Grace Baptist Church, Nokomis, IL.

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We’re going to talk tonight about what it means to enter the mission field when we leave this building. The implication of the sign, of course, is that outside of these walls, we are on the mission field. The mission field is the place where missionaries do their ministry. But how do we go about doing ministry in the midst of our busy lives?

“While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Immediately they left their nets and followed him.” (Mat 4:18-20 ESV)

Jesus called these people to follow Him as He was walking (v. 18). One understanding of the Great Commission is that we are to make disciples as we are going. The word “missionary” is probably not found in any of the translations that you read from. A missionary, in essence, is one who is on a mission. That’s it. We are to be missionaries wherever we go. Wherever we go, our mission is to make disciples. It was no accident that Jesus called these two disciples as He was walking. He was intentional. We, also, are to be intentional in our mission to make disciples as we walk with Christ.

The first and only step involved in becoming a missionary is to follow Christ (v. 19a). We must follow Him as our Lord. Wherever He leads, I’ll go. Know His Word, and obey it. Be in step with the Holy Spirit, who will guide you in your actions and speech. We must follow Him as our Example. We are to imitate Him in all of His works. Christ loved people like no other person ever has. He ministered to peoples’ needs and pointed them to their greatest need: Himself. He served them to the point of exhaustion, and ultimately gave Himself up for them.

If we follow Christ, He will change our whole purpose in life (v. 19b). The two fisherman would no longer fish for food, but for men. They labor not for money, but for souls. Why do you work? Don’t work for money. Work to glorify God. We should not misunderstand how they left their nets (v. 20). It was not a permanent occupation change. They eventually did go back to fishing. They left their nets in the fundamental way that they saw their world, occupation, and life. In the midst of their working, their main purpose was to fish for men. They left being defined by anything but Christ. When we truly follow Christ, we serve Him in the midst of and by doing all sorts of things. This is going to look vastly different for each of you. We could talk about all sorts of other ways we do that, but the main thing we need to do in order to be missionaries is to follow Christ.

It seems so much easier to serve God while on a mission trip. Our task, then, is to think of every day as a mission trip. If we can do this, we serve God in word and deed wherever we go, wherever we are.