What Exactly Do You Do?

Shortly after becoming a Director of Missions, I was engaged in conversation with the president of a community college and he asked a simple question: What exactly do you do?
Following my attempt to provide a satisfactory answer, his response went something like this--"Well, I was just curious. In the academic field, we take someone who can't teach and make them an administrator. I thought maybe in Baptist circles they take someone who can't preach and give them an administrative job."

In time, I learned that the college president was quite adept at the use of humor. I like to think that he was just having a good laugh at my expense that day. Regardless of his motive, I think the question deserves to be honestly asked and accurately answered--"What exactly does a Director of Missions do?

A standard response may refer to a three-fold role of the Director of Missions as represented by the letter M: Minister, Missionary, and Manager. Call me strange, but I kind of like the letter L: Lover, Learner, and Leader. Take the first dimension for instance--lover of God, lover of others, lover of family, the Bible, the church, missions, etc.

Why stop there? A Director of Missions functions in a wide variety of roles: administrator, advocate, builder, catalyst, change agent, chaplain, communicator, community leader, coach, confidant, consultant, coordinator, counselor, denominational representative, director, educator, enabler, encourager, equipper, evangelist, executive, facilitator, fundraiser, historian, innovator,
journalist, leader, manager, mediator, mentor, minister, missionary, pastor, organizer, planner, preacher, planter, reconciler, referee, resource person, supervisor, team leader, teacher, trainer, vision-caster.

What functions would you add to the list? Extra points are awarded for words that begin with Q, Y, or Z. Also, you have permission to use this list in discussions with your Personnel Committee concerning merit raises.

The work of the Director of Missions has its share of joys, privileges, frustrations, and heartaches. It is easy to identify with the apostle Paul when he acknowledged "the daily pressure upon me of concern for all the churches" (II Corinthians 11:28, NASB). The mother of Dr. Jimmy Draper expressed it well when she remarked, "In one sense you belong to everyone and in another sense you belong to no one."

What do you consider to be the three most important roles of a Director of Missions? What do you enjoy most about the work? What brings you the greatest sense of satisfaction and accomplishment? What is your greatest frustration?

What exactly do you do?

Allan Nix, DoM
Jones County Baptist Association
Laurel, MS