At Club 2000 Mission International, we believe that all believers should be mission-minded. To be mission-minded is to have an awareness and burden for the body of Christ and the propagation of the gospel of Christ beyond the borders of your place of cultural safety. For such a believer, his or her passions stretch beyond the needs of their local assembly or even their country of residence, as they have come to truly view the body of Christ as the universal entity that it is.
Still, being mission-minded doesn’t automatically mean a Christian is called to launch into active missionary service on the field. There are multiple ways to get involved in missionary work and God is sovereign in His choice of those He chooses to send out. As such, a lot can be said about the nature of a missionary call – which we will dive into sometime in the future – and it should not be misunderstood.
Unfortunately, some Christians are idly waiting for a miraculous sign or a fleece-like event (Judges 6:33-40) that will launch them into their service of God in this area. This approach and understanding have left many potential vessels of God on the field of souls inactive and young people, in particular, have embraced a passive and ineffective Christian life.
If we want to serve God in this area – or any area for that matter – there is a preparedness that we need to have that will put us in a positive where we will be more sensitive to the leading and direction of God. A few pointers that we can examine here are the following:
OPEN MIND
In theory, it is easy to claim that we are open-minded but our ability to indulge in self-deceit is very high as human beings. On careful examination, we would be surprised how much of our thinking is influenced by our preconceptions and assumptions. Without knowing, some people have already put up limits to their service to God and have determined what the boundaries are. They may not have the confidence to speak it out, but they have already made binding decisions in their hearts like, “anything but leaving my country” or “I will only serve within the four walls of a local church and never on the field”.
Honesty is a key and central element in our relationship with God and Christ. We must come clean before God and ask the Holy Spirit to help us to open ourselves up to all possibilities. In practice, it is not an easy place to get to but we must engage in this battle with our minds before we can truly be sensitive to what God has in store for us. Any limiting thoughts we allow will always stand in the way and we will not be able to sense God’s direction (2 Corinthians 10:3-5).
ATTENTIVE EARS
Even with open minds, we will experience limitations if we cannot hear God when He speaks. With our natural ears, it is not news that it is possible to train ourselves in hearing. Musicians train their ears to be able to play or sing notes that are coherent and pleasing to the ears. Mothers train their ears to identify when their children are in distress and we call this maternal instinct. Also, some animals, like the bat, have ears that are far larger than human ears. Researchers say that bats can change the sensitivity of their ears to match the environment that they are in so they can maximize their hearing faculties.
This principle also applies to spiritual things. For many Christians, it is not that God is not speaking to them, but they have not learned to identify his voice through His word and the Holy Spirit. Effective communication can only occur when the speaker and listener spend time together. On this point, we cannot ignore spending time with the spiritual disciplines – prayer and reading the word – because they are the keys to building fellowship with God and learning to identify His voice. There are no shortcuts (John 10:16, John 14:26).
PURE HEART
Knowing the will of God does not exist in the realm of reasoning alone, there is a heart dimension to it that is far greater. This is because God is not interested in revealing Himself to those who seek Him just for intellectual curiosity. He reveals Himself to people who want to obey Him and do His will.
A heart of obedience is a requirement for any Christian service (John 15: 14-16) and missions are not any different. One of the instructions from God that is without compromise is the need for a pure heart. A simple definition of a pure heart is a heart that delights in the things of God and is aligned with His will and purposes. A heart that hates what He hates and loves what He loves. Such a person will detest sin, cling to righteousness, and strive to bear the fruits of a holy life (1 John 3:1-3). Unfortunately, many may desire to go out to the field of souls whose hearts are not ready. Christ Himself purges us of selfish ambition, secret sins, and other weights that will hinder our service to Him if we allow Him to do the work by His Holy Spirit and the water of the Word.
BUSY HANDS
If the Bible is our pattern, then we must agree that God is in the business of calling active and busy people. Moses, David, Peter, John, Gideon, and many more are examples of individuals who were busy working when they encountered God. The “work of mission” is not for idle or lazy people and it would be difficult to find yourself being moved in this direction if you are not already involved in the work of God in some capacity.
How can someone who has not been involved in service in their local church, evangelism in their local community, volunteer work in a bible college, tract distribution, youth groups, relief services, or any other related Christian service activities in a community claim to be ready for the work on the field of souls?
As such, anyone who hopes to be used in this unique assignment must work on active preparedness. This includes participation in active service and equipping themselves with the necessary education and knowledge that may be required to function in this assignment. It is not a coincidence that many of those who end up being missionary candidates are those who have passed through some form of Biblical or Theological training. This is because, most of these institutions have practical Christian service as an academic requirement, further proving that nothing that can replace preparedness by doing.
READY FEET
Even if someone has all the features and qualifications already examined, at some point, the person must decide to act, take a step, and go. For many, particularly, among the young, this is the hardest thing to do.
One major lesson we must learn is that there will never be a time when all the conditions are favorable. Those who wait for all the pieces to fall into place before deciding on missionary work will find themselves lagging and missing out on what God has for them. The true nature of every form of spiritual instruction is that it requires us to step out in faith. If Abraham waited for 100% certainty when He received His call from God to leave His father’s house, He would never have gone (Genesis 12:1).
Always remember that we walk by faith and not by sight and trust God to take responsibility for everything that happens after we obey Him. The important thing is that we move and do not delay when He stirs us.
Insipired by Understanding Christian Missions by Herbert J. Kane