Best Christian Books on Missions: 12 Classics on the Great Commission
Start with William Carey's Enquiry into the Obligations of Christians. It is the short book, under an hour's reading, that launched the modern missionary movement in 1792. Carey argued that Christ's command to "teach all nations" still binds the church, and he proposed that Christians organize to obey it. Then read G. Campbell Morgan's The Missionary Manifesto, a study of the Great Commission in all four Gospels.
The classics on missions say a few things over and over. The command comes from the risen Christ, who has all authority, so it has not expired. The power for it is the Holy Spirit, as the book of Acts shows. The greatest obstacle is usually not the far field but the cold heart at home, and so missions begins with prayer and surrender. And every believer has a part, whether they go, send, give or pray. Carey said it plainly:
I wish with all my heart, that every one who loves our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity, would in some way or other engage in it.
An Enquiry into the Obligations of Christians, section V
Here are twelve of the best books about missions in TheWay Library. For the lives of the missionaries themselves, Hudson Taylor, Judson, Paton, Brainerd and others, see our separate guide to the best missionary biographies.
Start here
1. An Enquiry into the Obligations of Christians, by William Carey
Carey was a shoemaker and Baptist pastor in England when he wrote this. In five short sections he defends the duty of missions, reviews missions from the apostles onward, surveys the peoples of the world, answers objections such as distance and danger, and proposes a society to send missionaries. Within a year he was sailing for India himself.
Some think little about it, others are unacquainted with the state of the world, and others love their wealth better than the souls of their fellow-creatures.
An Enquiry into the Obligations of Christians, introduction
2. The Missionary Manifesto, by G. Campbell Morgan
Morgan argues that the four commissions of the risen Christ in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are not one command said four ways. They are four parts of one manifesto: the King's authority, the good news for all creation, the witnesses, and the remission of sins. Short and clear.
Every victory which the Spirit wins for Christ in the believer, is a victory won for Christ through the believer.
The Missionary Manifesto, chapter 4
Read The Missionary Manifesto. See G. Campbell Morgan's books.
The Bible's missionary story
3. The Acts of the Holy Spirit, by Arthur T. Pierson
Pierson reads Acts as the acts of the Holy Spirit, a fifth Gospel of Christ at work through His Spirit. He follows the Spirit's coming, fullness and boldness, His leading, His calling and sending of Paul and Barnabas, and His closing and opening of doors.
No one attribute is more needful to-day for Christ's witnesses than Holy Spirit boldness due to Holy Spirit fullness.
The Acts of the Holy Spirit, chapter 4
Read The Acts of the Holy Spirit. See Arthur T. Pierson's books.
4. The Life of St. Paul, by James Stalker
A compact life of the first great missionary, written for Bible classes, with his three missionary tours traced in order and questions for teachers. For a warmer, devotional telling, read F. B. Meyer's Paul, a Servant of Jesus Christ.
He had brought with him from home the conviction, which forms the basis of a religious life, that the one prize which makes life worth living is the love and favor of God.
The Life of St. Paul, chapter 2
Read The Life of St. Paul, and see James Stalker's books.
The call and the church at home
5. Quiet Talks with World Winners, by S. D. Gordon
Gordon's talks on winning the world to God. The first half looks at God's passion to win people back, the world's need, the open door and the church's past failure. The second half looks at what wins: the church, each believer, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, prayer, money and sacrifice.
The passion of every God-touched man, fresh from direct contact with Him, is to win the whole world up to God.
Quiet Talks with World Winners, Illustrations of God from Our Common Life
Read Quiet Talks with World Winners, and see S. D. Gordon's books.
6. The State of the Church, by Andrew Murray
Murray wrote this after the great Edinburgh missionary conference of 1910. The conference had studied the mission field. Murray turned the question around: the real obstacle to reaching the world, he said, is the low spiritual state of the church at home. He calls for holiness, far more prayer, surrender and a fresh filling with the Spirit.
The primary need is not the multiplication of prayer meetings, but that individual Christians should learn to pray.
The State of the Church, chapter 9
Read The State of the Church. See Andrew Murray's books.
Reports from the missionary century
7. The New Acts of the Apostles, by Arthur T. Pierson
Pierson's lectures on the century of missions since Carey, presented as a continuation of the book of Acts. He gathers new Pentecosts, open doors, pioneers, converts, martyrs and answers to prayer from fields around the world. If you want to see that God was still doing in modern times what He did in Acts, read this. Read The New Acts of the Apostles.
8. A Tour of the Missions, by Augustus Hopkins Strong
Late in life the Baptist theologian toured mission fields in Japan, China, the Philippines, Burma, India, Ceylon and Java to visit his former students. His account is followed by chapters on Scripture and missions and the theology of missions.
The dynamic of missions is love for Christ, who died to save us from the guilt and power of sin.
A Tour of the Missions, Scripture and Missions
9. Narrative of a Mission of Inquiry to the Jews, by Andrew Bonar and Robert Murray M'Cheyne
In 1839 the Church of Scotland sent four ministers, among them the young M'Cheyne and his friend Bonar, to learn the state of the Jewish people. Their journal takes them through Europe, Egypt and the Holy Land, visiting Jewish communities and speaking of Christ. It shows missions done with deep love and careful study.
We told them that we had come from Scotland out of love to their souls.
Narrative of a Mission of Inquiry to the Jews, chapter 2
Read the Narrative. See Andrew A. Bonar's books.
10. The White Fields of France, by Horatius Bonar
Missions is not only far away. Bonar tells how Robert McAll and his wife, after a short visit to Paris in 1871, began gospel meetings among the working people of Belleville, and how the work spread to many halls across Paris and beyond. Read The White Fields of France, and see Horatius Bonar's books.
From the field
11. Overweights of Joy, by Amy Carmichael
Amy Carmichael's first book, Things as They Are, told the hard truth about missionary work among Hindus in South India, and some readers came away discouraged. She wrote this one as its companion: true stories of converts, persecution and answered prayer, so the joy would be heard too. She doesn't hide the cost.
The song is sung in the night: let no one dream the night has passed.
Overweights of Joy, chapter 1
Read Overweights of Joy. See Amy Carmichael's books.
12. China's Spiritual Need and Claims, by J. Hudson Taylor
The appeal that helped found the China Inland Mission. Taylor sets out the millions of China without the gospel, province by province, and asks the church what it will do. Our copy has some scanning errors and its tables are flattened, but the appeal comes through. Read China's Spiritual Need and Claims, and see who Hudson Taylor was.
Also worth knowing
Spurgeon's Twelve Missionary Sermons press Christ's charge to preach to every creature, though the scan is rough in places. F. B. Meyer's The Wideness of God's Mercy argues from Paul's sermons in Acts that God never left any nation without witness, and that this makes the church's message more urgent, not less. For winning people one at a time, see the best Christian books on evangelism.
Where to begin
Read Carey and Morgan first, both in an afternoon. If your heart is cold toward missions, read Murray's State of the Church next. If you want to be stirred by what God has done, read Pierson's New Acts or Amy Carmichael. And then pray the prayer Jesus gave: "Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest" (Matthew 9:38).