The good news is for missionaries, too
We have a heavenly Father who invites us to work alongside him
God is a missionary God, the Bible is a missions story, and the goal is the whole world. It always has been. One day, “For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea” (Hab. 2:14 ESV). There will be a tsunami of God’s grace, and his peace and justice will rule. There will be no more tears, mourning, crying, or pain. Marriages and parenting won’t be broken. The world will once again be right. We are now a part of establishing that kingdom of God here in Japan.
Someone once said that as we take the gospel to the unreached corners of the world, we have to also learn to carry the good news to the unreached places in our own hearts. That’s an interesting grid through which to think about Christian growth that we use during CPI’s Grace Week retreats (the next one will be early 2023).
The “now” and “not yet” of our salvation
There’s a now and a not yet to our salvation that’s summarized in 1 John 3:2: “Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him” (ESV, author’s emphasis). We are justified by grace through faith in Christ alone. That is finished—what glorious, good news! And we are not yet what we will be. That’s the tension we always live with.
When you became a Christian, your heart was like an unreached country. It was like the moment the first missionaries landed on the beach in Kagoshima. The gospel came to Japan, but that’s when the real work began! Are there corners of your heart today that are still captive to old idols and longing to hear the good news that Jesus has come?
As we learn to preach the gospel to the unreached parts of our own hearts, we also learn how to bring it to the Japanese. Our neighbors’ idols are more like ours than we want to admit. In fact, one way to see evangelism (and discipleship) is letting other people overhear us preaching the gospel to ourselves. It’s an invitation to “walk with me as I walk with Jesus.” It’s liberating to think that my job is not to model strength as a pastor. It’s not always having the answers or being full of faith. There is only one who is strong and faithful, and our job is to point to him. As John the Baptist said, “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30). We aren’t speaking down to people but embracing the fact that we’re beggars telling other beggars where we found the bread of life!
An invitation
I’ve been serving as either a pastor or missionary for nearly 25 years. Too often, I’ve preached and led as if the gospel were a dusty, old truth rather than a present-tense reality. Faith and repentance often become intellectual concepts or invitations for the lost instead of ongoing steps in the gospel dance. All too often, I lose the music and the present value of the cross. I’m swallowed up by the not yet and forget that I am God’s child now.
One of my strongest childhood memories is of going with my dad to cut wood in the wintertime. I knew that we would use the wood to keep the family warm, and I found meaning in helping with that job. But it was more than that. I also enjoyed special fellowship with my father when we worked together. I learned to drink coffee, laughed at jokes, and heard stories about when my father was young.
Now, God has called me to Japan, and I rarely get to work together with my dad—I miss that. Still, we have a heavenly Father who invites us to work beside him. He doesn’t do that because he needs us, and he doesn’t drive us like slaves. The work is meaningful, because it is family work. And working alongside our Heavenly Father creates special fellowship with him. Would you say your recent work as a missionary has been more like the experience of a son working alongside his loving father or a slave serving a strict master? Has it been more like that of a beloved daughter or a dutiful orphan?
The gospel is for us too
So, fellow missionaries, pastors, and church planters, called to this hard field, let this little article be a reminder and a call to sanity today. The good news isn’t just for those you’re called to serve—“It’s for you and for your children.” God isn’t far away; he’s near. You’re a child of the Father, a friend of the Son, and empowered by the Spirit. And right now, you’re a member of the family of God. Let’s lean into that today.