October 26th
What is a missionary?
As My Father hath sent Me, even so, send I you. John 20:21.
A missionary is one sent by Jesus Christ as He was sent by God. The great dominant note is not the needs of men but the command of Jesus. Today’s tendency is to put the inspiration ahead, sweep everything in front of us, and bring it all out to our conception of success. In the New Testament, the motivation is put behind us, the Lord Jesus. The ideal is to be faithful to Him, to carry out His enterprises.
Personal attachment to the Lord Jesus and His point of view is the one thing that must not be overlooked. In missionary enterprise, the great danger is that God’s call is effaced by the needs of the people until human sympathy absolutely overwhelms the meaning of being sent by Jesus. The requirements are so enormous, the conditions so perplexing, that every power of mind falters and fails. We forget that the one great reason underneath all missionary enterprise is not first the elevation of the people, nor the education of the people, nor their needs, but first and foremost the command of Jesus Christ—“Go ye therefore, and teach all nations.”
When looking back on the lives of men and women of God, the tendency is to say—‘What wonderfully astute wisdom they had! How perfectly they understood all God wanted!’ The astute mind behind is the Mind of God, not human wisdom at all. We give credit to human understanding when we should give credit to the Divine guidance of God through childlike people who were foolish enough to trust God’s wisdom and the supernatural equipment of God.
Chambers, Oswald. My Utmost for His Highest: Selections for the Year. Grand Rapids, MI: Oswald Chambers Publications; Marshall Pickering, 1986. Print.
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