One of the great privileges of leading short term mission trips is that you get to work with the very best of God's people. This is a reflection on some of those things (the workers on the teams we take out and the deep lessons we've learned from our Eastern European and Central Asian church family.) Together we are TEAM, working on one united purpose to see Christ known, honoured and glorified in people of all kinds, backgrounds, and gifts.
1) Gospel heroes trust God when we discover the world is even more broken than we ever imagined.
How is it possible to live in the tension that the lovely child who now lives with you ... only does so because their birth parents tried to finish their existence by using woodcutting equipment on them? How is it possible to encounter a world of corruption and human abuse, yet remain uncynical and transparent in your unconditional love for others, a minister of redemption, and agent of new beginnings? The answer is ...by knowing and encountering personally the love of Christ which out-moves all other world powers, and brings light into even the darkest of places. None of us should underestimate the transforming power of Christ and his love, if it is let lose in our hearts and lives. People who live in the redemption and resurrection power of Jesus, don't turn away from this world and its ugliness - but turn towards it in compassion.
For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. 15 And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.
In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.
2) Gospel heroes don't see the gospel as an "add-on hobby" but an "all consuming" way of sacrificial living.
ROMANS 12:1-2
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
Those who truly live for the glory of Jesus know what it is like to sacrifice themselves for the good of others.
A move to a pagan and hostile country where there are no other Christians is much more a considered move than those who look aspirationally on "rightmove.co.uk" and inquire about "the best areas and schools" for their kids. To pastor a church and work full time in a second job to support the entire church is not a self motivated career choice. To look after 12 children or teenagers in a desire to give them a hope and a future is not a hobby or pastime , it is a 24/7 lifestyle choice. It starts before they come to live with you, dominates your life when they eat at your table, and carries on after they grow up. It is a prayer bigger than you can articulate, an expression of love bigger than you can exemplify and a relationship so profound that you are constantly on your knees in dependance on God (metaphorically speaking ). It is a faithful steadfast love choice after the heart of God himself. I find this hugely challenging. My conviction ... (and sorry if this comes out at all harshly but I am also preaching to myself) is that many in the UK call themselves gospel believers, followers of Jesus Christ but when analysed are pretty much living for themselves, their comfort, their retirement and their security. Selfless sacrifice expects to get hurt. Selfless giving of one's entire life, (not just the part of you that you are open to giving) will be costly, but it is what Christ honours as a true and appropriate response to his love.
Matt 16:24-26
Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?
Let me ask you gently -
- In what way is your life geared for gospel growth in others ?
- If you were charged with "being a follower of Jesus Christ", would there be enough evidence of self sacrifice to convict you?
By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.
3) Gospel heroes do not harbor grudges or grow bitterness, but move on to new beginnings when life is a disappointment.
I think of the pastor who had to leave his church, and save the lives of his family when the authorities took all he had and he had to flee his homeland. I think of the faithful pastor who arrived at church one Sunday to see the humble "prayer-house" they had invested everything into had been decimated by a landslide. Can God use such things for his glory? Could this be part of his good purpose ? Yes is the answer. The first pastor now trains others for worldwide service and is constantly investing in youth ministry in his adopted home, his ministry wider and more fruitful than ever before. The second pastor is by far one of the most humble yet joyful I know - training others to work and preach in other churches without a shadow of selfishness or desire to keep them for his own challenging situation.
Hebrew 12:15
" See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God;
that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble..."
Weeds can grow quickly in the christian life, and constant gardening is needed. But as we submit to the head gardener in our daily walk, he prunes us for fruitfulness by his Word and Spirit - JOY supernaturally equips us to move on. This all the moreso, as we see that time is short, eternity is soon, and Christ is always worth living for "both feet in!"
John 9:4-5 (Jesus said...)
"We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day;
night is coming, when no one can work.
As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”
If you invested all you had in a needy child who then grew up and ended up in prison, would you be ready to foster or adopt again ? If you invested all your love in a church that then rejected you would you be willing to do it again ? The person who loves Christ more than adulation or even success says "yes!" because there are too many sheep without a shepherd, too many who are going to a lost eternity as the church has pleasant dreams of comfort and seclusion.
4) Gospel heroes attempt great things when finance is limited because they know that God can provide.
I have lost count of the times we have offered someone a small financial gift or some practical help for gospel work and they've said, "when we started we had nothing but a prayer... but God has provided way beyond even our dreams". It seems to me that God loves his worldwide church to be the answer to each other's prayers. Don't ever underestimate how big the Living God you pray to is. His resources are unlimited, incomprehensibly infinite and generously given. Our Father hears our cry.
Philippians 4:19
"And my God will supply every need of yours
according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus."
Stop praying about what you think is possible or probable and start praying in dependance on Him who is more ready to give than we are to receive.
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