Of those who sense a calling to cross-cultural ministry from an early age, the overwhelming majority have been influenced and driven by church leaders who care about missions and tangibly support missionaries. And if each sound, Bible-believing, evangelical church in the U.S. alone sent just one new missionary, every one of the more than 3,000 unreached, unengaged people groups in the world could gain access to the gospel.
The history of modern missions in the global church is filled with saints who emboldened whole movements of missionaries through their piercing biblical insights and cutting calls to self-denial.
For those preparing to preach on the critical topics of missions, evangelism, or church planting, consider these 25 crucial statements from Christian leaders across a spectrum of viewpoints—all stirring the body of Christ to reach the lost.
Famous Theologian, Pastor, and Missionary Quotes on Evangelism and Missions
- “Expect great things from God. Attempt great things for God.”
(William Carey) - “You have been speaking about William Carey. When I am gone, say nothing about William Carey-speak only about Willam Carey’s Saviour.”
(William Carey) - “I’m not afraid of failure; I’m afraid of succeeding at things that don’t matter.”
(William Carey) - “Depend on it. God’s work done in God’s way will never lack God’s supply. He is too wise a God to frustrate His purposes for lack of funds, and He can just as easily supply them ahead of time as afterwards, and He much prefers doing so.”
(William Carey) - “Some wish to live within the sound of church and chapel bell. I want to run a rescue shop within a yard of hell!”
(C.T. Studd) - “Only one life, ’twill soon be past; Only what’s done for Christ will last.”
(C.T. Studd) - “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) - “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”
(Jim Elliot) - “The history of missions is the history of answered prayer.”
(Samuel Zwemer) - “The spirit of Christ is the spirit of missions. The nearer we get to him, the more intensely missionary we become.”
(Henry Martyn) - “A religion that gives nothing, costs nothing, and suffers nothing, is worth nothing.”
(Martin Luther) - “A good missionary is a good theologian. A good theologian is a good missionary.”
(John Calvin) - “We must be global Christians with a global vision because our God is a global God.”
(John R.W. Stott) - “The gospel is only good news if it gets there in time.”
(Carl F.H. Henry) - “When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.”
(Dietrich Bonhoeffer) - “There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, Mine!”
(Abraham Kuyper) - “The church that does not evangelize will fossilize.”
(Oswald J. Smith) - “If there be anything about which we cannot tolerate lukewarmness, it is in the matter of sending the gospel to a dying world.”
(Charles Spurgeon) - “If sinners will be damned, at least let them leap to Hell over our bodies.”
(Charles Spurgeon) - “Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exists because worship doesn’t.”
(John Piper) - “There is no gospel apart from words. Nobody can be saved by watching deeds.”
(John Piper) - “Every saved person this side of heaven owes the gospel to every lost person this side of hell.”
(David Platt) - “A great deal of our Christianity—much of our ‘churchianity’—is not worth exporting. But the grace of Christ is the precious gift we can send.”
(Lucy Peabody, first ABWE president) - “Missions is the hard rock cure to the American church’s easy-listening habit.”
(Paul Davis, ABWE president) - “Die to self. Live for Christ. And then do what you want, go where you want, for God’s glory.”
(Kevin DeYoung) - “To follow Jesus is to go to war.”
(Ralph Winter)
