The Pilgrim’s Protest

By Beverly Strobolakos

I was excited. After a twenty-year hiatus to raise a family, I was back in college once again. As I sank down into the seat of the large auditorium for ICS 1210, I realized I had no idea what ICS was. It was a required class but, in my eagerness, I neglected to find out what I had signed up for.
I soon discovered ICS stood for Intercultural Studies and my class was called “Introduction to the World Christian Movement.” The course was a general overview of the history and scope of world missions. Although I entered class that day horribly uninformed, it was not by mistake. Unknowingly, I had a serious heart problem the Lord needed to correct. When it came to missions, like Dr. Suess’s Grinch, my heart was at least two sizes too small.

How I ended up with this grave condition I do not know. I certainly was not opposed to missions: I gave to the missionary fund and attended the yearly conference at our church; I invited missionaries into our home and intently listened to their stories; I even read missionary biographies to my children. However, I soon discovered there were two serious errors in my view of missions: it was limited in knowledge and lacking in personal commitment.
As the semester unfolded, I became acutely aware that God is a missionary God and the Bible is a missionary book. The Old Testament unfolds God’s loving plan of redemption for fallen humanity, and in the New Testament, Jesus comes as the fulfillment of it. Jesus proclaimed the good news of salvation and sends His disciples to do the same. In Matthew 28:18-20, He commissions “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations… ” Missions, or more accurately, the mission, is the church intentionally going into all the world, preaching the gospel, making disciples, and establishing sending churches among all peoples. Fulfilling the mission is a command that God expects all His disciples to obey. As author John Piper has said, we can “Go, send, or disobey.”
Somehow in my twenty years as a Christian I missed this essential truth. I had reduced missions to a calling given to a select few. I did not sense that call, therefore missions was not my job. As a result, I believed I was released from this responsibility.
Fortunately as my understanding has grown, so has my heart. I am no longer content to sit as a sideline enthusiast in the arena of world missions but have accepted my responsibility to be an active participant.
Since what we believe determines what we do, I wonder if others also suffer with the same heart problem. Has the church been effective in clearly communicating God’s heart for the lost? Have we clearly conveyed the vital role every believer has in the fulfillment of the mission? Could our misunderstanding be producing pews full of small-minded grinches with hearts too little for the task? The mission will continue until some from every people, tribe, language and nation are present before God’s throne in heaven. However, fulfilling the Great Commission requires purposeful living. Missions is not, and has never been, a spectator sport. Will you join the team and fill the position God has for you? Together we can reach the world.