During World War II, a nation was mobilised, and a generation of men, some still in their teens, willingly signed up to go, fight and lay down their lives for king and country. At times, I have found myself asking, ‘Why is it then so hard for us as Christians to mobilise men to go and lay their lives down for the King of kings and for a kingdom whose dominion shall never pass away?’
Upon reflection, I believe our greatest problem is unbelief. That is, there is a reality gap between what we know to be true and how we act. I often notice this reality gap in my own life. Britons, during World War II, knew the reality they faced. They knew they weren’t only fighting for their country and countrymen, but for the salvation of the world as they knew it. They knew the stakes and so acted accordingly. The British public knew there was a tyrant who wanted dominion. They knew countless souls would be forcibly subjugated and made to suffer under his tyrannical rule if he were left to fulfil his plans unopposed. They knew full well that the only way he would be stopped would be if every person played their individual and corporate part to stop him.
So again, I ask, ‘How can we as Christians not wage war with the same zeal, conviction and sacrifice when we know that there is a greater war being waged, a crueller tyrant to be opposed and not only physical lives but eternal souls to be set free?’ Again, I think the cause is unbelief. After all, beliefs lead to convictions and convictions lead to actions. For instance, we see this reality played out by those in the Extinction Rebellion movement. They believe that the world will perish through climate change if mankind doesn’t take responsibility and drastic action to stop it. This belief causes them to act sacrificially. Many change their diets or mode of travel. Some risk fines or even imprisonment through protests to raise awareness and bring about change to ‘save the world’. Ultimately, their convictions are demonstrated by their actions.
Do our actions demonstrate our Christian convictions?
The cause
Do we as Christians still believe that the only way mankind can be saved is through faith in the work of Jesus Christ? Do we still believe that we are the ones who have been commanded to take the knowledge of this truth into all the world? Do we still believe that he who has all authority in heaven and earth has given us authority to go into every nation and make disciples, whether that nation be sympathetic, apathetic or actively opposed to the gospel being shared? If we do believe this, is it exhibited in the way we live our lives and the way we act?
The spiritual conflict in which we are involved, which is both our mission and mandate, should influence every aspect of our lives. Our ‘mission’ should be preached and prioritised in the pulpit. It should be integral to the way we disciple converts and the way we nurture our children. It should affect how we speak, how we pray and how we spend. For some of you reading this article, it may even affect whether you stay where you are or whether you take up the call and go.
The reality is that the world’s situation is grave. Yet the salvation that we offer through Jesus is great and perfect in meeting this world’s dire situation. Therefore, should we not be seeking to act by giving ourselves individually and corporately to such a war and cause as this? Will we respond to the call of our King?
I am currently studying to be an overseas missionary with my wife, and one thing that I noticed, which unsettled me, was the unbalanced mix of men and women in the student body. In our class, there are twice as many women as men, and the year above has three times as many. I observe that what I see in my college is simply an illustration of what is happening globally. Where are the men? It brings me back to my first observation. Why, 85 years ago, were men willing to take up the cause of king and country, leaving all that they had ever known, yet when it comes to mission, they will not do it for the King of kings and the liberation of men’s souls globally? There is surely not a more pressing and higher cause that one could give one’s life to.
Questions to ask ourselves
I do not have answers for you, only questions, but I do believe these are questions we should be asking ourselves. Questions from the pulpit, in small groups and in Bible studies. Questions asked on our knees. We, the church, need to reawaken, reorientate ourselves and ask God to bridge the reality gap between what we know to be true and how we act upon that truth. We need to ask God honestly whether our eyes and hearts are healthy, or whether we have become blind and calloused to the truth. A healthy church, corporately and as individuals, will have mission as its centre. It will be the rhythm it beats to. Why? Because mission is at the centre of God’s heart. It’s the central component of the biblical narrative: the reconciliation of man to God through the sending of another. Mission is central to Christ’s command to the church: to go into all the world and make disciples. It is central to our sanctification; being conformed to Christ, we will be conformed to his mission which is the salvation of the world. Therefore, to be healthy, it should be central to everything we do.
We are a holy nation in Christ. Love for our King, the kingdom and our neighbour should mobilise us with a zeal and conviction proportionate to the reality the world finds itself in. We should be a generation of men and women signing up for the cause of Christ and his mission; laying down our lives so that the world may be saved, so that the tyrant Satan may be stopped, and so that Christ our Lord, who first laid his life down for us, may be glorified. We should be spreading his fame and declaring the ultimate victory he has won for us.
Mission is at the centre of Christ’s heart. The question I will leave you and me with: ‘Is it at the centre of ours?’
