Inspiring world missions slogans, mottos, and quotes
Christian leaders have used well-crafted pithy sayings like
these to emphasize the biblical call to spread the Gospel worldwide.
These world missions slogans and sayings have sparked missionary zeal among
Christ-followers.
"Some are trapped in boxes of pea-sized Christianity, full of myths about missions
that rob them of incentive to care about the unreached" --David Bryant in In the
Gap
Powerful World Christian sayings: Famous quotes about Christian
missions
Fulfilling Christ's Great Commission
"From everywhere to everyone." -- Samuel Escobar
Do you need a reason for being involved in global mission? Do you need inspiration, ideas,
or a rallying cry for a sermon or message on world missions? Are you involved in teaching or
learning about global outreach? Would you like to sense the burden and hear the cry of a
cross-cultural missionary's heart? Need some wall plaques or banners with mottos for a Faith
Promise event? Do you need a slogan for a special missions Sunday? Quotations from
missionary giants like William Carey and Hudson Taylor have served to inspire passion for and
involvement in the Christian global missionary movement.
Why missions? World evangelism has advanced under the banner of inspiring missionary
slogans, mottos, and quotes like these on this page:
Quotes on Missionary Work
Note: The quotes appear in alphabetical order according to the author's last
name.
"A church that is not a missionary church is contradicting itself and quenching the
Spirit." – Lausanne Covenant
"Missionary zeal does not grow out of intellectual
beliefs, nor out of theological arguments, but out of love" — Roland
Allen
"'Not called!' did you say?
'Not heard the call,' I think you should say.
Put your ear down to the Bible, and hear Him bid you go and pull sinners out of the fire of sin.
Put your ear down to the burdened, agonized heart of humanity and listen to its pitiful wail for
help. Go stand by the gates of hell, and hear the damned entreat you to go to their father's house
and bid their brothers and sisters and servants and masters not to come there. Then look Christ in
the face — whose mercy you have professed to obey — and tell Him whether you
will join heart and soul and body and circumstances in the march to publish His mercy to the
world. — William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army
"If the Church is 'in Christ,' she is involved in mission. Her
whole existence then has a missionary character. Her conduct, as well as her words, will
convince the unbelievers and put their ignorance and stupidity to silence." — David
Bosch
"If ten men are carrying a log — nine of them on the
little end and one at the heavy end — and you want to help, which end will you lift on?"
— William "Bill" Borden, a missionary candidate as he reflected on the numbers of Christian
workers in the U.S. as compared to those among unreached peoples in China
"We are debtors to every man to give him the gospel in the
same measure in which we have received it" — P.F. Bresee, founder of the Church of the
Nazarene (Engage magazine
article)
When James Calvert went out as a missionary to the
cannibals of the Fiji Islands, the ship captain tried to turn him back, saying, "You will lose
your life and the lives of those with you if you go among such savages." To that, Calvert
replied, "We died before we came here."
"Expect great things from God; attempt great things for God"
— William Carey, who is called
the father of modern missions [
more info ]
"To know the will of God, we need an open Bible and an
open map." — William Carey, pioneer missionary to India
"Is not the commission of our Lord still binding upon us?
Can we not do more than now we are doing?" — William Carey
"You can give without loving. But you cannot love without
giving." — Amy Carmichael, missionary to India
"If you found a cure for cancer, wouldn't it be inconceivable
to hide it from the rest of mankind? How much more inconceivable to keep silent the cure from
the eternal wages of death." — Dave Davidson
"World missions was on God's mind from the beginning."
— Dave Davidson
"In our lifetime, wouldn't it be sad if we spent more time
washing dishes or swatting flies or mowing the yard or watching television than praying for
world missions?" — Dave Davidson
"Love is the root of missions; sacrifice is the fruit of
missions" — Roderick Davis
"We can reach our world if we will. The greatest lack today
is not people or funds. The greatest need is prayer." — Wesley Duewel, head of OMS
International
"In no other way can the believer become as fully involved
with God's work, especially the work of world evangelism, as in intercessory prayer." —
Dick Eastman, president of Every Home for Christ (formerly World Literature Crusade)
"People who don't believe in missions have not read the New
Testament. Right from the beginning, Jesus said the field is the world. The early church took Him
at His word and went East, West, North and South." — J. Howard Edington, pastor, educator and author
"He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain that
which he cannot lose" — Jim Elliot, missionary martyr who lost his life in the late 1950s
trying to reach the Waorani (Auca) Indians of Ecuador
"A congregation that is not deeply and earnestly involved in
the worldwide proclamation of the gospel does not understand the nature of salvation." —
Ted Engstrom, World Vision (Engage magazine article)
"As long as there are millions destitute of the Word of God
and knowledge of Jesus Christ, it will be impossible for me to devote time and energy to those
who have both." — J. L. Ewen
"It is not in our choice to spread the gospel or not. It is our
death if we do not." — Peter Taylor Forsyth, Scottish theologian
"I thought it reasonable that I should seek the work where the
work was the most abundant and the workers fewest." — Scottish missionary James
Gilmour on why he went to Mongolia
"This generation of Christians is responsible for this
generation of souls on the earth!" — Keith Green
"If God calls you to be a missionary, don't stoop to be a king"
— Jordan Grooms (variations of this also credited to G. K. Chesterson, Thomas Carlyle,
and Charles Haddon Spurgeon)
"If you take missions out of the Bible, you won't have
anything left but the covers" — Nina Gunter, missions
mobilizer (Engage magazine article)
"The gospel is only good news if it gets there in time"
— Carl F. H. Henry (Engage magazine article)
"Since God is a missionary God, God's people are a missionary people." — Eddy Ho ( Engage magazine article)
"God was the first-ever missionary when in Genesis 3:8 he
went out in search of two sinners who had rebelled against Him in order to bring them back into
fellowship with Him." -- Eddy Ho
"'Go ye' is as much a part of Christ's Gospel as 'Come unto
Me.' You are not even a Christian until you have honestly faced your responsibility in regard to
the carrying of the Gospel to the ends of the earth." — J. Stuart Holden, pastor, author and chairpeson of the Keswick Convention
"I believe that in each generation God has called enough men
and women to evangelize all the yet unreached tribes of the earth. It is not God who does not call.
It is man who will not respond!" — Isobel Kuhn, missionary to China and Thailand [
A story from China ]
"If God's love is for anybody anywhere, it's for
everybody everywhere." — Edward Lawlor, Nazarene
General Superintendent (Engage magazine article)
"If a commission by an earthly king is considered an honor,
how can a commission by a Heavenly King be considered a sacrifice?" — David Livingstone, missionary to Africa
"Sympathy is no substitute for action." — David Livingstone, missionary to Africa
"The spirit of Christ is the spirit of missions. The nearer we
get to Him, the more intensely missionary we become." — Henry Martyn, missionary to India and Persia (Engage
magazine article)
"The will of God — nothing less, nothing more,
nothing else." — F. E. Marsh (also attributed to Bobby Richardson)
"In the vast plain to the north, I have sometimes
seen, in the morning sun, the smoke of a thousand villages where no missionary has ever been"
— Robert Moffat, who
inspired David Livingstone
"If the Great Commission is true, our plans are not too big;
they are too small." — Pat Morley
"Can't you do just a little bit more?" — J.G. Morrison
pleading with Nazarenes in the 1930s Great Depression to support their missionaries
"It is possible for the most obscure person in a
church, with a heart right toward God, to exercise as much power for the evangelization of the
world as it is for those who stand in the most prominent positions." — John R. Mott
"God is a God of missions. He wills missions. He commands
missions. He demands missions. He made missions possible through His Son. He made missions
actual in sending the Holy Spirit." — George W. Peters
"Let my heart be broken with the things that break God's
heart" — Bob Pierce, World Vision founder (Engage magazine article)
"If missions languish, it is because the whole life of godliness
is feeble. The command to go everywhere and preach to everybody is not obeyed until the will is
lost by self-surrender in the will of God. Living, praying, giving and going will always be found
together." — Arthur T. Pierson, Presbyterian pastor
"Missions is the overflow of our delight in God because
missions is the overflow of God's delight in being God." — John Piper, pastor and
author
"To belong to Jesus is to embrace the nations with Him."
— John Piper, pastor and author
"God is pursuing with omnipotent passion a worldwide
purpose of gathering joyful worshipers for Himself from every tribe and tongue and people and
nation. He has an inexhaustible enthusiasm for the supremacy of His name among the nations.
Therefore, let us bring our affections into line with His, and, for the sake of His name, let us
renounce the quest for worldly comforts and join His global purpose." — John Piper,
pastor and author
"Go, send, or disobey." — John Piper, pastor and
author
"All the money needed to send and support an army of
self-sacrificing, joy-spreading ambassadors is already in the church." — John Piper, pastor
and author
"What's your dream and to what corner of the missions world
will it take you?" — Eleanor Roat, missions mobilizer
"The command has been to 'go,' but we have
stayed — in body, gifts, prayer, and influence. He has asked us to be witnesses unto the
uttermost parts of the earth ... but 99% of Christians have kept puttering around in the
homeland." — Robert Savage, Latin American Mission
"People who do not know the Lord ask why in the world we
waste our lives as missionaries. They forget that they too are expending their lives ... and when
the bubble has burst, they will have nothing of eternal significance to show for the years they
have wasted." — Nate Saint, missionary martyr [ devotional thoughts ]
"Our God of Grace often gives us a second chance, but there
is no second chance to harvest a ripe crop." — Kurt von Schleicher [ Apple pickers' parable ]
"Never pity missionaries; envy them. They are where the real
action is — where life and death, sin and grace, Heaven and Hell converge." —
Robert C. Shannon, pastor and author
"The Christian is not obedient unless he is
doing all in his power to send the Gospel to the heathen world." — A. B. Simpson, founder of the Christian and Missionary Alliance [ missionary hymns by
Simpson ]
"Prayer is the mighty engine that is to move the missionary
work." — A.B. Simpson, founder of the Christian and Missionary Alliance
"To stay here and disobey God — I can't
afford to take the consequence. I would rather go and obey God than stay here and know that I
disobeyed." — Amanda
Berry Smith, missionary to Africa and India
"No one has the right to hear the gospel twice, while there
remains someone who has not heard it once." — Oswald J. Smith, pastor
"Any church that is not seriously involved in helping fulfill
the Great Commission has forfeited its biblical right to exist." — Oswald J. Smith, pastor
"The mission of the church is missions" — Oswald J. Smith, pastor
"We talk of the Second Coming. Half the world has never heard of the first." — Oswald J. Smith, pastor
"There is nothing in the world or the Church — except the church's disobedience — to render the evangelization of the world in this generation an impossibility." — Robert Speer, Student Volunteer Movement leader
"Someone asked, 'Will the heathen who have never
heard the Gospel be saved?' It is more a question with me whether we — who have
the Gospel and fail to give it to those who have not — can be saved." — Charles
Spurgeon
"The mark of a great church is not its seating capacity, but its
sending capacity." — Mike Stachura
"The concern for world evangelization is not something
tacked on to a man's personal Christianity, which he may take or leave as he chooses. It is rooted
in the character of the God who has come to us in Christ Jesus. Thus, it can never be the province
of a few enthusiasts, a sideline, or a specialty of those who happen to have a bent that way. It is
the distinctive mark of being a Christian." — James S. Stewart
"We must be global Christians with a global vision because
our God is a global God." — John Stott
"Some wish to live within the sound of a chapel
bell; I wish to run a rescue mission within a yard of hell." — C.T. Studd, world-class athlete who
founded a missionary organization and was himself amissionary
"If Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to
make for Him." — C.T. Studd
"Christ wants not nibblers of the possible, but grabbers of the
impossible." — C.T. Studd. missionary
"The evangelization of the world waits not on the readiness
of God but on the obedience of Christians." -- Bill M. Sullivan. Pastor
"God's work done in God's way will never lack God's supply"
— Hudson Taylor. missionary to China
"God isn't looking for people of great faith, but for
individuals ready to follow Him" — Hudson Taylor. missionary to Chia
"The Great
Commission1 is not an option to be considered; it is a command to be obeyed" — Hudson Taylor. missionary to China (Engage magazine article)
"If I had 1,000 lives, I'd give them all for China" — Hudson Taylor [ A story from China ]
"God uses men who are weak and feeble enough to lean on him." — Hudson Taylor, missionary to China
"The Church must send, or the Church will end." — Mendell Taylor, church historian (Engage magazine article)
"The man or woman at home who prays often has as much to do with the effectiveness of the missionary on the field, and consequently with the results of his or her labors, as the missionary." — R. A. Torrey, Congregational evangelist and
pastor
"The Bible is not the basis of missions; missions is the basis of the Bible" — Ralph Winter, missiologist (Engage magazine article)
the importance of mission education: "God cannot lead you on the basis of information you do not have" — Ralph Winter, missiologist
"Lost people matter to God, and so they must matter to us." — Keith Wright, pastor (Engage magazine article)
"The reason some folks don't believe in missions is that the brand of religion they have isn't worth propagating." — unknown
"Only as the church fulfills her missionary obligation does she justify her existence." — Unknown
"The true greatness of any church is not how many it seats but how many it sends!" — Unknown
"Missions is not the 'ministry of choice' for a few hyperactive Christians in the church. Missions is the purpose of the church." — Unknown
"The average pastor views his church as a local church with a missions program; while he ought to realize that if he is in fact pastoring a church, it is to be a global church with a missions purpose." — Unknown
"The best remedy for a sick church is to put it on a missionary diet." — Unknown
"Tell the students to give up their small ambitions and come eastward to preach the gospel of Christ." — Francis Xavier, missionary to India, the Philippines, and Japan
"Believers who have the gospel keep mumbling it over and over to themselves. Meanwhile, millions who have never heard it once fall into the flames of eternal hell without ever hearing the salvation story." — K.P. Yohannan, founder of
Gospel for Asia Bible Society
"I have but one passion: It is He, it is He alone. The world is the field, and the field is the world; and henceforth that country shall be my home where I can be most used in winning souls for Christ." — Count Nicolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf
"The history of missions is the history of answered prayer." — Samuel Zwemer, missionary to Muslims
"Do these quotes not put the weight of the world's salvation on your heart? No, not one of us will be able to reach all ends of the earth. However, many of us can." -- Karen Allore,
children's pastor
-- compiled by Howard Culbertson,
1Who was the first to use the phrase Great Commission? It
may have been Dutch missionary Justinian von Welz (1621-1688). Nearly 200 years later,
Hudson Taylor really popularized the use of the phrase "Great Commission" to describe
Matthew 28:19-20.
Reflection questions
What are some of the best reasons and motivations given in these quotes for engaging in
world missions?
Which of these quotes might best challenge and inspire Christians today to action?
Which of these quotes best emphasize the responsibility and urgency of sharing the gospel
with those still totally unreached by the Gospel message?
What do these quotes have to say about the need for personal sacrifice in fulfilling the Great
Commission? Which of speak most clearly about the need for prayer and obedience?
" Our goal: Depopulate hell. Our strategy: Go to the four corners of the Earth and raise as many churches as possible so to give all the nations the opportunity to hear the Gospel message." -- Veronica Roesly, Nazarene Bible College Student
