How does one define successful missionary work?
This question hovers over the modern missions enterprise. It’s a difficult question that raises a host of thorny issues — none easily answered.
Churches and missions agencies champion reports showcasing impressive numbers of conversions and stories of sweeping revivals in other lands. Deep down, we yearn for these accounts to be true; surely that’s success. Yet numbers can be inflated and misleading.
Others have labored for years with little to show for their sacrifices. In these situations, I often hear the comforting words that successful missions is not about fruitfulness but faithfulness. Yet in some cases, a lack of fruitfulness can suggest that missionaries have lost sight of their purpose.
So, what is missionary success?
Undistracted Sowing
I remember stepping off the plane in the Arabian Peninsula with my young family so many years ago, wondering if our work would amount to anything. At least I had rock-solid assurance from my previous years in ministry about a couple of truths: First, God loves it when we take gospel risks for him. Second, if we stayed centered on the gospel, then in God’s sovereign kindness, our time would not be a waste.
Over the next twenty years, as we made the Middle East our home, I learned valuable lessons about missionary success. Much of this insight came from the parable of the sower, one of the most intriguing stories Jesus told. Like all of his parables, it features everyday images wrapped around the deep mysteries of God.
Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it. Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and immediately it sprang up, since it had no depth of soil. And when the sun rose, it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away. Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. And other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold. . . . He who has ears to hear, let him hear. (Mark 4:3–9)
First, notice that the sower is on his game. He has one job to do, and he does it well. If the sower is a missionary, he is a successful one. And since the job description for a missionary is similarly simple (“Go and make disciples”), it’s no problem for us to stay on task too, right?
Wrong. For many missionaries, the most challenging task is staying focused. Ministry is hard enough; ministry in a foreign place can be exponentially more difficult. Furthermore, missions is often even more daunting since many places where missionaries go are scary. That’s why Jesus sandwiched the Great Commission between assurances of his authority and the promise of his presence (Matthew 28:18, 20).
Success starts by staying the course despite the problems and perplexities of living in difficult places. No amount of training could have prepared us for what lay ahead — only the knowledge that our God is sovereign and had given us a task.
I don’t mean to minimize the opposition. It’s a fierce battle; after all, we’re on contested ground. So don’t be surprised: To be forewarned is to be forearmed. Jesus gives us a description of what will happen when we sow seed.
Seed Killers
We are promised three crushing discouragements: birds, rocks, and thorns. I know these well. And as far as discouragement goes, Jesus tells the story with increasing levels of despair.
1. BIRDS
In the parable, the birds represent Satan, who steals the gospel from people’s hearts (Mark 4:15). How often have I had a gospel conversation with someone who would listen, yet soon after, the word seemed stolen away.
Zaid, from Lebanon, expressed a desire to become a believer. After a year of outreach, he was the first person who seemed to respond to the clear gospel message. We gathered around him and prayed for him, explaining the meaning of repentance and faith. He stated that he was now a follower of Jesus. But then he disappeared — poof, gone, stolen away.
2. ROCKS
Then there are rocks. Stony ground represents a lack of nourishment, which is so common on the mission field (Mark 4:16–17). I have often longed for more help from mature Christians, healthy churches, or seminaries to provide shade and sustenance to those young or tender in the faith.
Shihab, from Syria, professed faith at a Muslim university, one of the few professing Christians on his campus. He was a delight: bright, fluent in multiple languages, fun. He quickly became a student of the Bible. However, during a study at a retreat we hosted for university students to explore the book of Mark, he hit a problem. It was the parable of the sower. Shihab took offense that Jesus seemed to say he didn’t want some to be saved (Mark 4:12). Shihab couldn’t let it go. The joy he experienced in his turn to Christianity spiraled into suspicion and doubt.
“Doesn’t Jesus want people to come to him?” he asked.
“Yes,” I said, “but on his terms, not theirs. Not by human reason or effort.” I explained how Jesus outlines that we can come to him only by faith, not by sight or works.
But Shihab rejected my explanation. Then, later, he rejected the faith outright. It was heartbreaking. I longed for more rootedness for him. The ground seemed so sparse and barren, so rocky.
3. THORNS
Then there is the worst discouragement of all: the thorns. The slow, steady creep of life-choking vines that wrap around the soul and drag people into Satan’s world (Mark 4:18–19).
Another man I saw profess faith was Raaj, from India. He seemed so genuine. But over time, though he never rejected Jesus outright, he became enamored with worldly success, making it hard to see how his faith had any bearing on his life. He became a “name only” Christian. Worse, he demonstrated his pride with haughty opposition to shepherds in a new church. Unlike Zaid or Shihab, this man harmed Christ’s bride; he was one of those Paul warns us about in Acts 20:29 — a wolf.
Again, these painful results are promised to all who sow seeds, not just missionaries, but the level of disappointment on the field can be far greater. Those three stories are just a few among many birds, rocks, and thorns. We labored for seven long years without seeing much fruit.
More Than a Hundredfold
If that were the end of the parable (and our story), it would represent despair beyond comprehension. But there’s more. The fruitful harvest is yet to come — thirtyfold, sixtyfold, a hundredfold.
Bible scholars tell us that a hundredfold increase in a crop would have been unheard of. However, if we take a step back and adopt a long-term perspective, we see that a hundredfold is just the beginning.
Recently, I disembarked from a plane in a city where we had lived and worked. It was the very airport where I wondered if anything would come from our move. Years had passed since we had been there. I was sent to speak in the churches we had planted or helped to plant and to see people we had witnessed come to faith. I encountered people I had forgotten I had baptized (shades of Paul’s comment in 1 Corinthians 1:16). We witnessed other ministries we had initiated that had flourished like a mustard-seed bush into spaces for believers to land — believers numbering in the thousands, far exceeding a hundredfold.
Two significant joys emerged during our visit. First, we witnessed people we had discipled engaging in ministry far beyond what I could have accomplished. The other joy, ironically, was meeting some young believers who had come to faith through a ministry we started and yet had no idea who I was. Hallelujah! It was God’s work, not mine. I merely had the privilege of sowing the seed.
Succeed by Staying the Course
So, what is missionary success? As someone who has seen God bring fruit yet has also labored for long stretches without apparent results, I can say with some confidence that the Bible speaks little about determining our success.
As I noted at the beginning, success begins by staying the course, and that’s where success ends too. We push through the difficulties, keeping the gospel in focus. Ultimately, success means trusting in God’s sovereignty and fulfilling our task to faithfully sow the seeds of the gospel with perseverance, leaving the rest to him.
Perhaps there is something even more valuable than just learning what success is. How do we respond to God’s work? For those who see genuine fruitfulness on the field, rejoice in God’s goodness for using you in his sovereign plan, giving him all the glory. For those who labor and see only a few come to faith, remember that one person who comes to genuine faith can be the sower who harvests a hundredfold. Take heart in knowing that you share in that harvest, and that your labor is known by the Lord.