When Everything Is Missions

by Denny Spitters, Matthew Ellison

In an age of deconstruction and rethinking, the Church should not be surprised to find itself confused by words like mission, missions, and missionary. Some struggle to redefine these categories and some seek to reclaim them, while others reject them outright, with or without providing new terms to guide us forward.

But words and their meaning matter; our confusion has a cost. Competing priorities pressure us to stretch our mission definitions as wide as they can go, releasing our people to creatively engage in service of every description. Some churches turn away from traditional mission efforts all together, giving preference to local service and evangelism while outsourcing any cross-cultural effort to those who surely must be more effective than we would be.

As an unfortunate result of these tendencies, many of our churches lack a coherent, compelling sense of what we're all about as we engage with the world. And if we lose our scriptural moorings, how far will our missions efforts drift?

Matthew Ellison and Denny Spitters call us to refocus our gaze on the gospel and the Great Commission. They assert that thinking must come before doing and shape our world mission practices and priorities. When Everything Is Missions is for church and ministry leaders and all who look to clarify their own answers to questions like

• What is the mission of God?
• What is the mission of the Church?
• Is every Christian a missionary?

Genres: Christian, Nonfiction, Christianity, Theology

151 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 1, 2018

Reviews

[Gwendolyn Kwong · Rating 5 out of 5]

In North America, we often hear Christians say that “everybody is a missionary” or advocate for “missions in our own backyards”. While the sentiment of these Christians can be sincere and reflects the importance of evangelism, the authors of When Everything Is Missions explain that such choice of language represents a misunderstanding of missions as it is laid out from Genesis to Revelation. Language is weighty and impacts the direction of the Church, which we have seen in how churches allocate their funds and attentions. Indeed, there is a danger in regarding all work being done in the name of Christ as missions. And while God’s mission (“missio dei”) and the Church’s mission are strongly linked, they are not one and the same:

“God’s scope is from eternity to eternity. As His disciples, we have a specific sub-plot in the redemption story and a distinct role under the authority of Christ and the commission of His Church.” (45)

The commanding verb in the Great Commission is to “disciple”, and the object of that verb is “all nations”. An interesting bit towards the end of the book came with a reference to David Garrison’s term, the “heresy of sequentialism”, which describes a common misinterpretation of Acts 1:8 that the Church must evangelize in its own neighborhood before investing in the unreached people groups of the world (109). Spitters and Ellison explain how we must avoid over-individualizing our approach to the Scriptures so as to obfuscate the main purpose of the text, which is to make disciple-making disciples in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and the ends of the earth simultaneously (109-110). Not to mention that the disciples were not even from Jerusalem, where they started, but from Galilee.

It was refreshing to see the authors advocate for a narrow definition of missions. This was a well-written and empowering book that I can see myself visiting several times more. Favorited!

“Rather than approaching [Scripture] as a collection of stories to pick, and choose for self-help, I began to visualize it as one book with one main character, theme, and purpose.” (35)

[Maddy Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this for my Christian missions class this semester. It was a quick, informative read to help build a better understanding of missions terminology & purpose. The authors’ passion for missions is evident through their writing. I like when I can tell that someone cares about what they are talking about. It helps me to stay interested.

Here is a quote that really helped me reframe my perspective on missions.

“Missions is not the ultimate goal of the Church. Worship is. Missions exist because worship doesn’t. Worship is ultimate, not missions because God is ultimate, not man. When this age is over, and countless millions of the redeemed fall on their faces before the throne of God, missions will be no more It is a temporary necessity. But worship abides forever.”

[Kristin Emily · Rating 1 out of 5]

Read with husband. I appreciate their bottom line concern about missions to the unreached. And, I found them "railing" against the wrong "enemy" (the "missional church," terminology, and the authors' philosophy that only cross-cultural missions "counts" as The Great Commission.)

Rather than joining the authors in lamenting that too much of a typical 10% Missions budget is not being used toward reaching the unreached (but instead used for local missions, justice issues, physical needs like hospitals and clean water, etc.), I lament that Missions budgets are so low. I was surprised that the authors never took issue with how the majority of church budgets go towards the staff, buildings and their congregation. If churches would increase their missions budget to, say, 50% of donations, there would be enough money for The Great Commission and Loving Your Neighbor as Yourself.

I did not find their use of scriptural support for their arguments to be solid. I found many contradictions in their arguments.

I am baffled that he doesn't consider supporting National Workers nor ministry to the "secular unreached" as part of supporting The Great Commission. We personally know many "missionaries" in these categories who are in Europe through his sending organization.

[Matt Chapman · Rating 4 out of 5]

A helpful and thought-provoking book that challenges the increasingly common claim that “every Christian is a missionary” and “every ministry is missions”. The authors argue that not only is the view an unbiblical one, but that much is lost when such thinking is comprehensively embraced.

(Also includes a helpful 'Recommend Resources' list of books and articles at the back of the book to direct further study and discussion)

[Jon · Rating 2 out of 5]

For a book whose general premise I agreed with, I really did not enjoy it at all. The authors’ main idea is that the term missions and missionary have been misused or so poorly defined as to become useless. I’m on board with them and the idea that everyone is not a missionary. Missionaries are those sent out by the church to cross cultures with the the gospel message. My beef with Spitters and Ellison is that they repeatedly rely on straw man arguments to make their points and their tone is not at all winsome. I don’t think they are intentionally trying to pit missions against the mission of the Church but their tone and arguments pushes the reader in that direction. This is an important topic and deserves a better treatment than it receives in this book.

[K Tan · Rating 5 out of 5]

More and more people always say to me, "everybody is a missionary." They meant everyone has a mission to reach the unreached. But is there a difference in those who are specifically called to minister across-culture vs. those who are not called overseas? Is "missionary" a superior vocation and that's why people try to minimize it? I am thankful that Denny and Matthew speak up.

Friends, the vocation and calling of missions is NOT a higher calling, but it IS a calling, just as someone called to minister in the market place. If everyone is called to provide care for others and thus a pastor, then we probably need another term for those who are called to pastor a church.

Thank you, Denny and Matthew.

[Neil Burleson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an important book that should be read by pastors, elders, missionaries, and all believers who want to be part of obeying Christ's Great Commission. The authors' (it should listed as Denny Spitters *and* Matthew Ellison) main thesis is that promoting the idea that "everyone is a missionary" and "our neighborhood is our mission field", has led to a dilution of mission work and a stifling of ministry to the unreached peoples of the world, those who have *no access* to the Gospel. While the goal of these phrases is a noble one, that of getting all Christians engaged in evangelizing and serving their neighbors, it has diluted the "all nations" portion of Christ's command in Matthew 28:19 to take the Gospel to ALL people (panta ta ethne) of the world.

Of course, simply changing and clarifying terminology is a critical first step, but that alone is not enough to get the church "re-engaged" with the unreached peoples of the world. All Christians need to be discipled with an understanding of the metanarrative of Scripture - seeing the heart of God from Genesis to Revelation to reach all peoples (e.g., Psalm 67). Reaching the nation *is* what God is about, not just another program in the church. The last chapter of the book has some helpful "What Next?" suggestions for getting us out of our present condition.

Although I agree with the author's premise that the term "missionary" should be reserved for cross-cultural workers taking the Gospel across ethnic and linguistic lines to reach the nations, I think the book could have emphasized the balancing truth that *all* believers are called to be "World Christians." It would be an equally disastrous overcorrection if we reserved the realm of reaching the unreached to a select few within the ranks of the church. All believers are not called to be missionaries, but all believers are called to be involved in seeing the Gospel go to every corner of the earth and to every people. Some will go as missionaries, but all should be involved in praying and sending, welcoming the immigrant, and giving sacrificially to see the Gospel go to the nations. The book alludes to this, but I think that could have been emphasized more. Otherwise, this is a valuable resource for those involved in Christian work and Christian missionary endeavors.

[Jesse Kroeze · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was really looking forward to reading this book. Unfortunately it was not well written with many repeating quotes and typos. The point the author makes that not everyone is a missionary has a few flaws in its argument with many assumptions.

First, they suggest that when you believe that everyone is a missionary (or a sent one), then you are also making the jump to argue that every ministry is missions and local ministry is primary to global ministry. This, like many other points they use are exaggerations and extreme examples.

Second, the theological underpinning to argue their point is not watertight. The mandate in Matthew 28 is for ALL Christians to GO and not many would argue a diminished focus on our need to have a passion for ‘the nations’. The problem is that many Christians are not stepping into their God given calling to GO no matter their vocation...it is not JUST the vocational missionaries called to the nations...it’s all of us...which should not take away from the apostolic missionary calling.

[Mary Lou · Rating 5 out of 5]

Definitions, which accurately reflect God’s Biblical mandate for missions, are at the heart of Spitters and Ellison’s book When Everything is Missions. They contend that many churches do not do missions well because they don’t think about mission well. The authors’ motivation for mission is to see God “passionately worshipped by every tribe, tongue and nation” (When Everything is Missions, Danny Spitters and Matthew Ellison, Pioneers USA & Sixteen:Fifteen, 2017, p. 21). They challenge readers: “What action will we take to embrace an apostolic, disciple-making, church planting paradigm that identifies and sends missionaries to the unengaged and unreached where no witness exists?” (p. 114) Their definition of the “unreached” is “someone with no access to the gospel and who could not hear it even if they wanted to.” (p. 101). Their definition of missions is “the work of the Church in reaching across cultural, religious, ethnic and geographic barriers to advance the work of making disciples of all nations, a process described in Romans 10:14-15 among other places. (p. 37) This is related to another key missions text in Mt. 28:1-20. The authors say: “The Great Commission is central to Scripture, central to God’s heart and central to God’s thinking and activity. And the commission is not solely about making disciples wherever we find ourselves; it’s also about taking the gospel to all the world, the whole creation, (Mk. 16:15), all nations (Mt. 28:18-30) and even to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8)… They believe that “defining missions in our relativistic, pluralistic era requires that we are committed to walking the path of God’s redemptive mission, culminating in the collective worship of the Lamb by all nations, peoples, tribes and tongues….This is the path our boots must travel.” (p. 48)

With that backdrop, Spitters contests the entire “missional” movement which has subsumed every local outreach and evangelistic activity under the umbrella of “missions.” He says, “Christians in North America … are redefining the terms gospel, kingdom, and missions in unprecedented ways.’ (p. 47) Spitters calls this shift ‘The Great Distortion” (p. 119). He also calls it “leaning the ladder against the wrong wall” (p. 117). Instead, he affirms David Mays’ perspective: “The object of ‘disciple’ [in that Matthew 28 text] is ‘all nations.’ Jesus did not say to disciple … your family, or disciple whomever happens to be near, or disciple the people in your community, or disciple the people like you. He said to disciple ALL NATIONS, i.e., all peoples, all ethno-linguistic groups. ‘Make disciples’ cannot be divorced from ‘all nations.’�� (p. 119)

Similarly, Spitters refutes the ‘heresy of sequentialism’ – that interprets Jesus’ call to make disciples first in people’s Jerusalem, then in their Judea, then in their Samaria and finally to the ends of the earth. Rather, the authors contend that the texts reads “and” not then” – make disciples in Jerusalem and in Judea and in Samaria and to the ends of the earth. “Jesus gave a simultaneous Jerusalem to-the-ends-of-the-earth command.” (pp. 109-110).

When Everything is Missions is a very relevant book and a significant corrective for the vision and purpose of the contemporary North American Church.

5 stars M.L. Codman-Wilson, Ph.D., 4/13/19

[Todd Bryant · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm really glad I read this book. Spitters and Ellison raise all of the right questions. They challenge (recent) traditional thinking and drive the reader back to the Scripture in thinking of missions. Do our definitions matter? What is our mission? Why are we involved in missions? Is every Christian a missionary? How are missionaries sent? These questions (and more) are asked and answered in this book.

Though every believer is called to make disciples around them, some believers have been called and equipped by God to be sent out by a church. Being a missionary is a different calling than working as a teller at a bank. This isn't relieving the Christian teller from making disciples - no, not at all. However, we must recognize a different calling for those that are sent.

Also, heavily stressed in this book is that the ultimate goal of missions is planting churches. Whether home or abroad, the Great Commission calls churches to plant churches. This is the pattern in the book of Acts and we should follow that pattern today.

A few things I wish they'd have left off. There are repeated references to the (supposed) universal church (i.e. the Church in the world, the Church in America, the Church abroad, etc). All of the application in this book - every single drop - is directed towards local churches sending missionaries to the world. Why confuse it by referencing a "invisible body" (that seems an oxymoron to me) that cannot send anybody? Also, while stressing the importance of the local church, there is some hint in on section that missionary agencies necessarily serve a purpose. Obviously, there was no Scripture cited for that. Lastly, just in passing, the reference to the church being born on Pentecost just doesn't make sense to me. The church is obviously here prior - for she was commissioned prior. That seems evident.

All that said, the book is still well worth reading and I was challenged by it. In fact, the authors even stress that whether you agree with them or not, they hope you are "agitated enough" to think deeper about missions - a thing we all need to be doing.

[Glen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Superb polemic for the local Church's Great Commission mandate. Spitters and Ellison capture the urgency of Christ being made known throughout the world with a devotional voice that inspires the reader to contemplate the ultimate purpose of the Church.

The book is highly accessible - on point with a clear rationale for what "mission" means. Each chapter pushes for precision in our thinking and applying Biblical truth. Strategic questions are offered for readers and leaders to ponder. Practical applications are also abundant.

There is a quality of statesmanship that underlies this work. No one can engage "When Everything is Missions" and walk away with a muddled mind about what God desires from His Church. That said, the tenor of this work is not to built a guilt-driven model of mission engagement, but to show the honor we have to participate in the plan to redeem a people from every tribe, tongue and nation.

Every disciple of Christ that holds their salvation as the most important thing in life should pick up this book with an open mind and see what implications it holds for the way we live on planet earth.

[Caleb Warren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall, I rather enjoyed the book and it’s argument for a clear understanding of missions in the church. My main issues with the book is first the book draws on and quotes many authors and missiologists (which are all fine to quote) but what I really wanted to hear is what the Bible says. I needed like a whole chapter devoted to what the Bible says about missions and how the Bible defines it. Which leads to my second main problem: I don’t think missions is clearly and concisely defined. I wanted a sentence like “Missions is…..” and “A missionary is….”. While you could compile the authors’ definition of missions from the book it isn’t presented clearly. Especially for a book that is particularly concerned with definitions.
All that to say, I still found the book insightful and helpful. Many many churches could benefit greatly from their pastors and staffs or lay leaders getting their hands on a copy of this book.

[Dustin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this book should be read by every dedicated believer and church leader! It’s obvious that the great Commission is not being obeyed as it should and that missions isn’t happening the way it should but the fact that one of the big obstacles is one of our terms is often neglected. I think this book does a good job of explaining that if everything is considered missions nothing is truly missions. It champions the reclaiming of the terms missions and missionary from domestic outreach and makes the point that a proper view of cross cultural foreign missions will cause us to better serve abroad and at home as opposed to saying everything is missions and everyone is a missionary which obviously isn’t true. Yes to many this book would be controversial but it makes some points we need to at least think on to cause change!

[Tori Samar · Rating 4 out of 5]

The bottom line of this book is: If your church does not think about missions well, your church will not do missions well. I agree 100%.

Is every Christian a missionary?

Is everything—social justice to humanitarian work to church planting in the Bible Belt—missions?

(I do agree with the authors' conclusions for both questions: The answer is no. Please read the book to learn more. It presents a helpful perspective on missions that, overall, strives to be faithful to what the NT teaches.)

Does it matter that we know how to answer these questions? Yes!

Whether you agree with everything about missions presented in this book, you should at least be able to agree with that bottom line. Think well!

[Becky Durstenfeld · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was somewhat disappointed with the book. Though I do generally agree with the authors position and they had some great things to say, unfortunately I did not find the book very well written. I think they repeated themselves too much, but also left out some things they could have said for a more compelling book.

There were a number of typos in the book, so it wasn't proofed as carefully as it should have been.

So much of what they said fits very well with what is taught in the Perspectives on the World Christian Movement course, so I was disappointed that not once was Perspectives mentioned in the book, except in the bibliography citing several articles from the Perspectives Reader.

[Matt Tyler · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book, and I agreed with the conclusions.

I think the writing was a bit clunky. Some of what the authors present has been argued better elsewhere (DeYoung and Gilbert in What is the Mission of the Church? and Jonathan Leeman’s chapter in Four Views on the Church’s Mission). But this book helpfully critiques a common trend in missions today, namely drifting from the core of what the Bible gives as the mission for God’s church, and challenges readers to think more carefully about how churches engage in missions. I’m grateful for that.

[Josephine Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book addresses the idea that “everyone is a missionary; everything is missions” is false. I think they do a great job of laying the different sources and testimonies on why they support their ideas. I agree that not everyone is a missionary and that not everything is missions; However, I still have many lingering questions and doubt about how theologically correct the support of their statements are. I love a quote they source by Oswald Chambers, “Prayer does not fit us for the greater work; prayer is the greater work.”

[Molly M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

The overall message is this book is awesome! Challenging in the best way and I found it led me to review how I perceive things. It’s a short and to the point read. I docked a star for the writing style. While the overall message was communicated, sometimes each chapter left me thinking what was the point of this chapter that was different than the last? And if it’s all the same, could there have been a more efficient way to consolidate or organize the thoughts in this book better? Maybe, but either way I’d recommend this book to anyone in ministry or in the church!

[M · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Compelling Argument for True Missions Work

As a missionary serving among unleashed and never-reached peoples, I have a front row seat to the core issues raised by this book. I encourage everyone has considers themselves to be missions minded or missional to read this book. My hope is, that like me, you too will have your default assumptions about missions both affirmed and challenged.

[Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quite compelling. This is an excellent summary of some of the weaknesses of the missional movement, with clear corrections from a scriptural basis. I read this to prepare for a missions conference featuring one of the authors and was not dissapointed. It helped me develop a proper framework for my thinking on missions, evangelism, outreach, etc-- seeing where they overlap and where they are different. Chapters 5 & 6 were the most helpful.

[Reid · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unclear definitions produce unclear efforts.
Great Commission, front line ministry in un-evangelized areas, church planting is missions.

Social gospel, humanitarian, felt need ministry can be good and worthwhile, yet these authors say, don't call it "missions".

[Eric · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book does a good job of raising the issues with mistaken ideas like everything is missions and everyone is a missionary. Unfortunately, the authors do not do as good of a job addressing them. They rely heavily on quotes from other missiologists and missions books.

[Rafael Lione · Rating 4 out of 5]

A must read opening mind work

This is a must read book for everyone who is involved or is thinking about getting involved with the church mission, from pastors, missionaries to lay Christians, there is much to learn from this work.

[Sadie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book helped a ton with diving deeper into missions from things like is “every Christian is a missionary” to things like “what is the difference between Evangelism and missions”. It’s a really enjoyable read that really makes you think and want to dive deeper into certain topics!

[Rachael Harris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read with the missions committee. While it helped to define missions, I still wonder if this view of missions is truly attainable/what God has for everyone, or if, for a topic that is not well defined in the Bible, is a bit legalistic.

[Riley Paige Lara · Rating 5 out of 5]

An extremely tactful work that not only defines missions terms but corrects and convicts missiological values. The Church cannot afford to be wrong in the matters of missions. A well-written and understandable approach that I will highly recommend!

[Zach Hollifield · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clear. Concise. Outstanding.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

While the authors made some very valid points, there were other points that their point was made from 1 example which did not seem a valid sample size.

[Patrick Dickson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quick read! Easy to follow. Profound statements to challenge the church to reconsider the language we use around the word missions. Left me thinking and processing!

[Sharon Mathes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interest on the semantics of missions.