[read the introduction to the series here]
Allow me to preface the first installment in this series with a quote from A. W. Tozer’s epic book Knowledge of the Holy concerning the supreme importance of the knowledge of God. He said that:
All the problems of heaven and earth, though they were to confront us together and at once, would be nothing compared to the overwhelming problem of God: That He is; what He is like; and what we as moral beings must do about Him. The man who comes to a right belief about God is relieved of ten thousand temporal problems.
God is the beginning, the end, and the chief motivation for all Christ-glorifying and humanity restoring ministry. As the Westminster Shorter Catechism says, “What is the chief end of man? Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him for ever.” What then is the chief end of missions? The answer is the same. That the nations would glorify God and enjoy Him forever. Therefore, the majesty of God must be the bedrock of our theology of missions.
This has been the theological seedbed of missions throughout Church history, especially to unreached peoples in difficult places. Count Nicholas Zinzendorf (1700-1769), the founder of the Moravian prayer and mission movement put it this way:
Our passion for lost souls is only surpassed by our passion for the Lamb of God.
Paul said that Christ is to have “preeminence in all thing” (Col. 1:18)–even missions. Missions exists to make Jesus preeminent in all nations among all peoples above all things. It is a means, not an end. Missions is our assignment and our mandate. God is our inheritance and our reward.
The number one reason why missionaries burnt out, fizzle out, or cop out is because they have never connected with this in a person way. I’ve known many people who signed up to ‘serve the Lord’ in ministry who are now disillusioned, disappointed, bitter, jaded, and bored. The reason is because they elevated the needs of man, the nobility of a service, or their own hunger for adventure above the worth of Christ. Though it is a abrasive term, this is idolatry. And it is toxic to the missions movement. [Read more...]
