves. Jared’s gospel emphasis is woven through all his books (including his most recent publication, Supernatural Power for Everyday People) with unique relevance for ministry workers facing burnout and forgetting their identity in Christ.

Later in the show we also tackle some of the issues with the seeker-sensitive/attractional church model and why church growth strategies end up having an adverse effect on a church’s ability to send cross-cultural workers overseas.

Jared C. Wilson is the Director of Content Strategy for Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Managing Editor of For The Church (and host of the FTC Podcast), and Director of The Pastoral Training Center at Liberty Baptist Church in Kansas City, MO.

Alex Kocman & Scott Dunford

Alex Kocman is the Director of Communications and Engagement for ABWE. He serves as general editor for Message Magazine and co-hosts The Missions Podcast. After earning his M.A. in Communication and B.S. in Biblical Studies, he served as an online apologetics instructor with Liberty University and a youth pastor in Pennsylvania, where he now resides with his wife and four children. Read his blog or follow him on X/Twitter.

Scott Dunford is the pastor of Western Hills Church in San Mateo, Calif. Previously, Scott served as Vice President of Mobilization and Communications for ABWE and as a missionary in East Asia. Scott graduated from Northland International University (B.A. in Pastoral Studies), earned his M.A. in biblical studies from Central Baptist Theological Seminary, his M.B.A. from Cornerstone University, and is currently enrolled in Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary’s D.Min. program with an emphasis on missions.