Don't Complicate the Missionary Call
from faimission.org:
The
following article is written by David Sitton, a dear friend of the FAI
family. It was included as an Appendix in Dalton Thomas’ book Unto Death. David is the founder of To Every Tribe and the Center for Pioneer Church Planting.
~
I chuckle when I hear missionaries say
they “surrendered to the call” of ministry. I always want to ask, “After
you surrendered, were you waterboarded, or just hauled off in handcuffs
and leg irons?” Was it really necessary for you to be abducted by a
heavenly vision before you would go joyfully into the work of the Gospel
in unreached places?
The missionary call is not like a prison
dog that tracks us down, sniffs us out, and hog-ties us for the
nations. That kind of talk bugs me! It’s bad theology. Nowhere in
Scripture is a “mysterious (supernatural) call” a prerequisite before we
can respond to the Great Commission. The opposite is actually true.
Don’t Wait for a Call
No aspect of mission is more bogged down
with extra-biblical baggage than the “Missionary Call.” The clear
command of Christ “to go” should be, by itself, sufficient to set you on
your way to unreached regions.
You can’t go wrong by trying to go. Be aggressive to go. The Lord will direct your moving feet.
Do you know how 99% of the
cross-cultural workers for the Gospel in the book of Acts got to the
unreached places? In a detailed missiological study of the book of Acts,
Bob Sjogren breaks it down for us.
- 99% of the missionaries in Acts went cross-cultural because of one reason: Persecution.
What about the other 1%?
- 74% served cross-culturally because the apostle Paul challenged them to go.- 18% went because their local churches sent them.- 7% went simply because of their zeal and desire to do it![1]
Dramatic calls to ministry are the
exception. If you have it in your heart to go, then go. And lean on the
sovereignty of God to get you where He wants you in the harvest.
Try to Go
Paul tried to go into Asia, but the Lord
wouldn’t let him. He then tried to go to Bithynia, but “the Holy Spirit
forbade him.” Still, he kept trying to go. I count at least six cities
in Acts 16:1-6 where Paul tried to take the Gospel. It was only then
that the Lord gave him a vision of the Macedonian. He woke up the next
morning and immediately headed for the regions north. The point? Get
radical with the going and God will get radical in the specific guiding.
I was never called to be a missionary. I
wasn’t drafted. I volunteered. No special call was needed. I chose to
go. I want to go. I am compelled to go. Where I go is determined by an
open Bible (Romans 15:20-21) and a stretched-out map of unreached
regions where Jesus isn’t known. Going for Jesus and with Jesus to the
ends of the Earth is the privilege of a lifetime.
[1] Bill and Amy Stearns, Run With The Vision, (Bethany House Publishers), 125-126.
