Jay Adams on Worthy Missions Support
April 10, 2009 – 11:00 amJay Adams shares some thoughts on III John and supporting gospel ministers in a manner worthy of God:
He also tells Gaius that whoever supports such men would be considered as if they were themselves out on the field preaching alongside of them. To my mind that’s one of the great missionary texts of the New Testament—but one I’ve never heard anyone preach on in order to gain support for missions!
In the process, he tells Gaius to fit them out with all they need to be able to get safely to the next Christian’s house in the town to which they would travel afterwards—a common practice in the early days of Christianity.
And in doing so, he tells him that they should be treated as if he were he were treating God himself!How often have missionaries been given crummy stuff from the “missionary barrel”—stuff you wouldn’t keep in your house anymore? I heard of some missionaries who were sent dried, used tea bags!
Read the entire post.
BTW, the III John 5-8 passage inspired the title for the book For the Sake of His Name, written by Dave Doran and Pearson Johnson. Chapter 8, “The Local Church’s Role in World Missions,” further develops the theme of the church’s role in supporting missionaries, providing four principles (pp. 166-68):
- Churches must support missionaries because they carry the gospel for God’s sake, or “For the Sake of His Name”. (v.7)
- Churches must support missionaries so that they can minister the gospel free of charge. (v.7)
- Churches must support missionaries in a manner worthy of God (or treating them in the same way they would treat God Himself!) (v.6)
- Churches must support missionaries so that they can share the responsibility and joy of being co-laborers in gospel ministry. (v.8)
CF: Dave Hosaflook’s post over at MissioMishmash - “Wanted: Used Tea Bags”
Update: You can send your favorite missionary a “Teabag Certificate” as a joke. They even give you a sample certificate!
