Supporting kingdom builders

I cannot think of any time when I didn’t want to support missionaries. It seems normal to pray for them, send them letters of encouragement, and if God so leads, to send funds also.

Today’s devotional reading asks why Christians should support missionaries. I’ve not thought out why it should be done because it seems natural. If my Christian friends are sharing Christ with their neighbors, I would support them in prayer and encourage their efforts. Why not those who do it in far-away countries?

Have I ever resisted this? Not to my recall, perhaps because the Lord has supplied the means of support to me. The first time was financial support for a couple in Africa that I’d never met. They were teachers at a Christian academy. I wrote them letters too. Then one year they came back to North America and visited us in our home. I felt I had known them all my life. I was a new Christian, fresh from a sinful and selfish life and still feeling like other Christians looked down their nose at me, but not this couple. They talked to me as an equal and made me realize that my new life in Christ was a reality, an actual new life. I was accepted by God and by His people. In giving to these missionaries, God gave me a gift too as I began to more deeply understand my acceptance into His family.

Since then, God has brought many other missionaries into our lives. Some of them are close friends. We have gone to their far-away homes and stayed with them. God has shown us their labor and the challenges of living in another culture with a new diet, weather, and other adjustments that can only be met by grace. We realize His love in them as they minister to people who may not understand them at all. We their submission to God, to their sending agency, to one another, and how they are given grace to face all that threatens their challenging task. We also realize their workload and the difficulty of finding time for personal devotions, prayer, and worship. Yes, missionaries are ordinary people, but they are in the front lines of our battle against the forces of darkness. God says . . .

“You will do well to send them on their journey in a manner worthy of God. For they have gone out for the sake of the name, accepting nothing from the Gentiles. Therefore we ought to support people like these, that we may be fellow workers for the truth.” (3 John 6–8)

The Old Testament the Law of Moses used an analogy for the principle behind supporting those who labor in God’s work. Paul quotes it in the NT as he points out the rightness of supporting missionaries:

“You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain.” Is it for oxen that God is concerned? Does he not certainly speak for our sake? It was written for our sake, because the plowman should plow in hope and the thresher thresh in hope of sharing in the crop. If we have sown spiritual things among you, is it too much if we reap material things from you? If others share this rightful claim on you, do not we even more? Nevertheless, we have not made use of this right, but we endure anything rather than put an obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ. Do you not know that those who are employed in the temple service get their food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in the sacrificial offerings? In the same way, the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel. (1 Corinthians 9:9-14)

He urged readers to support those who are in full-time Christian work, but shares that he is intent on sharing Christ with others and was willing to do it without any support at all. He even said,

“But I have made no use of any of these rights, nor am I writing these things to secure any such provision. For I would rather die than have anyone deprive me of my ground for boasting. For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward, but if not of my own will, I am still entrusted with a stewardship. What then is my reward? That in my preaching I may present the gospel free of charge, so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel.” (1 Corinthians 9:15-18)

Knowing the lifestyle of missionaries, it is safe to say none of them are in it for the money, nor for impressing others with their resume. This is not a posh job, nor is it easy. Spiritual warfare, physical disadvantages, emotional challenges, relationship threats, all that the enemy can do to make them ‘go home’ is thrown at them in greater force than any of us who are ‘at home’ will ever face. Yet like Paul, the necessity is laid upon them and they are entrusted with a huge stewardship.

^^^^^^^^^

Jesus, my part in supporting Christians in the mission field is nothing compared to the task You have given them. Yet we are workers together. I have not been called to do what You have called them to do nor have they been called to the tasks You have given me. Yet put the two together, and as a team we are building the kingdom. Your grand plan is, as always, quite incredible!

Passion shows up in many ways . . .

A woman at the table next to us “never stopped talking.” Another person my husband saw at a hotel breakfast room the next day “never stopped talking.” This phrase came to mind when I read this passage of Scripture because the translators actually had to create several sentences out of the original. Apparently, the author (Paul) barely stopped to breathe, never mind put in any sentence breaks.

I’m thinking he was excited. At least that is what happens to me when I am passionate about something and start talking. Some of his letters were dictated to a secretary, but this one seems from his own hand. He never stopped writing long enough to add a few breaks or take a breath.

“Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, for which I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher, which is why I suffer as I do(.) But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that Day what has been entrusted to me. Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you.” (2 Timothy 1:8–14)

The mind of a Christian ought to be like Paul’s mind in some ways. While personality will flavor it, some details of this passage tell me how this man thought, the way I should think, and the way that Jesus Christ thinks.

First, the mind of Christ is never ashamed of the Gospel or of those who believe it, even if believing lands them in jail as it did Paul. The implications for my own life are broad. Would I go to jail for being a Christian?

Second, the mind of Christ is willing to suffer for the sake of the Gospel and the testimony of Christ, even suffer with others who are persecuted in this way. That is, I should never turn the other way when anyone is mocked or harmed for believing in Jesus. Hundreds of Christians are murdered every day for believing in Jesus. Am I willing to suffer with others?

Third, the mind of Christ inserts the Gospel into conversation wherever possible. Paul was passionate about the truth. He preached it and it landed him in jail, but he preached it even as he explained how preaching it landed him in jail! The Gospel was his reason for living. What is my reason?

Fourth, the mind of Christ is convinced of the care of God and not at all worried about what God has entrusted to him. God will give all that is needed to perform whatever He asks of His servants, including the task of sharing the Gospel, even in the face of opposition. Am I convinced?

If my mind is not like this, then my mind needs to be changed!

To Live is Christ — worthy of the gospel

Today’s reading is about behavior that adorns the Gospel. My first thoughts include actions of Christian love, kindness, doing good for others, being like Jesus, and so on. The verses for today give me even more ideas.

Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel, and not in any way terrified by your adversaries, which is to them a proof of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that from God. (Philippians 1:27–28)

In Paul’s mind, the gospel is demonstrated by qualities are in my life whether anyone is watching or not. He points to unity among believers, contending together for the truth of the gospel, and doing so without fear. These qualities are not supposed to be put on or faked because someone is looking. They are supposed to be just there all the time, deeply embedded in our lives.

Unity, next to love, might be the most frequent command in the New Testament for Christians. This isn’t about a robot-like sameness where everyone thinks exactly the same thing (which is true of some cults), but together standing firm on what constitutes genuine saving faith. As Christians, we might disagree on many things, but if we are genuine, we will agree on how a person is saved. It is not by our works of righteousness, but by His mercy!

Contending together for the faith is a mutual effort to make this good news known. It is also about standing together against all who oppose the gospel. Again, we may not agree on all points of faith and practice, but Christians are to be ready to fight to the death for the truth: Jesus was crucified to save sinners and rose again the third day. He offers eternal life to all who trust in Him.

Fearlessness as a behavior worthy of the gospel surprised me at first. Yet as I think about it, this makes sense. If I really believe the Good News about Jesus Christ and salvation (and I do), then what would I fear? Can anyone harm me? After all, even death means life! The Bible clearly states why I have nothing to fear from even the strongest opponents of the gospel.

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: “For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.” Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:31–39)

Marked by unity and standing together for our faith, Christians can be fearless. What we believe is from God Himself, the One who stands with us and for us. He is our strength and defense.

I can walk worthy, not because I am worthy, but because He has done all these things.