There seems to be a rift emerging as the Church seeks to fulfill the Great Commission. Foreign missionary candidates travel across our country struggling and labor feverishly to raise support. It is by no means an easy task. Some on deputation may spend many years raising funds. However, the home missionary desiring to plant churches right here in our land, has an even more daunting challenge. Many churches refuse to see men like him. Why?

The growing mindset seems to indicate a changing mood in God’s people. Some have trouble equating home missions on the same level as foreign missions. Bold challenges claim real missions must involve leaving home and traveling to far off lands. Home missions, while important in regards to evangelism, must not be considered true missionary work.

This concept is a great shame. The ugly monster of pride has once again crept into God’s church. Good men seeking to glorify God and wins souls for His honor have been divided up in unbiblical, man-made ranks of importance. We must once again renew our focus of God’s picture of evangelism – one that makes no division of foreign and home. There is but one cause and one mission and we all work together to realize it.

It is my goal here is show you, the reader, the Biblical case for unified evangelism. In other words, I would like to show you why I believe home missions is just as important, crucial, and glorious as foreign missions.

The Great Commission

The Great Commission is the foundation and command on which all our evangelistic endeavors rest. Does the Great Commission make a division between home and foreign missions? Let’s take a look.

“And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” – Mark 16:15

First, The Lord told us to go into all the world. Surely He did not intend to limit the scope of evangelism to a certain area or country. He wanted all parts of the world to hear the good news of salvation. He does not place importance upon one geographical region over another.

At this point, there are no arguments. We all agree. Yet, we have forgotten something, almost over-looking it. World not only includes the deep jungles of Africa, but also stretches out far enough to reach our next-door-neighbor.

In a very real sense, there is no such thing as foreign missions. In God’s eyes, every land is foreign. America is not God’s country or basis of operation. America is also included in the scope of “all the world.” No distinction is made. Every land is a missions field. Every nation is a part of God’s scope of evangelism. There are no lands that deserve or need the gospel more than any other land. When God said world, he meant just that.

Let’s look again at our verse.

“And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” – Mark 16:15

Not only are we to reach all over globe, but more specifically to every creature. Again, God makes no distinctions here. Every creature needs to hear the gospel. There is not an unsaved person who deserves the gospel message more or needs it more than any other person. The soul of the third world, jungle native and the soul of the Wall Street business tycoon are of equal importance in God’s eyes. Both of these men are wicked sinners.

Some may ask about those who have never heard a gospel presentation. Surely it is more important to witness to them than it is to witness to one who has rejected the gospel over and over again. To this I can only reply that both men are wicked sinners and have rejected the light God has given them. Romans chapter one tells us that all men are without excuse. As sinners, they stand in the same boat with the same destiny set before them. Again, the Great Commission makes no distinction.

Before we leave the Great Commission, let us look quickly at one more verse.

“But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” - Act 1:8

In this version of the Great Commission, a sort of strategy is laid out before us. The Apostles were not to merely go forth and preach the gospel in “foreign lands,” but they were to begin right at home. This was not due to importance or value, but to geography. While they would eventually go out into all the ends of the earth, they could not forsake their home. God values home missions. God values foreign missions. God values all missions work on an equal basis.

The Missionary Travels of Paul

If there were one missionary in the New Testament, it was the Apostle Paul. It was Paul who took it as his personal goal to take the gospel to those who have never heard it and not to work on anyone else’s foundation. However, a closer look reveals some very astonishing facts.

Paul was a home missionary! By our modern standards, I do not believe Paul could be labeled a foreign missionary. Why? First of all, Paul traveled to lands that were under the Roman Empire. They all had a common culture or Greco-Roman traditions and backgrounds. While each land did undoubtedly have its own particularities, they all spoke the same language, lived under the Pax Romana, and paid tribute to Cesar. Distance and culture-wise these lands visited by Paul could probably be compared to our modern day United States.

Also remember, as Paul visited these foreign yet familiar lands, where did he begin? Did he not start each evangelistic effort in the local synagogue? Did he not preach to the Jew first and then to the Gentile? He always began with his own people!

Finally, any follower of Paul knows that he always had a heart for those left behind back home. In fact, that’s why we see Paul taking up an offering for persecuted brothers back in Jerusalem. Paul never forgot the importance of home missions.

The Call of Isaiah

No foreign missionary slide presentation would be complete without this verse,

“Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.” – Isaiah 6:8

While many missionaries use this verse to call people out to a foreign field, we forget – Isaiah never went anywhere. After seeing this vision, Isaiah did not pack his bags and head for the first donkey out of Judea. No, instead he stayed and prophesied among his own people. In fact, this is the over-whelming theme of the Old Testament. The Bible here focuses most attention on the people of Israel. We do not see an all-compassing, sweeping missionary zeal presented. As some have suggested if the theme of the New Testament is go and tell, the theme of the Old Testament is come and see. This is one more sign God has not only a purpose for home missions, but a passion for it.

Favored Nation Status

Much of this talk of foreign missions taking precedence over home missions comes from a form a patriotism that favors our nation above others. While we ought to have a civic pride for the great nation God has blessed us with, we must not elevate our country’s spirituality above others. We must again realize God’s global picture. America is not God’s command central. God’s nation has never moved from Israel to the United States.

The United States of America is a mission field as much as any nation in Africa or Europe. The United States is filled with sinners heading toward hell and as we often forget, does contain people who have never heard the gospel. Perhaps even worse, we have a plague of false religion and teaching which perverts the true gospel and lulls people into a false sense of security. Winning these men is just as much of a challenge as presenting Christ to one who has never even heard the Lord’s name before.

America is a missions field. Are we to tell those from other lands to stay where they are – we already have all the preachers we need? America is not the only nation sending out missionaries.

Sin is Sin and Guilt is Guilt

The sin of not sending out home missionaries is equal to the sin of not sending out foreign missionaries. Again, the two are on the same level. We are often-times led to believe there is something nobler about the man who leaves everything behind and heads out to a tough foreign field. Often the man in the pew is left to feel guilty and selfish about desiring to stay home and witness here.

It would be good to remember, witnessing here at home can be at times just as difficult as it would be in Germany, Poland or Russia. Here at home there is a different difficulty. Out abroad, especially in the Third World, it is easy for one to fall into a somewhat maternal mindset, looking in pity to those around you. They look different and uncivilized. There is almost a sense of cultural superiority. It is “easy” to feel bold around such people. However, back home, you are speaking to equals. You are speaking to those who often times feel intellectually superior to you - whom they view as a country bumpkin. You may feel embarrassed. These may be people you grew up with since childhood or co-workers you face everyday.

Ask Jesus how it easy it was to reach His hometown. His own family thought Him insane. He went to His own, and His own received Him not. No, home missions is not easy, neither is foreign missions. Any missions work is difficult because a humbling gospel is presented to prideful sinners. The Cross is always a reproach to the unregenerate.

It has not been my goal to tear down foreign missions. Preaching the gospel across the globe is of the utmost importance. However, while we peer across the sea, let’s not forget the place where we currently stand. What a shame it would be to thrust all our efforts abroad while no one is here to hold down the fort. We have compassion on souls we have never seen in lands we have never visited, yet where are the tears for our own fallen dead? A soul is a soul. If that is compassion, you may keep it.