Who, then, is a mis­sion­ary? To unpack this, we need to look back­wards briefly, and reflect on how our answer has developed over time.

NZCMS was founded in 1892, in response to the chal­lenge from CMS UK to “take your own share in the evan­gel­isa­tion of the world: send out your own mis­sion­ar­ies and support them.” At that time, mission was pre­dom­in­antly from the ‘West to the rest’; and even now, many of us would think of a mis­sion­ary as someone who goes overseas.

At NZCMS, John 20:21 has become the focus of our reflec­tions on mission, helping us further under­stand the intent of Jesus’ call. When Jesus first appears to his dis­ciples after his resur­rec­tion, he says “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” It’s a broad com­mis­sion: Jesus sends all his dis­ciples into mission, not only those who go to distant places.

This lan­guage of sending is used through­out the Gospel of John. God the Father sends Jesus into the world: cru­cially, mission is first and fore­most God’s mission. As we read in the story of Scrip­ture, God  has always been reach­ing out in love to His people, and the full expres­sion of this saving love is when God reaches out in the person of Jesus Christ.

When Jesus says “As the Father has sent me”, he uses the verb ‘send’ in an ongoing sense, not just as a ‘one-time’ sending.  We as Christ’s dis­ciples do not take over Jesus’ mission, repla­cing him; but rather, his mission con­tin­ues and is effect­ive in our min­istry. The work we do is par­ti­cip­at­ing in Christ’s mission, not our own. Our service, placed in Christ’s hands, is to con­tinue his redempt­ive work as “the sent One” within this world which is so loved by God.

We work in the empower­ment of the Holy Spirit. When Jesus sends his dis­ciples in John 20:22, he breathes on them and says “Receive the Holy Spirit.”  The calling is the same today. Mission is not just our own actions or good works. Mission is always done in God’s strength, through the power of the Holy Spirit.