A Heart for Missions

For the Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.

Luke 19:10

Several years ago, I was talking to an aquaintance whose husband is in the ministry.  In the course of our conversation, I mentioned a recent overseas mission trip that I had taken. With a look of distaste, the woman responded.

"My husband and I have never had any desire to go on a mission trip.  It's just not something that we are interested in."

I was shocked that she would actually voice such a view, but since that time I have come across hundreds of church members who share that same sentiment.  They view missions as an "elective" of the Christian walk; one that they can take or leave at will.  However, they fail to recognize that, to have a heart after God's own heart, we must have a heart for missions.

In Luke, Jesus states that He, the Son of Man, came to seek and save the lost.  In today's language, we could say that Luke 19:10 is Jesus' purpose statement.   It is the reason that He was born in that stable in Bethlehem and it is the reason that He laid down His life at Calvary. Missions was at the very heart of Jesus's ministry and, as followers of Jesus Christ, we should have a heart for missions, as well.

The focus of the Christian walk should be to become more like Christ daily.  Henry Martyn, a 19th-century missionary to India and Persia, who died on the field at the age of 31, said, "The spirit of Christ is the spirit of missions. The nearer we get to Him, the more intensely missionary we become." A missionary heart is the natural result of a growing walk with Christ.

Now, I am not saying that if you haven't been on a mission trip then you have a shallow Christian walk.  There are many reasons why we may not be able to go, ranging from financial to health issues to family responsibilities.  However, if you have a heart for missions, even if you cannot go yourself, you will be committed to regularly praying for those who do go and helping in any way that you can to send them. 

The fact is, if you truly have a heart for missions, you will already be actively evangelizing the lost in your own community.  Many Christians believe that modeling the Christian life at work or in their neighborhood is sufficient to evangelize the lost, but they are mistaken.  Living the Christian life is just a prerequisite to evangelism. The word itself is derived from the "good news" that we call the Gospel.  Good news must be shared verbally with others.

Is your heart in sync with God's heart when it comes to the lost?  When was the last time that you grieved over the lostness of a co-worker or family member? Take time today to evaluate where your heart is in relation to the heart of Christ.

The Missionary's Motto

To the weak I became as weak, that I might win the weak. I have
 become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.

I Corinthians 9:22

 

 

Part Four: Laying Aside My Self, For the Sake of Others

 

 

Many years ago, I had a friend who got a job as a secretary to a Jewish rabbi.  Raised in a Baptist church, she was a little nervous about the job, unsure what would be expected of her.  Her fears proved to be unfounded.  The rabbi was a good boss and she enjoyed her work.  Several months passed and as Christmas approached, she wondered about whether it would be appropriate to buy her boss a present.  When she overheard him telling another worker about how much he liked the Christmas present that one of his Christian friends had given him, she decided that it would be alright for her to do the same.

 

Her good intentions quickly turned to disaster.  When it came to choosing a gift for the rabbi, her lack of understanding of the Jewish faith became her downfall.  I can only imagine her chagrin when her boss kindly rejected the present that she had brought for him; a nice, big Honeybaked Ham. Fortunately for my friend, her boss was a very understanding man and was not offended by her gift, realizing that her intention was to honor him.

 

On the mission field, it is vital that we go beyond good intentions. We must make a concerted effort not to offend the sensibilities of those that we seek to evangelize. Instead, we must understand the culture that we are entering into and work within that culture to reach the lost. Like the apostle, Paul, we must strive to become "all things to all men." However, this process does not come naturally to most of us because it requires sacrifice on our part; not a sacrifice of time and money, but a sacrifice of who we perceive ourselves to be.

 

In order to become all things, we must first lay aside our selves.  That may mean letting go of the things that are so much of who we are: our personal rights, the way we like to dress, how we talk and act; so as not to offend those that we have come to serve.  It is vital on the mission field (as it should be when we are at home) that we remove from our lives any thing that might hinder us from evangelizing the lost.

 

It is not surprising that the word "selfish" comes from the word "self."  If we focus on our selves, we have nothing to give to others.  Selfishness is the antithesis of love because selfishness is to love one's self.  The ability to reach the lost for Christ requires a denial of self.  Jesus showed us this at the cross.

 

Whether you are preparing for your hundredth missionary trip or just considering the possibility of going, remember the missionary's motto: "I have become all things to all men."  Ask yourself if you have reached the point in your spiritual walk where you have laid down your self and allowed yourself to be used by Christ to reach the world.

Do Not Disturb

Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice,

 and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.

Revelation 3:20

Of all the verses in the Bible, this one is probably the most misapplied.  We hear it used often at revivals.  We have probably used it ourselves when sharing Christ with the lost.  However, what many Christians don't realize is that this verse was intended for believers rather than for the lost.

Now don't get me wrong, that doesn't mean that we cannot use this verse when leading someone to the Lord.  However, since Jesus was speaking to us, the Church, when He said this; surely it is vital that we look at what He said in that context.  Jesus is knocking at the door of the Christian's heart (our heart) and asking to come in.  How can that be?, we may ask ourselves. As a believer, we have already accepted Him into our hearts.  Why would Jesus need to tell us that He is standing at our heart's door and knocking to come in?  The reason is that many of us have hung a "Do Not Disturb" sign on our heart.

Why would a believer hang a "Do Not Disturb" sign on their heart?  The answer is simple enough: We are afraid of what Jesus might ask us to do.  After all, if we open our hearts completely to God, He may ask us to risk our jobs by witnessing to a lost co-worker.  Or He may question the emphasis that we place on our children's sports programs.  If we answer the knock on our heart, Jesus might come in and interrupt our weekly schedule- and that might mean missing our favorite TV show or the time we spend with our favorite hobby.  Opening that door might invite Jesus to begin messing with our finances; and do we really want to answer to Him about how we are spending our money?  Even worse, He may ask us to re-evaluate into whose hands we have placed the education of our children- and why.

Face it, opening the door to our hearts is scary.  There is just no telling where it might take you, but I do know this:  Opening the door to Christ will take you off that sofa and into a dark, lost world.  It will bring you hardships and sorrow- and you may never be able to call another minute your own.  But by letting Christ in, you will begin to have the kind of spiritual relationship that you were meant to have.  So throw open that door and let Christ use you to change the world.

Gotta go.  I think I hear someone knocking at the door...

The Power of Prayer

If you ask anything in my name, I will do it.

John 14:14

My birthday was this week and I can never celebrate a birthday without remembering the birthday that God used to remind me of the power of prayer.  My husband and I had been serving as missionaries in Indonesia for a couple of years.  Our teenage daughters were involved in a youth group called International Christian Youth, which was made up of high school students from a dozen different countries.

After one of the weekly Bible studies, my husband came home and told me that he had been asked to be the speaker for their annual retreat and wanted me to be one of the counselors.  That was no problem for me, until I found out that the retreat fell on my birthday.  As much as I enjoyed working with youth, I have to admit that I wasn't overjoyed at the idea of spending my birthday with a hundred noisy teens. I finally agreed, grudgingly, to go.

Arriving at the retreat site, we quickly discovered that the facilities were more rustic than we had expected- and that's saying a lot when you have been living in a third world country for a few years!  Our room consisted of a set of rickety bunk beds and was crawling (quite literally) with insects and lizards.  The bathroom contained a squatty potty (basically a hole in the floor over which you squatted) and a sink equipped with cold water only.  Since the temperatures hit close to 100 degrees and there was no air conditioning, it seemed that the cold water would come in handy. I'd like to say that I didn't grumble about the living conditions, but that wouldn't be the truth.  I had a terrible attitude about the whole thing.  Fortunately, God can use us; even despite ourselves.  Just look at Jonah!

Many of the youth had brought along lost friends from the international school or their neighborhoods.  Despite my bad attitude, it was hard to resist the atmosphere of love among those youth and the earnest desire to see their friends come to Christ.  The final night of the retreat, my husband led an appeal for the lost to come forth and receive Jesus as their Savior.  We were overjoyed to see twelve teens come down and accept Christ.

I had to admit that the ride home was not terribly pleasant for me.  The Lord was really dealing with me about my attitude about the retreat and I had to get my own heart right with God.  I couldn't help but wonder at the fact that He had so blessed the retreat, despite me and my hard heart. My daughter helped me to put it into perspective.  She was looking through our recent copy of the International Missionary Board's prayer calendar.

"Look, Mom," she said, pointing out my name in the booklet. "The churches back home were praying for you on your birthday."

That was a real light bulb moment for me.  It wasn't my husband's deep Bible studies (though he is certainly a gifted speaker) nor me and my bad attitude that had brought those twelve souls to salvation.  It was the power of prayer. And though God had taught me the lesson of prayer's power before that day, I can never celebrate a birthday without being reminded of how our Wonderful, Loving God allows us to partner with Him in His ministry through the power of prayer.