The REAL Reason for Missions Most Christians Overlook

When you ask people why missions is important, the first thing they say is some version of, “Jesus commanded us to do it.” While the Great Commission is certainly an important factor, Josh Wilson of Ashland Grace Church says there’s an even deeper motivation for missions.

“The highest missionary motivation is not obedience to the Great Commission or compassion for the sinners who are perishing, as important as those things are,” he says, paraphrasing John Stott. “It’s burning and passionate zeal for the glory of Jesus among the nations of the world.”

In other words, we participate in missions because Jesus is worthy of being known, worshiped, and glorified by people everywhere.

"Jesus is so glorious and so good that He deserves that kind of praise from all the peoples of the world,” Josh says. “If He died to ransom people from every tribe, and if He deserves songs from every tongue, then we want to see Him get the glory from all the corners of the earth."

That perspective transforms missions from a distant obligation into something much more personal. We aren’t simply checking a box or fulfilling a command—we’re joining God in bringing glory to His Son among people who have yet to worship Him.

But seeing Jesus magnified among the nations requires more than good theology. It takes partnership between the goers and the senders.

Borrowing from the famous words of missionary pioneer William Carey, Josh emphasizes that even those who aren’t called to move overseas have an important role to play. “Some are gonna go, but we here get to hold the rope,” Josh says. “And that means support, that means prayer, that means encouragement, and that means staying up on how we can care for them.”

And Josh has seen firsthand how holding the rope doesn’t just bless missionaries—it blesses the church, too. Supporting missionaries deepens his congregation’s prayer life, fuels them to be more generous, and even teaches them to love and care for each another more intentionally.

When we shift our perspective from viewing missions as a box to check or a duty to fulfill, the entire Christian life changes. Missions ceases to be a burden we must carry and starts becoming a privilege we get to participate in. Supporting missions is just an opportunity to join in the global choir declaring Jesus’s worth.

He is worthy of the worship of every nation, every tribe, and every tongue—and we get to be part of seeing that happen!