The Tip of the Spear

A wooden shaft supports a metal tip, propelled through the air at a target. All energies and efforts are directed toward one goal. The tip of the spear cannot hit its target unless the entire spear is aligned and unless the spear is thrown with the strength and accuracy that comes from practice. 

In God’s global purpose for the church, there is a driving focus, an aim for which we trim and sharpen. Because of that focus, some activities become primary, and others become supportive and secondary. 

Scripture often gives us this clarity of focus, using athletic imagery, like the following passages:

“But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” [Philippians 3:13-14]

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.” [Hebrews 12:1–4]

“For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.” [1 Corinthians 15:3-4]

The focal point of all of God’s work in history is the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Key to that focus is the scripture that has been given to us. God has spoken to us through His Son, now authoritatively recorded in the Bible. Thus, when it comes to our ministry in the church and in obeying the Great Commission to go into all the world, we have a focal point in our work too: the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Gospel proclamation is prioritized because the gospel is the power of God for salvation (Romans 1:16). God is glorified as Jesus is exalted. Whatever we do, we prioritize our reliance upon the work of the Holy Spirit to use the Word of God to bring others to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.

This is the tip of the spear, and all other work serves to support this primary aim.

This priority focus on gospel proclamation is not simply a theological emphasis, it is a ministry emphasis too. What this means practically is that missionaries must know God’s Word and be able to teach it accurately. Churches must send out church planters to preach the Word, for, “how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent?” (Romans 10:14-15)

To use another illustration, an entire war effort works to put men on the front lines fighting the battle. For every soldier in battle, there may be a thousand others supporting him. 

So, too, missions efforts in churches, by agencies, and on the field, all should have this same frontline missionary focus. Many works are fruitful, necessary, good, and in need of our support, but they should not be categorized as themselves being at the tip of the spear. In humility, we must recognize when we are a part of the support network aimed at that primary target. Sometimes we get distracted though, and the means to an end becomes an end itself. Gospel proclamation can fail to happen at a well-crafted event that is meant to provide opportunities for gospel proclamation. Churches can support missionaries for decades, and never see a church formed from those efforts or in connection to those efforts. 

When it comes to a definition of missions and a missionary, it is quite appropriate then to have a very narrow understanding that is limited and focused on this single most important task. Also, we should keep in mind that a narrow focus like that on the tip of the spear can forget the rest of the spear and all the support work that undergirds it. Without the deacons in Acts 6, the elders would not be able to focus on the ministry of the Word and prayer. Without the administration of mission agencies, donors who give, interns, short-term trips, logistical support, nannies, humanitarian aid, creative access occupations, and much more, many missionaries would not be able to do their work. 

If you are a sender, don’t hesitate to consider a much broader range of mission efforts. In the grand scheme of things, you are much more likely to face those people. Very few of our best and brightest elder-qualified men will have the capacity to sufficiently learn another language and culture and can go where no others have gone. But your support of a faithful servant to come alongside those church planters might be just what they need to stay long-term. Just like a pastor may be the only one who authoritatively preaches the Word on a Sunday morning, so too one single missionary may be the only one planting churches in another culture. But just like that doesn’t mean that the pastor is the only one showing up on Sunday morning and serving the church, so too that church planter is not the only person we should be sending overseas to unreached people groups.

So, who is penetrating the darkness with the gospel of Jesus Christ? Who is at the spearhead of missions, planting churches cross-culturally where the gospel has not taken a foothold? And how are we all supporting them together?