Please Don't Send Me To Africa!

"I will NEVER be a missionary!"

Or so was my plan. I went to Bible college with the intent on getting a pastoral ministries degree. After that, I would work my way to become the pastor of a church and live a nice, comfortable American life.

People warned me not to tell God what I wouldn't do or he would make me do it. But that's just not true. I spent two years over seas, but not because God made me go. God changed me so that I wanted to go.

When confronted with the prospect of going into missions, many objections come.

"There's so much to do here."

"I'm too established to pack up and move."

"I can't go; I don't know enough."

"It's too dangerous."

And on and on.

While there may be some basis to some of these reasons (namely, work to be done at home), I think people too quickly resort to these reasons not to do missions. I think underneath all of our unwillingness to be involved in missions, there's a common, often unspoken thing: failing to submit to Christ's authority.

Christ's authority is the ground of missions. The Great Commission doesn't begin with "Go and make disciples." It begins when Jesus declares: "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me" (Matthew 28:18-20). So when we do not participate in the command to "make disciples," in essence we are rebelling against the authority of Christ. We are denying that he has the right to give us commands. We're saying that he can't tell us what to do.

Christ's Authority to Build His Church

I do want to briefly address the objections to the danger/hard work of missions. When we read the Gospels, we see Jesus say, "I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it" (Matt 16:18). This is not a possibility. Jesus doesn't say that he might build his Church. No, he says he WILL build his church - no doubt about it. And no persecution, no problems, no disaster, no assault from Hell itself will be able to stop him.

Elsewhere, Jesus says, "I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd" (John 10:16).

Notice three things:

1. Jesus has other followers outside of Israel. Who are these "other sheep"? They are the ones that Christ "ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation" (Revelation 5:9). His other sheep are all of the people who will believe in him and be saved.
2. Jesus MUST bring them. He will not go on without them. They are his sheep, and he will not be content to let them to be lost.
3. They WILL listen to him. Sure, there will be some who reject the message. There will be those who hate the Gospel and everything that we stand for. But those that are of Christ's flock will hear the gospel and be saved, even if it doesn't happen immediately.

We need not fear the danger of doing missions. And we shouldn't shy away from the hard work of bringing the gospel to the nations. Why? Because Jesus is in charge and HE WILL NOT FAIL!

So Why Not Go?

When I continually refused to consider going into missions, I was acting arrogantly. Subtly, I was telling the risen King Jesus that he could not tell me what he wanted to have me do. I was refusing to participate in the good works that God had prepared for me to do (Ephesians 2:10).

Thank God for Dr. George Murray. He spoke in one of my college classes, and his topic was the Lordship of Christ. But he started by analyzing the Great Commission and talking about all the nuances of the Greek and stuff. It was all old news, as I had done some research on it myself. But then he turned back from the Commission and started talking about the Commissioner. He lovingly reminded us that Jesus is the one who has authority over our lives. He pointed out that most people have a life plan that they expect God to sign off on, but that God wants us to sign off on a blank contract, where he can fill in the terms and conditions as he sees fit.

Hopefully, I have challenged you to do the same, to consider Jesus' authority over your life and his right to have you do stuff that is even painful for his name's sake.

Father, give us all hearts that submit to the perfect will of your Son, and may we walk in joyful obedience. Amen.

How does Christ's authority inspire you? How does knowing that his mission will not fail give you the confidence to do hard things, whether serving the poor, sharing your faith, or carrying the gospel to the nations?

The Beauty and Necessity of Missions

This is post #3 about missions. View my first post and my second post.

Romans 10 contains one of the greatest promises in all of Scripture. Without such a promise, we would all be lost, doomed to a Christless eternity under God's wrath, paying the penalty for our failure to honor and worship God (2 Thessalonians 1:9; Romans 1:18-23). But God was not content to send all of us to hell as we deserve. He gave his own Son to die for our sins so that we could live with him (John 3:16, Romans 3:21-26, Romans 5:8). And he gives us the greatest promise in the world:

For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Romans 10:13)

Who is it for? Everyone. No matter where your from, no matter what you've done. If you are a living, breathing human being (and if you are reading this, you are), then this promise is for you.

What's the offer? To be saved. Given eternal life with God rather than eternal punishment as we deserve. To be given new life and set free from the sin that has cut us off from God. To have the God of the universe look at you and, rather than see your imperfection, to call you righteous.

What do you have to do to "cash in"? Call on him. Acknowledge that he is and will be the Lord and Master of your life. That he is your King. Confess Jesus Christ as risen Lord (see Romans 10:9-10).

There is salvation no other way. Only through Jesus do we find salvation and have access to God (Acts 4:12; John 14:6). So by acknowledging Christ as our Lord, we receive salvation. To not call on him, to not make him Lord and King of your heart is to remain condemned.

Calling on Christ as Lord implies belief. Romans 10:14 makes it clear: "How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed?" Belief comes from the heart (Romans 10:9-10) and implies not only mental assent to certain facts, but a commitment to and trust in the one being believed. So to believe in Christ and call on him in a saving way, we must trust him, rely on him, cling to him, and obey him. But he is not a hard Master. In fact he even promises that he is gentle and that his burden is easy and his yoke is light (Matthew 11:29-30).

It's no wonder why we call this message "good news!"

Not Great News

This is not good news to everyone though. "But wait just a minute," you say. "You just said that this promise is for EVERYONE. Therefore it's good news for EVERYONE, right?" Yes. And no.

This good news is for every person on earth. But not every person on earth knows it. So what good is the news if you don't even know about it? Is a miracle cure for cancer good news to the person who hasn't heard of it? Likewise with the gospel. The rest of Romans 10:14 asks, "? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard?" You can't trust someone you haven't heard of.

Hearing the Good News

We've seen that it's necessary for people to believe and call upon the Lord to be saved. But how do they hear the message? In fact, as Romans 10:14 closes out: "And how are they to hear without someone preaching?"

So here we see the necessity of doing missions. Unless someone goes and takes the gosepl to those who have never heard, they will never believe in Christ. And if they don't believe, they'll never call to him for salvation. There can be no other way for the nations to believe unless people go to them and tell them the good news. Missionaries must go, learn a new language and culture, meet people, preach the gospel, and possibly suffer and die for Christ to take the gospel to the nations.

We are all to be involved in missions in one of two ways: go or send. Goers, as the name implies, go where the gospel is not and take the gospel to people who do not have it. And there are senders - those who pray for and give to and support missionaries. Romans 10:15 makes this relationship clear: "And how are they [goers] to preach unless they are sent [by senders]?"

A Beautiful Calling

Being a missionary is a hard calling. It demands daily dying. It means loss and often suffering on many levels.

Being a missionary is also a necessary calling. Without missionaries, the gospel cannot reach those who do not have it. Without missionaries, the gospel won't spread tot he nations, and the end won't come.

But being a missionary is also (and most importantly) a beautiful calling. Romans 10:15 closes with this exhortation: "As it is written, 'How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!'" We should all pray to have this beautiful calling and seek possible ways to enter in to it. But if God sees it fit not to call you to go, then rejoice and pray and give as a faithful sender!