"I Can Plod"

In a culture in which character is less appreciated than popularity, heroes rise and fade quickly based upon the latest response to social media. However, history provides the stories of great men and women of noble character who have stood the test of time in order to offer up hope for all of us that are struggling to remain faithful to God under our current circumstances. I have come across great biographies of such individuals and have found their stories inspiring…even as my own story is being written. I recently came across a biography that has richly encouraged and challenged my faith. It is titled Faithful Witness: The Life and Mission of William Carey. While his name may be unknown to many, the 21st century Church honors him with the title “Father of Modern-Day Missions.” As a missionary to India at the turn of the 19th century, Carey boldly patterned the means by which countless individuals continue to take the gospel around the world even to this day. He is credited with numerous inspiring quotes. When challenging others with the task of taking the gospel of Jesus Christ to unknown peoples and lands, he would say, “Expect great things from God; attempt great things for God.” When asked as to how he could remain faithful under such trying circumstances as a missionary to India, he stated, “I can plod. I can persevere to any definite pursuit.”

However, one of Carey’s greatest contributions to believers which know of his works is his book An Enquiry into the Obligations of Christians to Use Means for the Conversion of the Heathens. In this work he would challenge Christians of his own day with the following premise. “Multitudes sit at ease and give themselves no concern about the far greater part of their fellow sinners, who to this day, are lost in ignorance and idolatry.” In his writing and research, he would challenge five prominent objections regarding the work of missions in his own day. Unfortunately, these ideas continue to carry weight in 2018. The objections which Carey battled (in the Church) regarding missions were: 1) Great distance, 2) Uncivilized people, 3) Dangers to the missionary, 4) Difficulties of making a living, and 5) Learning a language far from home. To the first objection Carey would point out the newest means for ease in traveling great distances. In our own day, we will travel for business and vacation; should not believers have at least as much concern for the souls of sinners as businessmen have for the profit of a few dollars? To the second objection, Carey argued that the example of the apostles’ spreading of the gospel in the New Testament proves that we cannot allow fears to hinder our mission. To the third and fourth objections, Carey proposed that common sense ministry must be combined with “no half-heartedness, no timidity, no turning back.” To the final objection, Carey would respond that the language barrier would be “no more difficult for heralds of the gospel than for traders and agents of commercial interests.”

Without question, there are many objections to striving to obey God’s command to take the gospel to all people. Expenses, effort, distance, time, and even the argument that “we should focus on people in our own community.” However, attention to the call and invitation of Christ quickly dissuades all of these arguments. Even as we partner with A Better City Church in Toronto, Canada, how can each of us fight the urge to object in pursuance of Christ’s call? On July 2-10 of this year, we will be taking another team to this work of ministry. Might God be calling you to go? How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? (Romans 10:14).

Plodding Faithfully,

Jason