People become missionaries for all kinds of reasons. Motivation matters! It can make the difference between burning out in a few weeks or months or completing the long term task of seeing the church planted where it has never existed. Consider the motivations of the apostle Paul.
1. The Ultimate Motivation: The Glory of His Name among All Nations
The apostle Paul was compelled by the love and worth of Christ. The glory of His name among all nations drove Paul in all he did. “We have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations.” (Romans 1:5).
“For the love of Christ controls us… that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.” (2 Corinthians 5:14–15).
“It is my eager expectation and hope that… Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” (Philippians 1:20–21).
Worth in Your Work
When pleasing the Lord isn’t your motivation, it is easy for other motivations to take His place. It is easy for missionaries to give into the temptation to find their worth in their work. If our worth comes from our work, what will happen when we are not seeing results? When this is your motivation, you become discouraged when you share the gospel and people reject it or if you cannot yet share the gospel because of language and cultural barriers. Your motivation will dwindle. It is tempting to find other work that produces immediate results or praise and recognition from others, moving away from the main goal of gospel proclamation and church planting. When our motivation is to see God glorified among a people group, that motivation enables us to be rejected a hundred times for the sake of the one who would believe.
2. Obedience to God’s Word
In Romans 15:20-21, Paul explicitly grounded his missionary ambition in Scripture (Isaiah 52:15). “I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else’s foundation, but as it is written, “Those who have never been told of him will see, and those who have never heard will understand.”
Feelings and Circumstances
Paul’s obedience was motivated by a passion to walk in obedience to God’s Word and not just emotions, passing trends, or circumstances. He was ready and willing to suffer for the ministry that he received from the Lord Jesus. “I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.” (Acts 20:24).
It is important for us to have rock solid Biblical convictions to guide and sustain us and not just how we feel on a given day. Some of those Biblical convictions that will help us in times of trial is knowing that the Bible is the story of God’s plan to gather worshippers from all nations. Also we are motivated by the mandate of the Great Commission; the biblical conviction that the mandate is to plant churches among all people groups and the Biblical reality of lostness and salvation in Jesus Christ alone. There is an urgency to the task because the lost will remain lost unless the church sends missionaries so the lost can hear the gospel. These Biblical convictions will sustain us to see this task completed among a people group.
3. Love and Burden for the Lost
The apostle Paul was motivated by a burden for the salvation of others that they may be won to Christ. “For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them… I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.” (1 Cor. 9:19-23). Paul was compelled by the good news of the gospel. “For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!” (1 Cor. 9:16).
Paul was also deeply grieved by lostness. “I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart… for the sake of my brothers” (Romans 9:1–3). “My heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they might be saved” (Romans 10:1).
Guilt and a Savior-complex
When we see so much suffering, poverty and lostness, we can be motivated by a misguided manipulation into missions either from a “guilt-complex” or a “savior-complex.” Yes, our hearts are moved with compassion when we see these needs but we can’t be motivated by feelings of guilt over these needs (“Shame on you. Look how much you have compared to them!”) nor should we be motivated by feeling we are “needed” as a savior. Jesus is the only one who can save and not us! Again, our primary motivation must be God’s glory and obedience to His word.
This doesn’t mean that we are not motivated with a love for people. We must grow to have a deep love and affection for our friends and desire that they know the Lord. Paul exhorts us of the necessity of love; ‘If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.” (1 Cor. 13:3).
4. The Approval of the Lord
The apostle Paul was motivated by the approval of God; for eternal rewards. His aim was to please the Lord. “So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.“ (2 Cor. 5:9-10, see also 1 Cor. 4:1-5).
The Approval of Others
Sometimes people become missionaries because they have always viewed missionaries as super-Christians so their motivation to become a missionary stems from seeking both man’s and God’s approval. This is a misunderstanding of who missionaries are. Missionaries are normal flawed Christians. They don’t earn their approval by serving God. Rather they are approved by God in Christ, therefore, they serve to please Him confident in their position as children of God.
Adventure
Again, people go into missions for all kinds of reasons. Missionary life can be exciting and adventurous but a desire for excitement will not sustain you as there are many days of monotonous hard work. Our contentment comes from Christ. It is an honor to be a missionary, an ambassador of the gospel to your people group, but many days are lonely and discouraging.
Freedom and Comfort
Some may be attracted to missions because there is more freedom in your schedule and you may not have a supervisor to hold you accountable. It is a sad reality that there are missionaries who are living a comfortable life overseas but not working toward seeing the task completed. This is a real temptation. We have to guard our hearts and be aware of our motives.
We must remember that we are soldiers of Christ Jesus in a spiritual war. In 2 Timothy 2:3-4, Paul wrote, “Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him.” Our ultimate motivation as good soldiers of Jesus Christ is to please Him knowing that this is His war to be glorified among the nations.
Take Time to Honestly Consider Your Own Motivations
Being aware of your motives is important to help you last if you become a missionary. The only sustaining motive is a desire to serve and honor Christ as we long to see Him glorified among all nations. We can pray this prayer of David from Psalm 139:23-24 for ourselves as we consider our motives for becoming missionaries.
Search me, O God, and know my heart!
Try me and know my thoughts!
And see if there be any grievous way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting!
Write out or discuss with someone your own understanding of your personal motivations for pursuing cross-cultural ministry overseas. Use the following questions to help you think through your motivations.
1. In light of the motivations listed above, what draws you toward (or away from) pursuing missionary service?
2. What factors or concerns might keep you from pursuing missionary service?
3. Which of your current motivations do you believe are biblically grounded, and why?
4. Are there any motivations you recognize as unhelpful or misguided? If so, how might they shape your decisions?
5. How can you intentionally examine and test your motives as you move forward in discerning next steps?
6. What risks or dangers arise when missions is driven by unhealthy or misguided motivations?
7. How can you cultivate motivations for missions that are increasingly shaped by God’s heart and purposes?
