On an episode of the podcast This American Life, the host pursues a quest to hear about the most misguided things that people do when applying to colleges. He interviews Rick Clark, the director of undergraduate admissions at Georgia Tech. He shares his view:
“Well, the age-old [misguided thing] that we [college admissions folks] see is the “Mission Trip” essay. And great to go on a mission trip, great to have a cultural experience, but inevitably, the way it reads is so predictable. ‘We flew down to somewhere in Central America, and we got off the plane. It was really hot. And we got on the bus. ..20 miles outside of the village, our bus broke down, but we got picked up by a chicken truck and taken into town. …Then over the course of my time there, I went expecting to help others, but it was, in fact, me who was changed.’ And even when you first start reading that essay, you’re like, ‘Oh, here it comes again.’”1
Such a cynical view can be discouraging for pastors and youth ministers to hear. We spend many hours in the planning, prep, prayer, applications, medical forms and execution of missions trips for our students. At the same time, Clark hits on something that rings a little true: Mission trips can sometimes be too centered on the ones going, rather than the reason for the going.
Youth pastors, we have the joyful responsibility of pointing our students to the reason we proclaim God’s name to all people. We ask him to center our efforts and attitude on God and his glory, not us and our experiences. Missions is meaningful because the “why” of missions is so much bigger than a short-term trip, bigger than any individual’s participation in missions.
We proclaim God because he is worthy.
The late Tom Wells, in his classic book A Vision for Missions, articulates how the character of God has motivated his people to seek the praise of his name in all the nations. We need to teach students that God alone is worthy to be proclaimed by his people, and worshipped by all people.
When a man proposes to his future wife and she says yes, he doesn’t need anyone to tell him that he should celebrate. No, he feels immense joy. Parents don’t beam with pride when their kid does something admirable because someone told them to. Parents well up with praise for their children out of delight. In the same way, we don’t do missions (declare God among the nations) for the sake of “a cool experience.” We declare God to the nations because we believe he is worthy of all praise and worship (Ps. 67:1-5).
Let’s help our students see that proclaiming God is a meaningful act for God’s people. It’s an act filled with purpose, because God is worthy of being proclaimed.
We proclaim God because of his love for us in Jesus.
We also want to proclaim God because of his love for us, as seen in the person and work of Jesus (Col. 1:19).
The apostle Paul wanted God’s people understand and be motivated by the love of God in Christ (Eph. 3:14-19). As youth ministers, we desire the same for our students. We teach our students that God, Creator of the heavens and the earth, knows them by name, has called them out of darkness and into marvelous light (1 Pet. 2:9). We teach them that he has chosen them, redeemed them, indwelled them, adopted them, ransomed them, and now it pleases him to use them. What love is this!
When students clue in to God’s infinite love because of what Jesus has done for them, it’s only natural that they would want to proclaim his goodness. The more our students know of the love of Christ, the more they will find joy in proclaiming and sharing the good news of Jesus with others.
This is the foundation of a biblical view of missions. God’s character and nature revealed in Jesus is the why and the motivation for his Church to proclaim his gospel around the world.
We proclaim God because we are participants in his plan.
Not only is God worthy of being proclaimed for who he is, not only are we motivated to proclaim him because of his love for us in Christ, God commands us to proclaim the good news about him (Mark 16:15).
Here is how I personalize this concept for students. I tell them, imagine I am sitting on the bench watching the team compete. But I want to be in the game so badly. I am not satisfied with watching. I want a part, a role, that isn’t just spectating. Unfortunately for me, I didn’t make the team because I was not qualified to meet the requirements. Too slow, mostly.
But, not true of God’s team. The Lord Jesus Christ has qualified me for service on God’s team. I was not qualified to meet the requirements. Too sinful, entirely. But, Jesus became my sin that I might become the righteousness of God (2 Cor. 5:21).
God’s command to his people (Matt. 28:19-20) proves that God’s people are not spectators, but participants in God’s plan. If the God who loved us in Christ and saved us in Christ commands us to go into all the world proclaiming the good news of Jesus—what a gift of purpose, what a grace of meaningfulness! We can truthfully teach our students that God has called each of them to participate in the Great Commission, that he has called us to play a part in someone’s journey from darkness to light. Nothing can take away from how deeply meaningful that privilege is.
So how can students participate in this meaningful privilege of missions?
Missions starts with prayer.
If the biblical foundation for missions is who God is and his love for us in Jesus, we need to pray for our hearts to see God’s worthiness. We can teach our students to pray for God to show us in greater depth who he is and his love for us, so that we can delight in him (Ps. 37:4) and his commands. We can pray that Jesus would be our treasure (Matt. 6:21), so that we desire for people all over the world to praise his name. And we pray for God to send more laborers into the harvest, for the sake of the lost (Luke 10:2).
Missions proceeds with action.
Students can proclaim God’s greatness right where they are, and partner with those who have gone to hard places to do the same. They can support the sending of laborers who work to declare the glory of the Lord where few churches exist. Students can sign up for the monthly newsletters of their church’s global partners. They can send Christmas cards to encourage missionaries. They can commit to praying for the missionaries weekly, and talk to their parents about supporting them financially.
Youth ministers, whether you are simply trying to understand missions or hoping to take your youth on a mission trip someday, teach your students the foundation of missions. The foundation of missions is God himself, because he is worthy. Who God is and what he has done is worthy of proclamation and worship, and he has given his people the privilege to declare his praises. Let’s keep on helping our students see God’s worthiness, and they will soon discover how meaningful it is to participate in proclaiming God’s glory—right where they are and beyond.
If you’re looking for more insight into teenagers and missions, we encourage you to listen to our 2024 Rooted Conference panel on missions across various cultural contexts.
