In my late teens and early twenties, Protestant missionary biographies were my constant source of enjoyment. Books like Through Gates of Splendor, Peace Child and Lords of the Earth, The Little Woman, Tales of a SeaSick Doctor, and The Journals of Jim Eliot fed my spirit, formed my heart, and fired my imagination. To take the Name of Jesus to peoples who've never heard It, to enthrone Him where He is not enthroned, to proclaim His Gospel – His life, death, burial, resurrection, ascension, and coming-return – what else is worthwhile? Anything less seems banal and jejune!
Taking His Name where He is not named…
He actually is named among the Muslims of the world. He is called Isa al'Masih (Jesus the Messiah), but the Muslim idea of what Messiah means is very different from the Christian understanding. And while Muslims do call Jesus Messiah and believe He is a great prophet, they do not believe He is Lord and Savior. And there are very few missionaries working with Muslims to help them know the Truth about Isa al'Masih. The booklet The New Context of World Mission relates the following facts: over 1.1 billion people in the world are Muslim; over 80% of all Muslims have never heard the Gospel, yet regard Jesus as a key prophet; there are only about 900 missionaries working with Muslims. 900 missionaries for 1.1 billion Muslims!? This number is distressingly small: realize that there are approximately 30,000 missionaries working with Westerners. (And while Muslims are the least evangelized group, Hindus and Chinese peoples only have about 4,400 missionaries working with them!)
As I've mentioned before on this blog, I would like to be a missionary. Indeed, I'd like to be a missionary to Muslims. But I really wonder if I am willing and able to pay the price it would entail? Just before the War on Terror began in Afghanistan, Dayna Curry, Heather Mercer, and Stacy Mattingly were arrested and imprisoned by the Taliban for evangelizing. They denied they were doing it, but after the Taliban fell, they admitted that's exactly what they were doing. Their example frightens me. It doesn't bother me that they had to lie to the ruling Taliban government about their motivation for working in Afghanistan (human governments do not have the authority to override the Great Commission* and therefore, truth and obedience are not due any government that tries to do so; see Acts 5:29 and surrounding context), or that they were asking Afghans to make a commitment to Christ while knowing that Afghans faced prison and probably death for doing so (Luke 9:18-27). What does bother me is that they were not willing to face the same consequences as the Afghani Believers. If the Gospel causes people to suffer, Western Christians must be willing to suffer for the Gospel! If I am to be a missionary to people who might be imprisoned, tortured, and executed for the Name of Jesus, I must be willing to be imprisoned, tortured, and executed along with them. I don't know if I will ever be a missionary. I don't know in what land I will serve if I ever do become one. But will I choose to suffer for the Gospel? Will I choose to suffer for the Gospel? May God have mercy on me if I won't. Please pray for me.
*1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
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