articles on missions
Pauline-Missions
doing missions the way Paul did it
By Caleb Gibello
Popular Term
The popular term to explain what we do in Papua New Guinea is ‘missions.’ But how often do we think about what a missionary actually is and does? Is missions whatever we want to call it? Or does missions have a more significant meaning and purpose than most people realize?
Clarification
Since ‘missions’ is the popular term, it is necessary therefore that I make a clarification. We all realize there are many different kinds of ministry seen in the NT. However, the purpose of this paper is to draw attention to and focus specifically on Pauline-missions in the NT. All the ministries we see in the NT are obviously right and necessary, but here we will look at only one: Pauline-missions.
The Bible
From where do we get the idea of missions in the first place? Is it not from God’s Word, the Bible? Since we get the idea of missions from the Bible, it is the Bible therefore that must give us the definition of missions. In other words, if we are to “do missions” we must do it in tandem with what Scripture says regarding missions; we are to do it God’s way. We must define missions, biblically. The Bible is sufficient, especially when it comes to fulfilling the Great Commission of evangelizing the world.
The Word
There is a problem: the Bible does not use the word ‘missionary.’ The word ‘missionary’ comes from a Latin word meaning “sent one,” which comes from the Greek word ‘apostle’ (1 Cor 12:27-28[1] and Eph 4:11[2]). In the NT the Greek word ‘apostle’ is also appropriately translated ‘messenger’ (2 Cor 8:23[3]; Phil 2:25[4]) because there were apostles/messengers of the churches who were not Apostles. So the word ‘missionary’ originally came from the Greek word for apostle/messenger.
Paul
Before we can define missions, let us first ask this question: Who is the most well-known missionary? Who do we usually think of first when we consider a missionary? We would probably all agree that the main ‘missionary’ of the NT is Paul.
Some say that we should not follow Paul’s example and use his missionary methods because he was an Apostle, and we are not. On the contrary, we should for the following reasons. 1) Because the Holy Spirit and church sent, not only Paul, but also Barnabas to do missionary work (Acts 13:1-3). We also see Silas and Timothy as two of the main missionaries in the book of Acts, who worked with Paul. The Holy Spirit has provided them as examples to follow as well. 2) Because the Bible is sufficient; Paul is the missionary example the Holy Spirit has given us in the Scriptures. Whom else would we look to as an example of a missionary? Doing missions the way Paul did is the only biblical example we have when it comes to doing missions. 3) Others[5] were Paul’s partners and fellow workers in this missions work; in other words, it was not just Paul the Apostle doing this kind of missions work, but many others as well. (These are most of the men who were part of The NT Missionary Team: Barnabas, Silas, John Mark, Timothy, Titus, Epaphroditus, & Silvanus.) 4) We see a great example of how Paul took a new missionary along with him (Timothy in Acts 16:1-3) on his missionary journeys, teaching us a practical lesson that we too should do this kind of missions work, not only Paul.
The Holy Spirit has given Paul, along with the NT Missionary Team, as examples of a missionary. Therefore, if we are to properly define and carry out missions biblically, missionaries are to follow the example, model, and methods of Paul and the NT Missionary Team.
Definition
To understand what a missionary is, and more specifically a Pauline-missionary, a good working definition is needful and helpful. Paul, as a missionary/apostle/messenger was a man whom the Holy Spirit sent (Acts 13:2), and whom the church laid hands on and released (Acts 13:3), to preach where the Gospel had not yet been proclaimed (Rom 15:20; 2 Cor 10:14-16) and to start local churches. From what we can see in the NT a Pauline-missionary is one who evangelistically preaches the Gospel to a previously unevangelized people group or geographical region with the end goal of planting local churches. While going to a place and preaching the Gospel where it has already been preached remains necessary and is in accord with Scripture that is not the kind of missions work we see Paul doing.
Evangelist or Missionary?
What about evangelists? An evangelist, as a missionary, is a biblical gift/office/calling (Acts 21:8[6]; Eph 4:11[7]; 2 Tim 4:5[8]). From what we see in the NT, an evangelist is a man who has an itinerant evangelistic Gospel-preaching ministry for the purpose to win souls (but from what we see in the NT, did not start churches). Paul, along with those on the NT missionary team, did what evangelists did (i.e. they evangelized by preaching the Gospel), but they also started churches; that seems to be the main difference between an evangelist and missionary, from what we see in the NT. A missionary evangelized, but also started churches; these are two of the four key elements of a Pauline-missionary.
Key Elements
When we read through the NT, and specifically the book of Acts, we notice four key elements of a Pauline-missionary:
Ø A Pauline-missionary is a pioneer who brings the Gospel to those who are still unevangelized; in other words he does frontier evangelism (Rom 15:20-21[9]; 2 Cor 10:14-16[10]).
Ø A Pauline-missionary has an itinerant ministry; meaning that he does not stay in one place, but travels around to multiple locations (Acts 13-21:19; 14:21, 25; 17:1; Rom 15:19[11]).
Ø A Pauline-missionary carries out his ministry through evangelistic Gospel-preaching (Acts 16:10[12]; Rom 15:19-20; 1 Cor 1:17[13]; Luke 9:6[14]). The method of evangelism is proclaiming/preaching/declaring/announcing the message of the Gospel, and this is exactly what the NT Missionary Team did.
Ø A Pauline-missionary's end goal is to start local churches (Acts 13-21:19; 16:5; Paul’s epistles). Once a church has been started (planted) it must also be established. Part of the missionary’s role in planting churches is to lay hands on gifted and qualified men within the new churches so that the new churches become independent.
In summary, the Pauline-missionaries of the NT traveled around to unevangelized areas and people groups where the Gospel had not yet been preached, for the purpose of evangelistic Gospel-preaching and church-planting. Pauline-missionaries are still needed today if the Great Commission is to be fulfilled; so let us not neglect this crucial work.
Neglected
In practice Pauline-missions has been widely neglected in our generation. The term ‘missions’ has come to mean almost any religious ministry or program. It seems that almost everything is called missions in our day, causing Pauline-missions to be ignored, neglected, and even forgotten. If we are to evangelize the world, then local churches must still lay hands on gifted and qualified men to do missions the way Paul did it. New missionaries must still be sent.
New Missionaries
First, it must be stated that in the NT new missionaries were sent; therefore, new missionaries must still be sent today to complete the Great Commission by preaching the Gospel to all the unevangelized peoples of the world.
Second, how were new missionaries made and sent in the NT? It was through the influence and mentorship of the current missionaries and also through the churches. One of the best examples in the NT of a new missionary is Timothy. Timothy was one of the main men on the NT Missionary Team; he is present and active in Acts 16-20. But how did Timothy become a missionary? “Paul came also to Derbe and to Lystra. And a disciple was there, named Timothy . . . and he was well spoken of by the brethren [i.e. the church] who were in Lystra and Iconium. Paul wanted this man [Timothy] to go with him [in his missionary work].[15]”
Third, by way of application, we should not wait for a man to go to the classroom in order to “become a missionary”. Current missionaries and local churches should both be proactive in looking for and laying hands on new missionaries. When done this way (how we see in the NT), it will ensure that men, men who are biblically gifted and qualified, are sent out as new missionaries to do evangelistic Gospel-preaching and church-planting among the remaining unevangelized peoples of the world.
Our Ministry
Our purpose in working in Papua New Guinea is to implement Paul’s missionary methods as we have discussed above. Our aim is to do missions the way Paul did it. Our mission goal is to do evangelistic Gospel-preaching and pioneer church-planting among the unevangelized peoples of PNG.
[1] Now you are Christ’s body, and individually members of it. And God has appointed in the church, first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, various kinds of tongues.[2] He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service[3] As for Titus, he is my partner and fellow worker among you; as for our brethren, they are messengers (apostles) of the churches, a glory to Christ.[4] I thought it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier, who is also your messenger (apostle)[5] 2 Cor 8:23; Rom 16:3, 9, 12, 21; Phil 2:25; 4:3; Col 4:11; 1 Thess 3:2; Philemon 1, 24; 3 John 8[6] Philip the evangelist[7] Jesus gave some as evangelists[8] Do the work of an evangelist[9] I aspired to preach the gospel, not where Christ was already named, so that I would not build on another man’s foundation; but as it is written, “They who had no news of Him shall see, And they who have not heard shall understand.”[10] we are not overextending ourselves, as if we did not reach to you, for we were the first to come even as far as you in the gospel of Christ; not boasting beyond our measure, that is, in other men’s labors, but with the hope that as your faith grows, we will be, within our sphere, enlarged even more by you, so as to preach the gospel even to the regions beyond you, and not to boast in what has been accomplished in the sphere of another.[11] from Jerusalem and round about as far as Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ[12] God had called us to preach the gospel to them[13] Christ sent me to preach the Gospel[14] they began going throughout the villages, preaching the Gospel[15] Acts 16:1-3
The death of Evangelical Missions
Tim Bayly 2014
There was a time when missions meant preaching the Gospel to all the world and being a missionary meant being sent to all the world to preach the Gospel. The Auca martyrs went to the Aucas to preach the Gospel. They went from love of their fellow men to tell them about sin and righteousness and judgment, then the hope of forgiveness and eternal life through the cross of the Only Lord Jesus Christ.
They did not go as a publicity stunt to "raise awareness" about the "marginalized."
Today, though, we have a different kind of missions and a different kind of missionary. Christian missions has evolved and has little to do with preaching the Gospel. And yet every Christian missionary and Christian mission non-profit organization claims to be...
fulfilling the Great Commission:
And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20)
Take the time to read the "missions" letters sent out every couple of months by the "missionaries" out on the "mission field"; spend some time asking them pointed questions when they're back in the States on home assignment; and often you'll find their major concerns and commitments aren't preaching the Gospel and planting churches for the salvation of mankind, but helping their children get ahead as they grow up and making their presence in whatever country they serve innocuous enough that they fit in and don't awaken any hostility. In other words, family and job security.
Their lives are given to anthropology, linguistics, literacy, wells and water, refugee camps, education, leadership training; to everything but preaching the Gospel as the Apostle Paul preached it in Athens, Corinth, and Ephesus. Note that his preaching threatened the trade in idolatry and caused the merchants to mount a riot against the foreigner:
For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Artemis, was bringing no little business to the craftsmen; these he gathered together with the workmen of similar trades, and said, “Men, you know that our prosperity depends upon this business. You see and hear that not only in Ephesus, but in almost all of Asia, this Paul has persuaded and turned away a considerable number of people, saying that gods made with hands are no gods at all. Not only is there danger that this trade of ours fall into disrepute, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis be regarded as worthless and that she whom all of Asia and the world worship will even be dethroned from her magnificence.”
When they heard this and were filled with rage, they began crying out, saying, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” (Acts 19:24-28)
Jesus preceded His command that we make disciples of all the nations, baptizing and teaching them to obey everything He commanded, by declaring His Father had given Him "all authority in Heaven and on earth." But authority is absent from missions today. Imagine Cru or I-V or Navigators or Veritas proclaiming the authority of Jesus Christ on the campuses where churches from around the country pay them to be missionaries. Imagine missionaries today repeating the Apostle Paul's words to Athens' Areopagus:
Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead. (Acts 17:30, 31)
Yes, there are some outstanding missionaries out there still today, but you have to work to find them, and Evangelicals don't want to do the work of discernment. Evangelicals give money to missionaries today for much the same reason Roman Catholics give money to their religious orders and the Vatican: it's the vicarious participation in special works of godliness through which we gain favor with God and bragging rights among other Christians. "Our church gives fifty percent of its budget to foreign missions," we say, but nevermind what those missionaries actually do out there on the missions field. Foreign is sacrificial, missions is godly, and that's the end of it. Foreign missions are the Evangelical's works of supererogation allowing your church and mine to receive assurance of our salvation. Evangelical missions are our treasury of merit.
Nothing the missionary doesn't say will ever convince us that our money—or should I say the Lord's money—is thrown away. We may spend ten years paying our college buddy and his wife and three children to live in Papua New Guineau and teach women there how important it is to eat a balanced diet during pregnancy; for ten years we may receive MailChimp prayer letters from them every three or six months showing pics of them teaching women how important it is to eat a balanced diet during pregnancy; we may know more about their son's ongoing battle with asthma than we know about any riot or slander or mocking they have suffered because they preached the Gospel; we may never hear any mention of the church or preaching or this or that man or woman "believing"; we may simply assume that the money we send to our foreign missionary friends is paying for modern-day Apostle Pauls to preach the Gospel—they just can't mention it in their prayer letters because it is so very sensitive.
Like me, you may get letters from your missionary friends similar to this I received a couple days ago from a longtime friend and his wife our churches used to support. They live in a northern hemisphere, first-world country and here they explain the work they are doing for the missions pay they are receiving from Evangelical church's missions budgets Stateside:
Run for the World started in 2007 with the aim of uniting the world to reach the poor and marginalised. Since then we have focussed the event on uniting in sport to transform communities specifically by raising awareness and money.
RUN AROUND THE WORLD IN A DAY!
This year we are organising an event in each of the 24 time zones in order to raise money to further develop ____ sports ministries in over 26 countries. The goal for October 4th is for all R4TW events on that day to accumulate a grand total of at least 40,000 KM, which is the distance around the world. Although running around the whole world in one day is impossible for one person to accomplish, it is possible when we unite together. The kilometers that each person runs or walks during their local R4TW event will be counted towards this goal.
To qualify for this all you need to do is register your event then record the distance each person runs and let us know by email or text message that day.
Format 1-HOUR CHALLENGE – usually this is a 5k race or fun run but the event takes many different forms around the world to suit the community you live in. This year we want to encourage the ’1-hour challenge’ – run as far as you can wherever you are in 60 minutes. This ties in with you time zone and our attempt to accumulate as many km as possible.
As long as it’s a run or even a walk you can be part of R4TW.
Did you read that? This Evangelical mission and its missionaries are running and their running is "focussed ...on uniting in sport to transform communities specifically by raising awareness and money."
Now because this missions letter has been sent out by a personal friend of mine, you might properly wonder if I have spoken to him personally before criticizing him and his mission publicly? Yes, of course I have—although long before this particular prayer letter arrived. In fact, our pastors and elders spent many hours working with this brother, trying to reclaim his work for the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God. But he was adamant that his mission organization agreed this was God's call on his life, and who were we to argue? As we said to him at the time, everyone can see the whole world is going bonkers over sports, so why shouldn't Evangelical missions and missionaries go bonkers over sports, also? What an opportunity to insert or insinuate the Gospel into something people care about. Something that is universally seen as transcendent.
The above text is almost the entire report on his work sent out by this missionary this quarter. You may want to brush this aside, saying the missionaries you support are preaching and teaching and appointing elders in every city and suffering persecution. If so, Godspeed to you and them!
It's more likely, though, that your missionary friends and loved ones are not preaching the Gospel or planting any churches or suffering anything other than spotty internet connections and iffy Skype calls.
Over the course of the past ten years or so, we've worked closely with our church's missionaries to find out who among them is working directly to fulfill the Great Commission, or is willing to turn in that direction? What we've found is that Evangelical missions today has changed from preaching the Gospel to dispensing vitamins to pregnant women, digging wells for villages, and handing out nets to keep malaria at bay.
Now add sports. Add running around the world "to transform communities specifically by raising awareness and money."
Of course I have nothing against running. Of course I have nothing against missionaries running. Of course I have nothing against missionaries getting a bunch of people to run with them. Of course I have nothing against all of them keeping track of how far they ran. Yet, why stop with around the world? If a cow jumped over the moon, we would think Evangelicals motivated by their desire to raise awareness and money would find it within themselves to run to the moon.
Good and faithful and godly missions and missionaries are out there and worth supporting with money and prayer. But recognizing them and casting your congregation's lot in with them requires discernment. It requires finding and weeding out missions and missionaries who don't preach the Gospel; who don't build the church and therefore don't suffer.
The proclamation of the Gospel for the salvation of mankind is worth this hard and painful work.
An article on missions by Jim Elliff
The details in the Scripture about missionaries after the first apostles is less than we would like. It is true that Paul and Barnabas, not part of the original set of apostles, were also called apostles or missionaries (Acts 14:14). Of course, if the word "apostle" had not been hijacked by some groups we do not appreciate we might find using that word would be more biblical. "Missionary" is just the Latin way to say the same thing as "apostle." Paul and Barnabas had hands laid on them at least by the "prophets and teachers" that were there at Antioch after fasting and prayer (Acts 13:1-3).
Timothy also had the laying on of hands "by the presbytery" (1 Tim 4:14) in Lystra, but in Acts 16:1-3, the laying on of hands was not mentioned, (though circumcision was). Paul "wanted this man to go with him."
It seems that Timothy (also Titus and many others) were directed by Paul rather than Paul's local church. It would be very hard for the Antioch church and the Lystra church to have any directional input into the ministry team of Paul and Timothy, who came from different churches.
Paul was clearly the leader of his missionary team and seemed not to check in for direction to Antioch, though he certainly did return there to report and to be "sent away" again (Acts 15:33). Even the decision about taking along Mark was worked out between Paul and Barnabas (Acts 15:36-41) and not the church itself. But this interesting statement was made concerning the experience: "But Paul chose Silas and left, being committed by the brethren to the grace of the Lord." We're not sure if "the brethren" was the church itself (likely) or the fasting core of teachers and prophets. So, the Antioch church seems to have sided with Paul on this one. Barnabas and Mark went to Cyprus, Barnabas' home island, to minister there. Barnabas was the leader in that missionary team. These passages also seem to clarify that going out at least by twos is the right thing to do; something Jesus instigated on two occasions earlier.
The apostles seemed to be self-correcting, as the Galatians 3 passage indicates. This is when Paul corrected Peter in public. In other words, this problem among missionaries was addressed between them in Antioch. Peter is clearly more associated early with Jerusalem but visited Antioch. And remember the Jerusalem council experience, which was not about Antioch directing the apostles, but about the apostles and elders of the church there determining for the whole wider church the right view of circumcision (Acts 15).
Concerning women being set apart by laying on of hands, there is nothing to go on except this one fact: women are not apostles (missionaries). It is popular to call them missionaries out of honor for their monumental sacrifices, but, in my view, this should not be the case. Peter took along "a believing wife," but she was not a missionary, but rather Peter's helpmate. It appears that missionaries are involved in evangelism, congregationalizing, setting churches in order, appointing elders and remaining a resource for the nascent churches. For the most part, this could not be the responsibility of women due to the admonition that a woman is not to "have authority over a man"(1 Tim 2:12). Clearly this is an authority position. I suggest, if laying on of hands is used, it be done to the missionary only, or, as was true for Timothy, for a missionary helper.
Here are a few concluding comments and some additional considerations:
1. Not everyone is a missionary. We should do our best to reserve this title for the right people. More broadly speaking, we need to be careful about calling anybody who goes to another culture a "missionary." This is a widespread problem and needs our attention. When we send out our youth, for instance, to conduct VBS in Haiti, we are not sending "missionaries." The person who is the librarian for a seminary in Chile is not a missionary, unless he is doing other activity as a missionary. I think Aquilla and Priscilla were helpers and not actually missionaries. Mark is a helper ("John....their helper", Acts 13:5). I tend to prefer the word, "helper," "worker" or "assistant" or "missionary delegate" (if sent to take Paul's place, as Timothy did in Ephesus or Titus in Crete), for these people who assisted the missionary enterprise. Some helpers are temporary traveling companions of Paul, and some more permanent. Paul sends some of these wherever he needs them.
2. The fact that missionaries directed several people as helpers leads us to believe that the early missionary work centered around leaders and not organizations or agencies. In other words, "called" men ("calling" seems to be more often seen in OT prophets and NT apostles), directed the enterprise rather than a board. I'm not sure if this is obligatory, but it does describe the situation in the NT.3. Timothy, a missionary helper, experienced the laying on of hands by the elders from his church. However, to my knowledge, there is no further mention in Acts of "being sent out." Rather, he was grabbed by Paul as a good man to help him. Indeed he was.
4. Some men outside of the original disciples of Christ were apostles or missionaries. This clearly includes Barnabas and Paul, and perhaps James, the Lord's brother, who stayed in Jerusalem due to the massive work going on there. He was not an elder. Some other apostles would eventual settle down and deal with a region, though this was not Paul's pattern. John and the churches of Asia Minor would be an illustration of this method.
5. Missionaries are not inexperienced men who know little about church life and doctrine, but are among the deepest and most knowledgeable of the brothers. We often make mistakes here, sending young men with little knowledge of church life or the Bible. These make good helpers perhaps, but would not likely have been considered missionaries in the early church. There were a few missionaries but many workers. Consider the caliber of "missionary" in the NT and their writings and doctrinal precision, etc.
6. The relation to the home churches, it appears, was ongoing for Paul, at least. We do not have too much knowledge beyond this. The church seemed to have little directional input, but were involved in prayer. With this being said, it is interesting to note that Barnabas was given a directive from the Jerusalem church to go to Antioch in the first place. What was his "sending church?" See Acts 11:21-26. Before their commissioning in Acts 13, Paul and Barnabas had been directed to go to Jerusalem with a gift to relieve the Jerusalem church. These were ready men, with time available and already a full intent to devote themselves to the work whatever it was. But once they were sent out in Acts 13, they seemed to direct themselves.
7. In the case of Paul and Barnabas and Timothy, laying on of hands was used. I'm not sure this makes a necessary obligation to do this. It is descriptive but not prescribed, as far as I can tell. It is perhaps a good idea. It appears, in the Antioch experience, that it was the God appointed leaders (yet, interestingly, elders are not mentioned) who laid hands on the first missionaries. For Timothy, the elders did this. So, who does this, is up for grabs. The main thing to note is that at least Paul was well aware, before this experience, of his calling given by Jesus himself. This commissioning in Acts 13 perhaps was the launching of a new initiative, but he had already been preaching and leading (Acts 11:26) with that original "commission" by Christ at his conversion. He often referred to this as his authority for his work.
Come on men!
By Caleb Gibello
One of the greatest needs regarding the pioneer Gospel work in Papua New Guinea is that others would join us in the field to actively carry out the work. If you are a Christian man between the ages of 20 and 60 then consider the following.
It is clear in the New Testament that the pioneer evangelists and church planters went out in teams; and the same should be done in our day. Do any of you men have a desire to proclaim the Gospel where it has never yet been announced?
There are places in the remote jungles of PNG where there is still no Gospel influence. Consider this! There are villages in PNG where the Gospel of Jesus Christ is not known – where it has never been known. This should move us men to go and proclaim the Gospel where the name of Christ has not yet been declared (Rom 15:20).
Are there any of you men who will join us in PNG to preach this glorious Gospel where it is not being preached? Yes it is difficult, yes it requires self denial and self sacrifice; but the reward will be eternal, and Jesus Christ will be known and glorified.
There are countless biblical churches throughout America, and there is significant Gospel influence throughout America. There are Bibles, Christian radio stations, Christian websites, and all kinds of solid Christian literature throughout America. But what about the remote places in this world that have none of this, where there is no Gospel influence and where this Message has never yet been announced? Who will go to them with the saving message of Jesus Christ?
“The Scripture says, ‘Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.’ For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; for “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.” How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things!” However, they did not all heed the good news; for Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our report?” So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. But I say, surely they have never heard, have they? Indeed they have; “Their voice has gone out into all the earth, And their words to the ends of the world.” But I say, surely Israel did not know, did they? First Moses says, “I will make you jealous by that which is not a nation, By a nation without understanding will I anger you.” And Isaiah is very bold and says, “I was found by those who did not seek Me, I became manifest to those who did not ask for Me.”” (Romans 10:11-20)
All the generations before us never went to proclaim the Gospel to these areas and peoples (for if they did they would not still be unevangelized today). Will our generation do it? Will some of you Christian men do this Gospel work? America does not NEED another preacher; but there are places in the remote jungles of PNG that DO NEED a Gospel preacher, because there is no preacher.
Just think if you were born into one of these remote villages in PNG and you yourself had no access to the Gospel, and not chance of ever hearing its saving message. Consider if you were in an area in PNG where the Gospel had never been preached, and you watched generation after generation die without hope, entering an eternity in hell because they had never heard and believed the Gospel message. If this were you, would not the greatest blessing be to have a man come preach the Gospel to you and your village?
We are on the other side. We have the Gospel! How then can we not go to these people and declare to them the only message that will give them eternal life and free them from their slavery to sin? We are debtors to go and tell the Gospel message to those who still have not heard it (Rom 1:14).
What do you say men? We need to step up and do this work. William Carey has challenged us to expect great things from God, but only after we attempt great things for Him. Would you ask the Spirit of God to send you to such a place to publicly announce the glorious Gospel of Jesus to villages who have never heard it? Our goal and passion should be the same as Paul’s: to preach the Gospel where it has not yet been proclaimed (Rom 15:20). Christian men, if we keep putting it off, who then will go and do this work? Let us hasten the coming of Jesus and carry His Gospel to all the peoples – and then the end will come (2 Pet 3:12 & Matt 24:14).
Remember what pioneer evangelist Jim Elliot said: He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose.