The Missionary's Goal

"Behold, we go up to Jerusalem."

Luke 18:31

In the natural life our ambitions alter as we develop; in the Christian life the goal is given at the beginning, the beginning and the end are the same, viz., Our Lord Himself. We start with Christ and we end with Him - "until we all attain to the stature of the manhood of Christ Jesus," not to our idea of what the Christian life should be. The aim of the missionary is to do God's will, not to be useful, not to win the heathen; he is useful and he does win the heathen, but that is not his aim. His aim is to do the will of his Lord.

In Our Lord's life Jerusalem was the place where He reached the climax of His Father's will upon the Cross, and unless we go with Jesus there we will have no companionship with Him. Nothing ever discouraged Our Lord on His way to Jerusalem. He never hurried through certain villages where He was persecuted, or lingered in others where He was blessed. Neither gratitude nor ingratitude turned Our Lord one hair's breadth away from His purpose to go up to Jerusalem.

"The disciple is not above his Master." The same things will happen to us on our way to our Jerusalem. There will be the works of God manifested through us, people will get blessed, and one or two will show gratitude and the rest will show gross ingratitude, but nothing must deflect us from going up to our Jerusalem.

"There they crucified Him." That is what happened when Our Lord reached Jerusalem, and that happening is the gateway to our salvation. The saints do not end in crucifixion: by the Lord's grace they end in glory. In the meantime our watchword is - I, too, go up to Jerusalem.

No matter how long we have been missionaries, we continue to have to learn the lesson of self-sacrifice over and over. I keep thinking that self-absorption, self-love, self-promotion or self-pitying will eventually disappear or at least eventually be so small that it will only be barely present. Only to wake up the next morning and find that I am still very selfish and self-seeking.

Even in our holiest of ambitions--leaving everything and everyone we love (which has new meaning now that we live in a different country) for the sake of the gospel--I am still intimately aware of the need of the work of God in my heart, purifying my intentions and ambitions.

I'm not sure about Jeannette as much as I am of myself...that way too much of me is often wrapped up in my life and work for the Lord. As Oswald Chambers says above (the morning devotion for today, my b-day...a big 48)..."The aim of the missionary is to do God's will, not to be useful, not to win the heathen; he is useful and he does win the heathen, but that is not his aim. His aim is to do the will of the Lord."

I want to not only do God's will but also be seen doing God's will. I want to be noticed. It's like, "Hey, look what I'm doing! I'm leaving all that matters to me to do God's will! Did you notice? Aren't you going to affirm me? Aren't you going to say, 'Wow, Lee, good job!"?

And then there's Jesus, our Lord and Savior. He didn't count equality with God a thing to be grasped. He was never discouraged from doing the Father's will...He never hurried the Father's will...and the critical truth for me? He never sought gratitude to keep Him going that He might fulfill the Father's will. Nor was He ever dissuaded from going because He did not recieve gratitude. The cross was before Him. The world behind Him. The call from the Father was to give up His life for others...specifically sinners who don't deserve anything...except hell and eternal damnation. Everything about Him, including His deepest desires and motives, were focused on loving the Father and loving others from a pure heart. His heart was such that He knew that the disciple (in this case, Himself) is not above his master (in this case, His Father).

Like Chambers says, "The same thing will happen to us on our way to our Jerusalem. There will be works of God manifested through us, people will get blessed, and one or two will show gratitude and the rest will show gross ingratitude, but nothing must deflect us from going up to our Jerusalem."

First, we have to ask ourselves, "Am I going up to my Jerusalem?" Then, we must ask, "Am I going up to my Jerusalem, like Christ, with a pure heart to do God's will...to give up my life for Him?" Maybe you are more like me...wanting to be useful, wanting to obtain gratitude in the process, or to be seen as being a great Christian as you head up the mountain? If you are more like Christ in these things, I truly am thankful for you and need people like you around me. Please find time to mentor people like me around you. The Church desperately needs your example. Be a good steward of God's grace in you...invest what you have in others.

Yet if you are more like me, let's pray that God changes us and makes us into a true missionary who is willing to go up to our Jerusalem. And then, that He might make us into missionaries who see God's will and His glory as our only true goal...the only one worthy of our passionate pursuit. And in the process, we will lose sight of ourselves and our ambitions.

Love in Christ,
Lee

48 years young!