5 Mission Books the Church NEEDS
Maybe you already live far from the place you called “home” while growing up. Or, maybe you are thinking and praying about the direction in life the Lord is calling you to; perhaps that calling is confirmed and you are in the preparation phase of getting to the field where the Lord would have you serve.
Maybe you are a high school or college student trying to navigate the present with the future in mind. You might serve as a missions pastor or youth pastor in the local church, or be a regular-old-ordinary involved-local-church-member (that’s the best thing in the world) who wants to love, support, and spur missionaries on well as you deepen your understanding of the work set before us as the Church by our Redeemer and King.
If any of this applies to you, these book recommendations are lovingly set before you as an aid or encouragement as you carry on in faith! I would be grateful if you’d pass along your recommendations (or reviews once reading any of these) as well to greghelmsis@gmail.com! Books have a shaping effect on us; let us be well-shaped by the steady edge of many good books. Live in the Word, and glean much from fellow believers who are committed to it!
1- Don’t Waste Your Life, by John Piper
You may be thinking I spelled “Let the Nations be Glad” incorrectly. I would also heartily recommend that work by John Piper, but Don’t Waste Your Life is the one the Lord used in my college years to help me realize my thinking and planning was off-balance. God used this great and short write-up, by this brother I have never met, to begin redirecting my steps. To my knowledge, it was also the first reference to a man called Schaeffer that I encountered; I had no idea that brother would also be a great help to my life in Christ.
2- Mission Affirmed, by Elliot Clark
This practical write-up was a huge assist during our first term on the field and on our first home-assignment (that season of visiting churches, family, and sharing testimony and vision of where God is at work). I don’t think I read anything brand new in this book, and there were a few points of contention, but it let me know someone was out there striving to labor faithfully, struggling with some of the same challenges we face, and seeking guidance from the Living Word and the realities we find in the experience of early missionary labors.
3- No Shortcuts to Success, by Matt Rhodes
This 9Marks missionary guidebook will get you thinking in the right direction. I thank the Lord for good resources like this one which have been passed on to me from an older and well-seasoned missionary couple living on the South Sudan/Uganda border. When much of the church in the West is broadly thinking in the short-term as it pertains to missions to the glory of the One True God, Matt Rhodes sets a better case before us.
We need long-termers. We pray for lifers. We long for those who will devote their heart, mind, soul, and days to the King, even in a place far from comfortable. We must gain deep credibility in hard places, labor with endurance, steward well, and love the people with the compassion of Christ in the day to day interactions. And we must stay long enough to disciple, not just preach Christ and get back to the homefront. There is a place for that, but it has become our primary where it should be our support of the primary: long-term missionary endeavors. We must labor to make disciples of all nations. We must baptize in the name of the Father, Son, and Spirit those who repent and trust on Christ by faith. We must teach them to obey all that has been commanded. And this takes more than a week or two. The living God came and dwelt among us. Are we willing to do so, that other sinners might receive the same grace of God unto salvation we have received?
4- Missions by the Book, Vegas and Kocman
The basic premise of this book is a look at the regulative principle applied to our labors on the field. Along with the other books listed here, and better put forward by the title, the authors long for the Church to do things God’s way. The way of the Church is God’s way. The way of God’s people is God’s way. This is not restrictive but for our joy and the glory of God. Our theology will inevitably drive how we live and labor; we need to know, cherish, and teach the Word of God in the ways God has given for us. We don’t add or subtract or fabricate or distort. We go and preach Christ and God’s grace will reach lost hearts. He will have His way and we delight to labor towards this end.
5- The Missionary Theologian, E.D. Burns
This one is a slog at points but you still won’t want to put it down. Even to the end of Appendix 3, your attention will not be diverted. What is a missionary and what is our calling and what is our main drive and purpose? This book will lay it out in plain language. We encounter many whose name tag would read missionary but their primary work could be the humanitarian labors of any nation or religion. We as Christian missionaries have a unique calling to preach Christ crucified, to share the Gospel without shame, with great joy, to people who have not yet heard. Or, to others who have heard, but not in a way that was made clear.
We are ambassadors, living testimonies, witnesses and disciple makers. This book is intensely practical and essential knowledge for those heading to the field. Additionally, this book is for those determining who to send out and how best to support them. All people are theologians; it’s just a matter of whether we are good ones or not, in the words of R.C. Sproul. May the missionaries we send and support be people of the Word! Let us all be found faithful in word and in deed, as hearers and doers. As those who have tasted and seen that the Lord is good, let us set His good news message before others trapped in darkness. The Good Shepherd is calling out as His Word goes forth, through his faithful yet fractured children.
Bonus- Hudson Taylor’s Spiritual Secret, Dr. & Mrs. Howard Taylor
You will never regret a good missionary biography or record of their endeavors, failures, hurdles, losses, joys, and success. These books are not just for people going to the field but for the benefit of all Christian people, for the great good of the Church. What a privilege that we can glean from our brothers and sisters present, as well as from those of the past who have taken time to write. You will inevitably be stirred up in your faith as you turn these pages on Hudson Taylor. Let us be drawn to a deeper worship of the King. As God grows and sanctifies us, let us labor for the progress of young believers around us and the lost who are yet far off. Even when it’s hard, even when there is great suffering. This life is a vapor; may we spend it well.
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