I feel privileged to know several missionaries, but in a real way, Jesus calls us all to serve in such a capacity… no matter where we live. I heard a brother from Guatemala share the incredible way God changed his village. Jesus saved this man and charged him to stand against the evil one and declare hope and forgiveness of sins for all who would put their faith in Him. This man became a missionary in his own village. Now he is taking orphans off the street, leading them to Christ, and training them to go into all the world. “I believe these children will be the world’s greatest missionaries because they know the One that saves and they know no comforts in this world.”
Comforts may not be wrong, but the missionary sacrifices such rights for a greater good. Certainly Jesus gave up comfort as He left His throne in Heaven to come to this earth. “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay His head.” His mission involved hardship and He was willing to endure all to save us. Now He sends His disciples. “As You have sent Me into the world, I have sent them into the world.”
We may want to argue or say we have pressing business, but Jesus does not waver in His requirements. “No one who puts his hand to the plow and turns back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.” “Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves.” “Anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.”
Who will answer such an invitation? It sounds like Jesus is calling followers to pain and trouble. Sir Earnest Shackleton put out an invitation in a London newspaper before his quest to Antarctica in the early 1900′s: “MEN WANTED FOR HAZARDOUS JOURNEY; SMALL WAGES, BITTER COLD, LONG MONTHS OF COMPLETE DARKNESS, CONSTANT DANGER. SAFE RETURN DOUBTFUL. HONOR AND RECOGNITION IN CASE OF SUCCESS.” Thousands responded. Why?
Against all odds, Hudson Taylor left England in 1853 to take the gospel to China. Olympic gold medalist Eric Liddle left fame and success to live the rest of his life as a missionary in Asia. Jim and Elizabeth Elliot went to the unreached tribes in Ecuador. In 1956, Jim and four friends were murdered by those they tried to reach. Three years later, Elizabeth, three year old daughter, Valerie, and Rachel Saint, the sister of one of the murdered missionaries, went back to live with the very tribesmen who killed their loved ones. Thousands of unknown disciples have left the comforts of home to take the gospel to all the world. Why?
Perhaps we must see the invitation of Jesus in a different light. His call is much higher than Sir Shackelton’s and His purpose much greater. Jesus was not trying to scare people off with His words. He simply stated the truth, knowing the same enemy that opposed Him opposes all who follow. “Not everyone will answer My call. You must count the cost before you answer, but when you do, don’t turn back. I am inviting you to fight in a war of eternal importance. You must humbly walk by faith and learn to rely on My grace. Let your main objectives be to love and obey the Father. Remember His ways are not man’s ways. The Holy Spirit will direct and comfort you. You will face hardship, criticism, and perhaps even death, but do not fear… I am with you.”
It is a privilege to follow a King.
“In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.” Luke 14:33
“They called the apostles in and had them flogged. Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name. Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ.” Acts 5:40-42