Our Handbook concludes with a section entitled “the heart of mission.” Let me conclude this series of articles with excerpts.
Devotion to Jesus
The heart of mission begins with devotion to Jesus. We are invited, graciously, to become his slaves. The Handbook explains: “Such a relationship…means that the Mission and its workers, while thankfully recognizing the visible channels of support, look to Christ alone as the one sure Source for the supply of whatever is needed to fulfill their calling and ministry….Funds might run short and fail, or the Mission might even cease to exist, but if [they] are devoted to Christ and have put their trust in Him above all, the Lord will never fail or disappoint them.”
Devotion to the Body
We understand ourselves as servants of the Body as well. From the Handbook we read: “Missionaries possess an affectionate loyalty to the other members of the Mission and of the whole Body of Christ. This leads them to love their fellow workers, to bear their burdens and weaknesses as if they were their own, and to exert a strong influence for faith and unity in the missionary force….Missionaries understand themselves to be part of the Church of Chist.”
Devotion to the World
TheHandbook reads: “Having found the joy of salvation and the delights of Christ’s love, missionaries are moved by a deep, new urge to transmit these treasures to others. They are not only receivers but givers. A strong sense of responsibility grips them. The riches they have found are not only for them but are meant for all the world. Missionaries owe it to their fellow-beings to tell them of this. A passion to evangelize the world burns in their hearts.”
The Way of the Cross
The Handbook is realistic. Devotion to Jesus, and His Body, and His world is not easy. “As the Savior poured out His soul unto death as an offering for sin, so His disciple – indwelt by His Spirit – is likewise poured out in self-giving, sacrifice, and loving service that others might know and believe in Him as their Redeemer and Lord….It will cost a price….It means that missionaries must turn away from seeking after costly comforts, a larger income, material possessions, and places of personal advantage, honor and privilege, and deliberately choose instead to embrace the way of poverty, of loss, of privation, of humiliation and whatever else it costs to bring the Word of God to as many people as possible.”
“For the love of Christ urges us on, because we are convinced that one has died for all; therefore all have died. And he died for all, so that those who live might live no longer for themselves, but for him who died and was raised for them.” (2 Corinthians 5:14-15)
Other posts in this WMPL Values series: