For many years, most Christians had one view of missions: a family raises funds from churches in North America and then goes to another country to share the gospel and start churches.
This approach has indeed been common, and great things have grown out of the work done by many of these church-planting missionaries. However, the truth was never so simple, and our changing world continues to highlight the complexity. To truly accomplish the Great Commission, the North American church must recognize that missions today will take all sorts of workers to build the church of God around the world.
One Bible story that helps to bring this concept to life occurs at the end of the book of First Samuel. David has been ordained as king of Israel yet still waits for the throne. In the meantime, he is involved in various battles. On this occasion, he goes to support the Philistines in battle (1 Samuel 27)). However, the Philistine military leaders do not trust David to fight alongside them, so they send David and his men home.
When they arrive at their village of Ziklag, they discover that it has been attacked, and all their possessions and families have been taken (1 Samuel 30). David and his men respond with anguish and murmuring and questions. Yet David turns to God and seeks direction. With God’s confirmation, David and his now exhausted men set off once again in pursuit of the raiders who have captured their city. When they come to a river, 200 of the 600 men are too physically exhausted to continue. The rest of David’s men leave all their luggage and supplies with those who will stay behind and take off again.
David’s men find the raiding army, fight all night, and deliver everyone and everything that had been taken. The reunited families head home. But as they reach the river and the men who were not able to continue to the battle, a lesson is born. Some of the men who went to fight do not want to share the spoils of victory with those who stayed behind. To them, only those directly involved in the fight deserve the reward of the battle.
But David says no. Instead, he institutes a rule that would last for years to come. The Bible records the lesson this way: “For as his share is who goes down into the battle, so shall his share be who stays by the baggage. They shall share alike” (30:24). In this moment, the Bible opens a window of understanding that we can apply to missions and ministry today.
See, some thought that only the physical battle was important. David, however, recognized that the entire endeavor contributed to the success of the pursuit. He realized that the people who waited with the stuff were just as vital to the ultimate victory as those who physically fought.
It is the same today in our pursuit of fulfilling the Great Commission. Does the church need men and women who will plant churches, especially among those who have never heard the gospel? Absolutely. Does the church also need people who wait with the supplies? Yes, as well. Overseas missions work requires a broad range of roles. There are people needed to do maintenance for mission hospitals. There are people needed to provide IT support and technological training for Bible colleges. There are people needed to teach national pastors bivocational skills in welding or agriculture. The list goes on and on.
As churches, we must understand that there will be a variety of persons and skills that are needed to do the work of missions around the world. They will need different opportunities to share about their ministry as all won’t be preachers. They will need different types of training as they will be engaging the world in different ways. And they will need different types of support.
And behind them all, we need faithful men and women who stay in their home country and give generously to the work of missions, pray for ministries around the world, and encourage those sent to the nations.
The lesson of David’s army remains. The battle will be fought not only on the front lines but by many followers of Jesus working, praying, serving, and going together in their unique mission from God. The church needs both front line workers and supply watchers.
