You are a missionary. As a Christian, part of your calling as a disciple is a mission assignment. You are given a mission to be a missionary in the places that God has placed you. Charles Spurgeon actually suggested, "Every Christian is either a missionary or an impostor."
Because if you are a Christian; you are a missionary.
And as a missionary, you’re either on the mission of God or you’re on some self-proclaimed mission that you made for yourself.
I’m not suggesting that this means you need to go overseas, although we certainly need missionaries that travel across the world. Instead, I want you to embrace the ordinary, everyday mission trips that you go on.
When you go to work, you go into a mission field with the message of the Gospel. In your own homes as you disciple your kids and raise them up in the faith, you are on a mission assignment from God to be a missionary in your own home. When you go into your community and connect with unbelievers, you are a missionary seeking to serve, earn the right to be heard, and ultimately share the Gospel with those you come in contact with.
Know the people you’ve been sent to.
Missionaries know the people they serve. They become students of the cultural practices, beliefs, and values in order that they might speak the Gospel into the context of the culture they serve. As missionaries, we need to not only seek to share the Gospel but we need to share the Gospel in the language of the people.
This means we know the people we serve. It means we get to know the people we work with. It means we might need to talk to our neighbors. It means we need to look around at our communities and look for the hurt, the pain, and the struggles.
"God is not a tribal God, but the God of the world; that the gospel is for everyone; and that the church is one body that breaks down the walls of ethnicity, class, and nationalism that divide humans into warring camps. At the same time, there has been a growing awareness in the social sciences, particularly in anthropology, of the need to understand people in their cultural settings. Out of this has come the growing realization that missionaries today need not only a solid understanding of the Scriptures, but also a deep knowledge of the people they serve.” - Paul G. Hiebert. Anthropological Insights for Missionaries
Actually share the Gospel.
St. Francis of Assisi allegedly said, “Preach the Gospel; use words if necessary.” This is ridiculous. As a missionary, we need to find opportunities to use our words and share the Gospel. This might not happen immediately and it will likely not be easy.
But if we want people to be rescued by the message of the Gospel, they need to hear the Gospel.
As Christians, God has given us the message of the Gospel. As Dr. David Peter wrote, "We are the object of God's redemption as well as agents of His mission.” You are a missionary. Realize the importance of the relationships you build and the words you share. And then rest knowing it is only God that changes a person’s heart and it’s not up to you and your persuasion abilities.