Are missionaries biblical?
Absolutely not. The reason, of course, is that “missionary” is a Latin-based word and the Bible was written in Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek. So, no, this Latin word is not in the original manuscripts.
As far as the equivalent of missionary, yes, of course it is in the Bible! The equivalent New Testament word is the Greek word apostolos which is translated as ‘apostle.’ Now, my advanced theology professor, Dr. William Bevier, would be scolding me right now if he weren’t enjoying the presence of the Lord in heaven because he would say that ‘apostle’ is a transliteration, not a translation. In other words, I just took the sound of the Greek word and transliterated it into English. So, the translation of apostolos is ‘one who is sent out’ just like the translation of the Latin word missionarius is ‘one who is sent out.’
But, isn’t the word “apostle” reserved for those super-spiritual humans who were eyewitnesses of Jesus? Actually, no.
First of all, if those eyewitnesses were the only ones who could be sent out to tell the truth about Jesus, we’re in a sorry state because all of them died about 2000 years ago.
Second, others are called apostles throughout the New Testament in the sense that they were ‘sent ones.’ Jesus himself was called “the apostle and high priest of our confession” because he was sent from God the Father as the Savior. Titus and others were included in the group of apostles in 2 Cor 8.23, Epaphroditus was called an apostle in Php 2.25 and Barnabas was included in the discussion of apostles in 1Co 9.5-6.
So, yes, the idea of a missionary (though not the Latin word) is biblical with the word “apostle,” and the sending of messengers is thoroughly biblical as many were sent out by Jesus (q.v. Mat 10, Luk 10) or by churches (q.v. Act 13). The more disconcerting issue is that not only were there missionaries in the Bible, but there were also false missionaries (Rev. 2.2). They are the ones you need to be concerned about.
