On May 12, 1792 William Carey published a little pamphlet entitled, An Enquiry into the Obligations of Christians to Use Means for the Conversion of the Heathens. By God’s grace, his words inspired the modern missionary movement, and I’m praying that they will inspire a fresh passion for global missions at Glory of Christ.
In the second section of his pamphlet, Carey identified and responded to several difficulties that made it challenging for the church of his day to preach the gospel to the nations. In the midst of his response, he addressed ministers of the gospel and challenged them to rise up, die to themselves, and take the lead in bringing the gospel to the world. Last week I quoted from Carey’s comments, and this week I’d like to offer three thoughts about what he wrote.
First, while Carey’s point of view may seem extreme, it accords with what Jesus plainly taught his disciples. “And he [Jesus] said to all, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels’” (Luke 9:23-26). Indeed, the surrender of all things for the sake of Christ is an integral part of knowing Christ. So again, while Carey’s position may seem extreme, it really just raises the question, what do we love more: the gospel or our earthly lives along with its various comforts?
Second, while the call to global missions is not only for pastors and other full-time Christian workers, vocational ministers are called to equip the saints for the work of ministry, which they must first do by living the life they commend to others. As they take up their respective crosses, they can then teach others to do the same. There is simply no room in the Kingdom of God for ministers who love comfort more than the Great Commission, and thus they must rise up, take up our crosses, and lead the way.
Third, the call of the Great Commission does not mean that Christians go into all the world and seek suffering. Suffering itself is not the point, but it is often the path. That is, for love of God and the lost peoples of the earth, we willingly go with the gospel on our lips, and we often suffer things great and small for doing so. As Jesus promised, the world will hate us (John 15:18-16:4a), but the glory of the gospel and all it implies is worth suffering through anything or paying any price. As Carey concluded, “The commission is a sufficient call to them to venture all, and, like the primitive Christians, go every where preaching the gospel.”
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