Reluctant about going into missions

This is an article that I read from John Piper. Maybe it will help you with some questions or doubts that you've had.

Why Are People Reluctant to Go into Missions?
John Piper

When I spoke at Missions in the Main Hall Sunday night, I tried to give a biblical response to possible obstacles that are in the way for some people that may keep them from moving forward toward missions. My prayer is that God would use these responses to call more of you to go. Here are eight objections and a biblical response.

1. "I am not smart enough."

"Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe." (1 Corinthians 1:20-21)

"Consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise." (1 Corinthians 1:26-27)

2. "My body and my personality are not strong enough."

"But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us." (2 Corinthians 4:7)

"[Christ] said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong." (2 Corinthians 12:9-10)

3. "I am not a good speaker."

"Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power." (1 Corinthians 1:17)

"Moses said to the Lord, 'Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue.' Then the Lord said to him, 'Who has made man's mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak." (Exodus 4:10-12)

4. "I am afraid of the horrors I read about in the newspapers."

"Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore (katartisei—"mend" or "repair" your horribly disfigured body when the lions in the coliseum are through with you), confirm, strengthen, and establish you." (1 Peter 5:8-10)

5. "I am afraid I won't be fruitful"

Your responsibility is not to be fruitful but to be faithful. "And said, 'The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how. The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come." (Mark 4:26-29)

"I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth." (1 Corinthians 3:6-7)

6. "There is plenty to do here."

True, but there is a division of labor and God calls some to MISSIONS, not just evangelism. The difference is seen in Romans 15:19-24: "So that from Jerusalem and all the way around to Illyricum I [Christ] have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Christ; and thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named. . . Now, since I no longer have any room for work in these regions . . . I hope to see you in passing as I go to Spain."

How could Paul say there was no room for work when there were millions in that region to be evangelized? Because evangelism is not missions.

7. "I am not married."

The best spouse is found on the path of obedience. "An excellent wife [or husband!] who can find? She [and he!] is far more precious than jewels" (Proverbs 31:10). The finding is exceedingly hard. It will happen on the road of obedience.

8. "I fear that when I get there it might turn out I made a mistake and will come home with shame."

Which is worse, shame for having endeavored to follow Christ in missions, or fear to venture? Shame before others for making a mistake will not hurt you; it will humble you and can make you more useful in a new situation. But fear will make you useless everywhere.

Consider Ecclesiastes 11:4 and what it says about risk: "He who observes the wind will not sow, and he who regards the clouds will not reap." Meaning: without taking the risk of sowing when the seed might be blown away and reaping when the rain might ruin the harvest, you will starve.

Oh, how precious is the freeing word of God,

Pastor John

He is Risen!

Happy Easter to all of you! This morning I was excited because we were celebrating the resurrection of Jesus. At the same time, when I left my house, I felt a bit of sadness. Sadness because everyone around me knows nothing of what we celebrate today.
God blessed in the services at the church where we are training. There were eight visitors all of which were not believers. I had a chance to talk with two young men who came. They had questions about the forgiveness of sin. It was a great opportunity to explain Jesus' death on the cross and then of course his resurrection. I'm always so amazed to see sincere seeker's reaction when we explain the Scriptures to them. The great thing is the day is not over. We will get together tonight and have a big dinner. There will be visitors there also. May God bless our conversations!

Correction

I had a typo that I've since corrected. I wrote the Great Commission does end with converts. I meant to write The Great Commission does not end with converts.

Committment

LeRoy Eims, author of The Lost Art of Disciple Making, gave his opinion on time frames for discipleship. He himself says that the times vary according to people. Here is what he says:
Convert to disciple-2 years
Disciple-worker-2 years
Worker-leader- 3 year
Here is a quote from him. "Let's say Jesus spent 12 hours a day with his men for three years. That's 4380 hours a year, and 13,140 hours in those 3 years. If we are able to spend seven hours per week with a person (four in church and three elsewhere)-and that's a high figure-it would mean that we would spend 365 hours a year with that man. At that rate it would take us 36 years to match the time frame used by Jesus..."
The point is that we need Christian workers who are willing to stick it out. In what are called closed countries the turn around time is very short. In our time here in this country we've known 10 families that have left the country. If it takes 5-7 years to train a leader, it is no wonder there are so many immature believers in this country. There is always a need for what we call short-termers. If you feel called has called you somewhere, be committed if necessary to stay a lifetime. The great commission does not end with converts.

Interesting Day

It seems like every time the Turkish pastor leaves something interesting happens. We had 8 students come in this morning. They were doing a report for the sociology class and wanted to video our services. So I said sure go for it. After the service they wanted to ask us questions. So myself and some of the young people answered their questions. I was very pleased with the way our young people handled themselves and answered questions. They were talking with students from their same university. Some of the questions were: As a Christian can you do all that you want in Turkey? Are their similarities in the Koran and the Bible? Have you been harassed for being a Christian? What do you think about missionary work? In all we talked with them for about an hour and a half. What was really nice is that after they stopped filming they asked more questions. Throughout the entire conversation the young people explained the gospel. God gave us a great opportunity to speak the truth to these students. What is even better is their university class is going to watch the videos. Thank God for this opportunity!

Mother-In-Law

Some people have a hard time getting along with their mother-in-law's. Others have no problem. Being 6,000 miles away from my mother-in-law, I definitely don't have a problem. Here many women live with their mother-in-law. Of course in the matriarchal hierarchy she's the ruler. My wife has made friends with a lady. So she came over to visit with Angie. Along with her came her mother-in-law. According to Angie it was constantly telling her daughter-in-law what to do. The subject turned to Jesus and the Bible. Angie's friend was asking normal questions. The mother-in-law definitely wanting to put an end to these questions spoke up as an authority about the Koran and the Bible. This is where you see a huge different in cultures. Angie, the American, has respect for elders, but if they are wrong she will say something. Which she politely told the woman what the Bible says about itself and Jesus. A Turkish woman on the other hand would not dare say anything against the mother-in-law. Even if she's wrong. So hopefully as Angie builds this friendship, the mother-in-law will not always tag along.

Pilgrim's Progress

I've mentioned before that we studying Pilgrim's Progress with some college students. Some are believers some are not. I was really encouraged by yesterday's study. We had 7 students and they were all talking about what they thought about chapter 3. All I had to do was ask a question and they took care of the rest. The main reason we are doing this study is to help them grow in their faith. We want them to continue God's work in Turkey. One of the things we talked about yesterday was this: Christian was asked by one of his hosts in the Beautiful Palace about his family. He responded that he had told them about the judgment that was coming and that he had to get this burden removed from off his back. So the point we were talking about was witnessing to your family and close friends. Even though it is hard, if we truly love them we'll tell them the truth. One of the students brought up the point that the man that Christian was talking with said you are not responsible for them. He asked are we truly responsible for them? The fact is that Christian had told his family of the coming judgment but they made fun of him. He told them! We are not responsible for what people do with the truth, but we are responsible to tell them. The last point we talked about was what if God would allow us to see the people in Hell, in everlasting suffering, Jesus and the Gospel would be more frequently on our lips. We would think of any possible way to turn a conversation to the Gospel. I hope these thoughts will stay with you this week.