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?