Doing Your Work as to the Lord, For the Sake of the Unreached (part 1)

I believe it is Christ’s intention for the task of the Great Commission to be the task of His entire body. There are no exemptions to the call to “make disciples of every nation.” Every true follower of Christ is to follow Him in His mission to gather worship for the Father out of all of the peoples over which He has dominion. But it is also a sensible and biblical expectation that the majority will live out their callings in the normal spheres of business and community, redeeming their various sectors by doing their work to the glory of Christ. The normal Christian life, is, for Paul, to “aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you” (1 Thess. 4:11).

I by no means wish to suggest that what is commonly called “secular” work, when engaged in as to the Lord, is unworthy or second-class, or that it is only valuable insofar as it contributes to world missions. Instead, all arenas of occupation are under the Lordship of Christ and are worthwhile and honoring to Him. But I believe that every Christian workman should have a consciousness of the effect of his specific vocation on the work of God to call out a people from every tribe and tongue, this being so central to the mission of the church and the final command with which Christ left us. I also don’t think it is adequate for believers to find fulfillment of Great Commission living solely in the important work of evangelism in their own neighborhoods. The pervasive idea that everyone is a missionary is misleading and confusing. For the purpose of clarity in the church’s understanding of its mission, I think it’s important to draw some distinctions between evangelism within a reached people group, and the apostolic spread of the gospel to places where it has never been. I want to say that Christian believers should see themselves as having a level of involvement in both. The suggestion that the church is comprised of “senders” and “goers” in Great Commission living is more helpful, having no category for uninvolvement, but still leaves the need for an unpacking of what it means to meaningfully participate as a sender. So how can Christian business men, grocers, mechanics and housewives do their work in the name of Christ, to the glory of God, and for the sake of the least reached around the world? Each member of Christ’s body will have to work that out, in sensitivity to the Spirit, in his or her own sphere, but what follows are some beginning ideas:

1. Don’t stockpile. Be a channel for flowing funds to Great Commission causes.

Jesus spoke some hard words to the capitalistic farmer who wanted to build bigger barns for more grain so that he could cushion himself in godless self-dependence and consume on his own lusts. “Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be? So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.” (Luke 12:20-21). When a nation is at war, its citizens tighten the belt and streamline in order to free up dollars for the cause. Where the church is engaged in the mission of Christ, everyone contributes. Right now, a pitifully small amount of money goes toward the spread of the gospel among those who have never heard (only about 5% of Christian giving goes to overseas missions, and of these funds, less than two percent is focused on planting churches among the unreached). Oh, for more business savvy Christian men and women who are more shrewd than the money-handlers of this world, because they do their buying and selling with a view toward increasing the flow of dollars into sending preachers to the unreached! I’ve heard recently of two small enterprises which have been started by Christian believers, the proceeds of which are going entirely to world missions. Could that be a worthy personal or family project for you to establish by faith? In your occupations, labor not to be rich. Labor to be rich toward God by making Christ your treasure and storing up riches in heaven in part by releasing funds for the advance of His Kingdom among the unreached.

2. Make it easy for believing employees to go.

How many Christian business and parents have, even inadvertently, prevented those whom God has called from going because they challenge them toward climbing up company ranks, but never to consider leaving it all behind for the sake of the gospel? Or how many employers have made it too difficult for employees to take vision trips, reduce hours for pre-field work, etc? Have an atmosphere around your office, store or workshop which says to believing employees and prospective employees: “If the call of God is upon you, it would be a joy to see some of you go to work among the least reached. It is a noble calling which I would support and facilitate in whatever ways I can.”

To be continued in tomorrow’s post.

~~posted by Ambassador