Called But Not Going
Dr. Bill Commons
Tears fell as one woman said, “When I was a teen God called me to missions, but I never went.” This confession took place during a missions conference when she came forward with a broken heart over the blessings she felt she had missed because of disobedience.
Similar confessions have been repeated countless times over the years—sometimes even from pastors or their wives. Often young people make a missions commitment and then enter local church ministry after graduation from college or seminary to gain maturity and ministry experience. Before long their concern for the spiritual needs of people in the United States overwhelms their former passion for unreached peoples in distant lands.
Marriage and starting a family maximize concerns for the well-being of children. Safety and security become priority concerns, and the heart for missions fades. How easy it is to forget that “the safest place is always in the center of God’s will,” wherever it takes us and whatever it involves. Besides, where do we find safety as a priority value emphasized in Scripture? If the early apostles had built their ministries on concerns for safety, the gospel would never have reached us in America. Where are those who determine to follow Christ to the dark corners of the world, whatever the cost?
Educational debt after college and graduate school is often seen as a hindrance to entering missions. True, it is often wise to work for a year or two after graduation to reduce debt, but the tendency is to buy more “stuff” on credit, and so financial freedom fades away along with plans for missions. At ABWE, we help potential missionaries set goals and strategies for debt-reduction as part of strategic planning for future career missionary service. God always provides a way for those who determine to obey Him.
There are always good excuses not to go: family priorities, safety concerns, indebtedness, the multitudes of unreached people in the United States, other home church priorities. This has always been true in every generation, in every family, in every church, and in every land. Thus, many are dissuaded from following through on their early missionary commitment and carry in their heart a sense of loss and lack of fulfillment. Disobedience carries a heavy price tag.
But praise God for those who are faithful, who persevere, who face the obstacles honestly but by faith overcome them. “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13) is their credo. They are overcomers—not great men (and women) of God, but little men with a great God. This past July, eighty-one of them were appointed by the ABWE Board for career missionary service. May their tribe increase!
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