The Entropic State of Missions Part 2 of 4

Let us consider for a moment several figures from Holy Scripture who, by many modern standards, would likely fail to acquire—or retain—a single sponsor, much less a membership roll.

~Noah would hardly be regarded as a candidate for a successful missionary model. For one hundred and twenty years he proclaimed righteousness to a generation rushing headlong toward judgment, yet the only ones who entered the ark with him were members of his own household. By contemporary metrics, the report would appear dismal: no movement, no growth, no measurable success. 

~Jeremiah likewise would fare little better. His ministry was marked by rejection, opposition, loneliness, and sorrow. His message ran contrary to the spirit of his age, and his faithfulness earned him few admirers and many enemies. One can scarcely imagine his field reports satisfying those who measure fruit solely by visible results.

~And then there is our Lord Himself. Judged by the standards of numerical growth and public appeal, He would appear to have presided over the fastest shrinking congregation in history. As His teaching became more searching and His demands more costly, many who once followed Him turned back and walked with Him no more. At last, in the hour of His greatest trial, even those who had most confidently professed their loyalty forsook Him and fled.

By the standards commonly employed today, such ministries would almost certainly be judged failures, their methods, obviously wrong. No missionary society would eagerly support a laborer unable to produce impressive numbers, measurable growth, or visible results. Reports containing decades of rejection, shrinking crowds, and apparent fruitlessness would scarcely inspire confidence among those who have learned to equate success with statistics. Yet God's servants have never been called to produce numbers, but to proclaim His truth faithfully.

Yet herein lies the lesson. Faithfulness and fruitfulness are not always measured by numbers, popularity, or visible success. Noah was faithful. Jeremiah was faithful. Christ was faithful. And when all earthly support seemed removed, each stood sustained by the same reality: God Himself.

Every true Christian is, in some measure, a missionary. There are no part time Christians. Only full time hypocrites. So there is only a full time missionary, or an oblivious slacker. Every believer hath been entrusted with the duty of bearing witness unto Christ. Yet among those who profess this calling, there often appears a great divide. There are those who simply obey the mandate as it hath been given, and there are those who seek to reshape the mandate according to what seems most practical, effective, or agreeable unto themselves. Faith doth not wait upon results before it obeys. To act only after success hath become visible requires no faith at all. True faith believeth God before the evidence appears. It trusts His Word when the field seems barren, when the labor seems fruitless, and when no visible return answers the effort expended. It continues to labor, to sow, and, like Noah of old, to keep building the ark even without water.

For God's promise is not that every labor shall yield immediate and measurable results, but that He Himself shall do what is right (Genesis 18:25). The Judge of all the earth shall act justly. The Lord of the harvest shall not forget the labor performed in His Name. And the laborer is worthy of his hire (Luke 10:7). If one truly believeth these things, then it is enough. Faithfulness requires no further guarantee. 

The servant's duty is obedience; obedience to what? The Gospel must be preached outside by praying men to all peoples. The outcome remains in the hands of God.

The God who taught the saints of former generations through His Word remains the same God who instructs His people today in every part of this earth. The Scriptures are no less powerful in our hands than they were in the hands of any preacher, theologian, or missionary who hath gone before us. God is not the peculiar possession of one nation, nor is wisdom confined to a particular language, culture, or people. God is free to be worshipped in any cloth, for He was never tailor-made. The Lord hath never dealt with His church as though some were masters and others perpetual beggars. Rather, all alike stand as needy recipients of grace, drawing from the same fountain of truth and serving under the same sovereign King.

Part 3