Mission Affirmed: Recovering the Missionary Motivation of Paul (Gospel Coalition)

“Clark calls missionaries and the churches that support them to faithful ministry that looks to God’s approval and to the reward God gives. We are so quick to live for the praise of people instead of the praise of God. Clark also corrects the idea that Paul invariably planted churches and then moved quickly on to the next field. Instead, we see that Paul continued to labor and work with churches so that they were established in truth. I would love to see every missionary and every church sending and supporting missionaries (which should be all churches!) read this book.”

“Mission Affirmed is immensely practical, challenging, accessible, and hopeful. It is a call to be more thoroughly and thoughtfully biblical about why we do the things we do in missions. All of us— whether pastors or church members, goers or senders—could all benefit from this insightful book.”

“The greatest dangers facing the church are internal, but they’re not always obvious. In Mission Affirmed, Elliot Clark reminds us of an unnoticed, even celebrated, danger undermining our mission—the lure of selfish motivations and worldly means to accomplish the Great Commission. Instead, Clark argues, we must embrace Paul’s eschatological motivation. Paul’s longing to be approved by God on the last day fueled his missionary desire and guided his missiological methods. By recovering Paul’s motivation for missions, we, too, will long to please the God who has already accepted us in Christ by his grace, and we will eschew the praise of others. Churches, pastors, Christians, missionaries, sending agencies—we all need this vital reminder.”

“Elliot Clark is unafraid to poke at sleeping bears in the world of missions. Are current mission movements biblical? Should we translate the Bible so that it is more palatable to those of other faiths? Are sending churches scrupulous about those they send? For answers, Clark looks to missiologists, missionaries old and new, and his own personal examples, but most of all, thankfully, Clark zeroes in on the apostle Paul and his work in the early church. From Paul’s examples, Clark issues both warnings and helpful corrections so that we will not be disqualified as we run the race of missions.”