What exactly do we mean by the ‘Character’ of your mission? The character of your mission simply put, talks about the man or the woman that you must be while you are on a mission for God. It talks about the posture you must assume; your disposition to the mission and everything that has to do with it.

 

2 Timothy 2:1-4 says: You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. ² And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.” One of Timothy’s mission as we have read here is that he must ensure that what he has learned is passed down to other people. In other words, the mission must not die with the missionary, it must be handed down. The reason why we have the Bible in the form we have it today is because certain men made it their mission to spread it, even amidst difficulties and challenges.

 

First, it started from holy men who receive the inspiration to write what they were being revealed to or inspired. 2 Peter 1:19-21 shows us. It says: “And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; ²⁰ knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, ²¹ for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.” Imagine these holy men didn’t document and passed down those documents, we would not have the holy book called the Bible as we have it today. So, the lesson here is that the mission must not die with you, it must be handed down.

 

Verse 3-4: “You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. ⁴ No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier. Now in this verse, apostle Paul wrote to Timothy that he must assume the character of a soldier. As a missionary, you are a SOLDIER. A soldier that is on the battle field does not entangle himself with the things that could get him distracted. Doing that would jeopardize the integrity of his mission and he himself could also get killed in the line of duty.

 

Another character a missionary is expected to assume is that of an ATHLETE. Verse 5 says: “And also if anyone competes in athletics, he is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules.” Athletes are focused beings. They are not easily distracted. The moment they step into the tracks, their focus is usually on the finish line. Apostle Paul gave us a picture of this in 1 Corinthians 9:24-27. It says: “Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. ²⁵ And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. ²⁶ Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus, I fight: not as one who beats the air. ²⁷ But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.”

 

Another character a missionary is expected to assume is that of a FARMER. Verse 6-7 says: “The hardworking farmer must be first to partake of the crops. ⁷ Consider what I say, and may the Lord give you understanding in all things.” As a missionary, you are a farmer, a cultivator, a sower. Your assignment as a farmer missionary, is to cultivate lives and destinies until they become all that God has made them to be. Matthew 13:3-9 gave us an example of a farmer missionary. It says: “Then He spoke many things to them in parables, saying: “Behold, a sower went out to sow. ⁴ And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them. ⁵ Some fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth. ⁶ But when the sun was up, they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away. ⁷ And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them. ⁸ But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. ⁹ He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”

 

Another character a missionary is expected to assume is that of a WORKMAN. Verse 15 (KJV) says: “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” A missionary is a workman. Propagating the kingdom of God is actually a work. Jesus said in John 9:4: “I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work.” Until you see yourself as somebody who has been employed by God, you haven’t started your missionary work. As a missionary, you are on God’s payroll, and we will soon find out how God rewards His missionaries.

 

Another character a missionary is expected to assume is that of a VESSEL. Verse 20-21 says: “But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honour and some for dishonour. ²¹ Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honour, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work.” As a vessel, the missionary is a carrier of God’s glory and a dispenser of His grace. An English political theorist and economist by the name Harold Joseph Laski defines a vessel as: “a person into whom some quality (such as grace) is infused.”

 

2 Corinthians 2:14-15 says: “Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place. ¹⁵ For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.” What God has deposited in you as His missionary is not meant to die with you, it is meant to be dispensed to everyone and anyone that you come in contact with. Your life and your destiny are to be a blessing to the world.

 

Another character a missionary is expected to assume is that of a SERVANT. Verse 24-26 says:“And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, ²⁵ in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, ²⁶ and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.” Most of the time, when we assume the posture of a servant, it gives us the privilege and opportunity to be able to win others to God. Apostle Paul said I became all things to all men peradventure, I will be able to gain some of them. 1 Corinthians 9:19-23 tells us:

 

“For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win the more; ²⁰ and to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews; to those who are under the law, as under the law, that I might win those who are under the law; ²¹ to those who are without law, as without law (not being without law toward God, but under law toward Christ), that I might win those who are without law; ²² to the weak I became as weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. ²³ Now this I do for the gospel’s sake, that I may be partaker of it with you.”

 

The Reward System of God

How does God reward His missionaries? It is important we examine this because majority have this erroneous belief that when God calls a man or woman to send them on a mission, such people end up becoming poor. But this assumption is not correct and not Biblical as well. Anyone God send on a mission; He rewards and blesses them. Isaiah 51:1-2 says:

 

“Listen to Me, you who follow after righteousness,
You who seek the Lord:
Look to the rock from which you were hewn,
And to the hole of the pit from which you were dug.
² Look to Abraham your father,
And to Sarah who bore you;
For I called him alone,
And blessed him and increased him.”

 

The call of God is not unto poverty, but unto increase! A New Testament for the above Scripture is seen in Mark 10:29-31. It says: “So Jesus answered and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My sake and the gospel’s, ³⁰ who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time—houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions—and in the age to come, eternal life. ³¹ But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”

 

 

Prosperity!

Let them shout for joy and be glad,
Who favor my righteous cause;
And let them say continually,
“Let the Lord be magnified,
Who has pleasure in the prosperity of His servant.”

And my tongue shall speak of Your righteousness
And of Your praise all the day long.

Psalms 35:27-28

 

I believe we have seen over and over again people criticize men and women of God for amassing so much wealth. A lot of folks with this notion believe that men of God should not be rich because Jesus did not live an ostentatious life while He was on earth. It is absolutely true, Jesus didn’t live like that, but Jesus was not poor either. 2 Corinthians 8:9 tells us: “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.”

 

Eternal Life!

“Who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time—houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions—and in the age to come, eternal life.”

Mark 10:30

 

“And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work. ¹³ I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.” ¹⁴ Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city.

Revelations 22:12-14

Thanks for the gift of your time, I am Obayomi Abiola Benjamin!

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