Hi friends, this is a speech that I used in the NCFCA (National Christian Forensics Communications Association) this past year. I wanted to post it because I never want to forget the Great Commission, and I thought the more I did to remind myself of it, the harder it would be to forget! I hope it inspires or at least encourages you to keep spreading the gospel and supporting those who do full-time!
Baron Van Welz was a German nobleman; he was privileged and wealthy. Yet when he died, he was little known; little cared for; and filled a mere humble grave in Dutch Guinea. How could this happen to someone of such great wealth, titles, and influence? The Baron deeply wanted people to go to the mission field, yet many of his contemporaries preached that missions should be local rather then international and even taught that it was wrong to bring heathens the gospel. Because he saw the need for missionaries when many other Christians and theologians of his day did not, he renounced his title, land, and money so that he might serve God in Dutch Guinea. He said these words, “What to me is the title 'well-born,' when I am born again in Christ? What to me is the title 'lord,' when I desire to be a servant of Christ? What to me to be called 'your grace,' when I have need of God's grace and help? All these vanities I will away with, and everything besides I will lay at the feet of Jesus, my dearest Lord, that I may have no hindrance in serving him aright.” (Welz)
According to the article “A Signal of Need” by Michael Bronson, about 149,000 people who have never asked for Christ’s forgiveness will die today. (Bronson) God has called us to reach these lost people for His glory; yet all too often we allow trivial things to become hindrances from serving Him. Sometimes I wonder if we allow security and wealth to become poor substitutes for the joy of serving Christ. However, as Baron Van Welz realized, there is no title, nor riches, nor comfort that could ever compare to the precious treasure that comes from serving Christ. Today, I would like to talk about the command to be mission minded, the cry for missionaries, and the call that every Christian has toward missions.
The first reason that we should be concerned with missions is because God has commanded us to be. In Matthew 28:19, Jesus says, “Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” (NIV, Matthew 28:19) Though this verse is well known, most Christians fail to live it out to the radical and life changing extent that Jesus intended it for. Here, Jesus commands all His followers to go and tell others how wonderful it is to be His disciple! But why does God command us to spread the gospel to the rest of the world? I believe God places Christians willing to follow Him on the mission field for two main reasons: to save the lost, and to glorify Him. First, God has called people to the mission field for the unsaved. John Keith Falconer said, “I have but one candle of life to burn, and I would rather burn it out in a land filled with darkness than in a land flooded with light.” (Falconer) You and I, too, have only one candle to burn. Our whole lives will be lived for a purpose. What do you want that purpose to be? Do you want to use your life to show a dying people the gospel? That is one purpose of missions. Another reason for missions is for the glory of God. Because ultimately, missions is about showing people God’s grace so that they will praise God; we should show others the gospel because God so deserves to hear praises from every person that He created in His image. That is why God has commanded missions.
The second reason we should be concerned with missions is because there are millions who are crying for the gospel and perishing without ever having heard it. In fact, according to the Orthodox Christian Mission Center, “It is estimated that 28% of the world’s population has still not heard the Gospel in a way that they can respond to it affirmatively or negatively. In other words, over 1.8 billion people today have not been presented with the Gospel message.” (Orthodox Christian Mission Center) That cry is painful, isn’t it? That cry that takes place every single second from someone who is dying without the love of Christ? That cry that we as Christians just don’t hear because we just don’t care enough. Most of the time we just don’t think about the global spread of the gospel. We’re so concerned with living our own lives here and now that we don’t think about how Christ will be spread among the nations. About six months ago, my family and I returned from Nagoya, Japan after living there for almost a year. We attended an international church. Our pastor there, Michael Oh, missionary and President of the Christ Bible Seminary, said these words that changed how I thought of missions: “Think about it – you could JUST AS EASILY have been born in the slums of New Delhi or as the son of a Shinto priest. If you had, knowing what you know today, would you not have wanted someone to cross oceans, lands, and cultures to bring YOU the Gospel?” (Oh) All too often, people who have never heard the gospel become just a statistic to those of us who have. We forget that they are real people who are crying for the gospel, and we forget to care. About a year and a half ago, my parents and I had the opportunity to go on a mission trip to Haiti. We stayed at God’s Littlest Angels Orphanage, a Christian orphanage that cares for about 170 children. The children there are hungry for attention. Several of them have AIDS or other diseases. While at the orphanage one day, we were upstairs with one of the young American missionaries, and the toilets began to overflow because of a plumbing problem. We were standing there in sewage water when she turned to us and said, “Even after living at the orphanage for six years, I still wake up every morning thinking what a blessing it is that I can be here.” At first, I actually couldn’t believe it when she said that. I mean, I could see realizing that God wanted her there. But she said that she was in awe of the fact that God had allowed her to go to Haiti, the filthiest and dirtiest place I’ve ever seen. How could she say that? I believe it’s because she had her eyes so fixed on Jesus that His love for the children became her love for those children. She had heard the cry of children who needed to hear about God’s love; and she chose to respond to that cry even if it meant giving up earthly comfort and treasures. She knew God had called her to Haiti and she responded to that call willingly. And that leads us to my final point today—the call to missions.
There’s a story of a young girl who shamelessly told her Aunt one day, “I don’t have much interest in missions at all!” Her patient Aunt replied, “No, dear, you can hardly expect to. It is just like getting interest at the bank. You have to put in a little something first before you get any interest. So it is with missions, the more you put into it of your time, or money, or prayer, the more your interest grows. But something you must put in-- or you will never have any interest.” (Elbourne)
If you don’t have any interest in missions, it may be because you haven’t given enough towards it to receive interest, and right now I would like to discuss with you the call that every Christian has towards missions, towards prayer, and towards giving. First of all, I’d like to ask you a question: if God so called you, would you give up everything here in America to be a missionary where few know the true Savior? Another call we have is the wonderful privilege of praying for foreign missions. Please pray every day for missionaries that you know, and for the spread of the gospel all over the world. Praying for foreign missions helps align our hearts with what God wants for missions—the more we pray for missions, the more our hearts desire to spread the gospel the way God’s heart does. Finally, every Christian is called to give to missions. Let us be like the widow in Mark 12:42, who gave her only two copper coins. The point was not how much she gave, but that everything she had she was willing to give up for the Lord. He didn’t need her gifts, and likewise, doesn’t need our gifts. He allows us to give so we can step out in faith and sacrifice. When we give to the point of sacrifice, that’s when we can say, “As much as I want this, it absolutely pales in comparison to how much I love you, Lord.” I would encourage you to give to the point of sacrifice—just like the widow.
Baron Van Welz made a decision that would be considered by many a foolish one. He chose to abandon his wealth, titles, and success to bring the gospel to heathens. Yet he showed no sorrow in doing that—rather, he was joyful that he had rid himself of those “hindrances” from serving Christ. Comfort and security in America are such alluring things. It is so easy to be distracted by them. But as Baron Van Welz realized, the sacrifice of them is so worth it. By all means, I would ask you to pray and give toward missions. But would you also pray and ask the LORD if He is asking you to go? We all have only one candle of life to burn. Would you rather burn your candle in a land already filled with light or a land that is flooded with darkness?
No comments:
Post a Comment