When Jesus perceived a growing multitude of Jews who searched for truth as "sheep having no shepherd," He said to His disciples, "the harvest is plenteous, but the laborers are few; pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth laborers into his harvest." (Matt. 9:36-38.)
With this declaration, the Savior invited the expansion of missionary efforts beyond Himself and John the Baptist in New Testament times. The New Testament text witnesses four important aspects of Christian missionary work in the first century A.D.
Authorized administration of the work. The Savior "called . . . twelve disciples . . . , gave them power" and "sent [them] forth" to preach the gospel. (Matt. 10:1-5.) (The title 'apostle' comes from the Greek word meaning "one who is sent forth.")
Likewise, he "appointed" 70 other men and "sent them two by two before his face into every city and place, whether he himself would come" to assist in the harvest of souls. (Luke 10:1-2.)
Missionary work is directed by the Lord while His representatives are "called" or "appointed" to administer His will.
This divine commission was renewed during the Savior's 40-day ministry following His resurrection through commandments to His chosen apostles. He promised them, "ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you," and then commanded, "ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth." (Acts 1:8.)
The story of the sons of Sceva validate the need for proper authority in missionary labors. These "vagabond Jews [and] exorcists" mimicked Paul in attempting to cast out an evil spirit by saying, "We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth." (Acts 19:13.) "And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye?" (Acts 19:15.) Proper authority to administer and preach the gospel is in the Lord's hands; no one self-appointed can legally represent Him.
Order in preaching the gospel. The Lord is no respecter of persons and as such promises the blessings of the gospel to all who will come unto Him. Nevertheless He has not offered the invitation to all peoples simultaneously.
The New Testament gives one example of this divinely assigned order as it pertained to peoples living in the first century. Jesus gave the Twelve strict guidelines concerning whom they were to teach during His mortal ministry when He directed, "Go not unto the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans, enter ye not: But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." (Matt. 10:5-6.)
The explanation for this priority goes back to covenants made to early prophets of God. Nearly 2,000 years before, the Lord covenanted with Abraham, "in thy seed after thee (that is to say, the literal seed, or the seed of the body) shall all the families of the earth be blessed, even with the blessing of the Gospel." (Abr. 2:11.)
The Lord promised Abraham that the gospel would first go to Abraham's seed — the house of Israel — and from there to all the earth.
This order was challenged when a "Syro-Phenician" woman (a Gentile) pleaded with the Lord to heal her daughter. Jesus responded to her, "I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel." (Matt. 15:24.)
Yet when her faith would not waver, despite His subsequent words, He gladly responded to her bidding. This incident underscores how serious the Lord is about Israel receiving the gospel first but also His intention that the Gentiles would also receive it.
After the resurrection, the expansion of missionary work beyond the house of Israel, by Christian disciples, began among the Samaritans (descendants of the Israelites and the Assyrians, consequently they are partly Jewish and partly Gentile).
This broader invitation of who could hear the gospel message appears to be readily accepted by the disciples possibly due to Christ's direct command to preach the gospel in Samaria (Acts 1:8) as well as His intentional teachings among and about the Samaritans during His mortal ministry. (John 4; Luke 9:51-56; 10:30-37; 17:11-17.)
When Philip then preached Christ to a Samaritan city, "the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spoke . . . [and] they were baptized, both men and women." (Acts 8:6, 12.)
A major revelation, however, was required before the apostles received the Lord's commission to take the gospel to the Gentiles. Repetitions of a vision from the Lord, interactions with a Gentile named Cornelius, and outpourings of the Holy Ghost upon Gentiles were required before Peter understood that the Lord had opened the door for the gospel to be preached to those outside the house of Israel. (Acts 10.)
Much of the remaining pages of the New Testament recount the successes and challenges Christian leaders experienced in taking the gospel to "the uttermost parts of the earth." (Acts 1:8.)
The missionary message. Throughout John the Baptist's mission, he taught, "Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand," (Matt. 3:2) and brought many to baptism. When Christ began His ministry, His message was, "Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." (Matt. 4:17.) And when He sent the Twelve to teach the multitudes, Jesus directed them to preach, "the kingdom of heaven is at hand." (Matt. 10:7.)
After the resurrection, teachings to prospective Christians were the same. (Acts 2:38.)
Not coincidentally, the same curriculum has been revealed for latter-day missionary work. (D&C 33:10-11; 39:10.) There is no greater way to know the reality of Christ and the truthfulness of His gospel than by the witness of the Spirit. Likewise, the most direct route to receive such a witness is by repentance and manifesting faith in Christ.
Furthermore, as the gospel spread among peoples of other nations, it was taught in their own tongue (Acts 2:11), just as the Lord declared to Joseph Smith for our dispensation. (D&C 90:11.)
Finally, Christ intended that those who had been converted would not only "bring forth [more] fruit" but also ensure that "your fruit should remain" or that they would endeavor to retain converts. (John 15:16.) President Gordon B. Hinckley's recent plea echoes the Savior's request: "A program for retaining and strengthening the convert will soon go out to all the Church. I plead with you, . . . I ask of you, each of you, to become a part of this great effort. Every convert is precious. Every convert is a son or daughter of God. Every convert is a great and serious responsibility." (Conference Report, April 1997, p. 67.)
The example of Paul. One of the greatest missionaries known in scripture was the Apostle Paul. Given the charge by the Lord Himself to "bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel," Paul developed a remarkable ability to teach each group of people from their cultural perspective.
For example, he used Greek philosophy and poetry to introduce Greeks to the true and living God (Acts 17:23-31); he spoke from the understanding of Pharisees concerning the law of Moses to the Hebrew saints (Heb. 7-10); and he used his Roman citizenship as a means to open opportunities to teach in Philippi, a Roman colony. (Acts 16:36-38.)
He explained, "And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; . . . To them that are without law [Gentiles], . . . that I might gain them that are without law. To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some." (I Cor. 9:20-22.)
Most important, Paul taught in the language of the Spirit, even though with his tremendous intellect, he could have used "excellency of speech or of wisdom ." (I Cor. 1:1.) He was "determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified" because he didn't want their faith to "stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God." (I Cor. 2:2, 5.)
Conclusion. As Jesus commissioned His apostles when He first appeared to them after His resurrection, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature" (Mark 16:15), so Church members today have been commissioned by the same Lord, through the Prophet Joseph Smith, to "Go ye into all the world, preach the gospel to every creature, acting in the authority which I have given you, baptizing in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost ." (D&C 68:8.)
Principles of the Lord's missionary program are the same today even as in the days when Christ Himself ministered upon the earth.
Camille Fronk, BYU assistant professor of ancient scripture, is a member of the Edgemont 19th Ward, Provo Utah Edgemont North Stake, where she serves as first counselor in the stake Relief Society presidency.
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