Home Outreach Leaders Articles for Outreach & Missions Who Will Hold the Ropes: A Plea for Great Commission Pastors and...

Who Will Hold the Ropes: A Plea for Great Commission Pastors and Churches

Pastors Hold the Ropes by Building Missions Culture

What does it look like for a pastor to hold the ropes? I would suggest it at least means embracing two overlapping priorities. First, rope-holders cultivate a Great Commission culture in their churches. They preach and teach about God’s global vision and their church’s part in God’s mission. They praying fervently and regularly for missionaries, and they lead their churches to give generously, even sacrificially, to missions through the Cooperative Program and the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering®.

They encourage and equip members to be evangelistic and committed to disciple making here, there and everywhere. Their churches provide members with short-term mission trip opportunities when possible with missionaries who have been sent out from the church, or are at least known to the church.

Pastors Hold the Ropes by Developing Strong Missionary Care

Second, rope-holders lead their churches to care for the spiritual lives of missionaries. Members regularly communicate with missionaries through email, Skype, phone calls and other means. In addition to short-term mission teams, pastors and other leaders visit missionaries periodically to pray with them, bring them supplies (and treats!), and just spend time encouraging them as brothers and sisters in Christ.

Churches pray for specific needs shared by missionaries to whom they are connected and rejoice in answered prayers. They provide housing and other material benefits to missionaries who are in the United States on stateside assignment. They also help stateside missionaries adjust as best they can during their season at home, while also giving those missionaries the freedom to lovingly challenge the church to be even more intentional in their support for global missions.

Every missionary needs at least one rope-holding pastor who is leading a rope-holding church to support the global spread of the gospel. Southern Baptists need to be a convention of rope-holding congregations that sacrificially support the cause of evangelism and church planting among all the peoples of the earth, for the glory of God and the advance of his kingdom. For whom will you hold the ropes today?


Nathan A. Finn is dean of the School of Theology and Missions and professor of Christian thought and tradition at Union University in Jackson, Tennessee.


One of the ways you can hold the ropes is through prayer. Learn how to pray for missionary work around the globe here.