Last week, I was asked to give a three minute testimony at a church about why I want to go on missions. My two main reasons can be found in Psalm chapter 9, verse 11:
Sing the praises of the Lord, enthroned in Zion;
proclaim among the nations what he has done.
These are two reasons every Christian needs to be involved in missions.
The decree
Our King, who is seated in Zion, through the writer of this psalm, has issued us a decree. As His loyal subjects, we must obey. Missions isn’t an optional activity. Christians don’t get to opt out of telling the world the great things God has done.
The dying
The nations need to hear about God. You just need to switch on your TV, get on your tablet, check your cellphone, or go about your daily routine to see that people are lost, lonely, in pain, hurting and are hurting others. People are in need of the solution of salvation.
How will they hear about the answer unless we tell them?
With the internet, media, social media and cell phones everywhere you’d think that everyone knows about Jesus. Not so. There is lots of misinformation out there. Just check out what some people post on Facebook. Lies are being told about Jesus and who He was.
Others have heard the truth about Jesus but He’s theoretical- the hearers have no experience of Him for themselves.
That’s why missions is so important. Missions is meeting people where they are in their life- literally meeting them where they live- and showing that you care enough to come to tell them about our Lord. It’s opening up about your own vulnerabilities and flaws and declaring what God has done for you and what He can do for them.
Face to face is still the best way to touch people. People are interested in your story and they want to be around you while you tell it.
I’ve done past missions in Nepal, Mozambique, Malawi, Guyana—countries with different societies, ethnicities and cultures but the one common thing was their need for Jesus.
When we’re driving and get lost trying to get somewhere we know it. We recognize that the road has suddenly become unfamiliar or we are straying further from the path. But do you know what it’s like to be lost and not know it?
Moved with compassion
Matthew chapter 9, verse 36 (International Standard version) says Jesus was moved with compassion for the crowd who were “troubled and helpless”, like sheep without a shepherd. Other Bible translations use words like confused, harassed, wearied, cast away, cast aside, distressed, dispirited, downcast, weary, wandering, worn out, bewildered, scattered.
The Weymouth New Testament describes them as: “fainting on the ground like sheep which have no shepherd.”
Picture yourself walking beside a huge field—a field filled with thousands of sheep—sheep as far as your eyes can see. Now watch these sheep collapsing—and dying one by one from dehydration. You’d think: “What a loss to the farmer!”
The mission field is full of people who need Jesus to give them Living Water (John chapter 4, verses 13–14). To give them new, abundant life (John chapter 10, verse 10). The lost are His sheep. It is His field. His Loss.
You know what Jesus said next (in very next verse)? “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few” (Matthew chapter 9, verse 37).
They are out there, waiting to hear. Get moved! As Christians you and I need to get a passion for the lost ones. We must care about what our King cares about—reconciling them to Himself through their belief in his Son Jesus. We know what it was like to be without an answer to our problems.
But now we have that answer. Become a worker in God’s harvest field: support missions. Go. Give. Pray.
The decision
Now that you have read this, what will you do?
Sharma Taylor previous articles may be viewed www.pressserviceinternational.org/sharma-taylor.html
Sharma Taylor is a corporate attorney with a Doctor of Philosophy Degree in Law from Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand. This year, she is committed to believing for bigger things. She was the 2017 Basil Sellers International Young Writers winner in the young writer program. The young writer program is coordinated by Press Service International (PSI) in conjunction with Christian Today with over 80 young writers from Australia, New Zealand and around the world.
Sharma Taylor previous articles may be viewed at: www.pressserviceinternational.org/sharma-taylor.html