“…He (Jesus) saith unto Philip, whence shall we buy bread that these may eat? And this he said to prove Him, for He Himself knew what He would do”. (John 6:5-6)
The scripture quoted above is from the bible account of the miraculous feeding of the five thousand believers in the wilderness. They were people who had taken extra miles to the wilderness, for the gospel of Christ. While others savoured the pleasures of their beds in the night, these ones went beyond their conveniences and comfort for the gospel.
In these days, where the love of many have gone cold with fair-weather, “ice-cream and butter” Christianity, these believers endured the hardships, hunger and pains in the wilderness, for the love of Christ. There is nothing wrong with God given comfort. The reason for comfort in the kingdom is that others should be comforted with our comfort. This “comfort of others” is the essence of missions/missionary activities, whereby, the gospel of salvation from sin and death is taken to the region beyond.
The state of contemporary missionaries
The story given in John 6:1-13, depicts the challenges faced by missionaries today. Many of them are called to labour in lands far away from their native lands. They often forsake the comfort of their relatively luxurious homes to toil in the “wilderness” places of the earth, where others dread. The fulfilment of the great commission remains their vision and mission.
“Go ye into the world and preach the gospel to every creature”. (Mark 6:15)
The missionaries are front line soldiers in the battle for the lost souls of men. Consequently, they are continually exposed to the vagaries of satanic frustrations and wrath.
Missionary kids pay dearly for their parents' ministries. They are cut off from many modern amenities like standard schools, hospitals for deliveries of unborn child, etc.
Above all, the segregations in the church of Jesus today, clearly put the missionaries in a category called “NO-MAN-PIKIN” in Nigerian pigin English parlance.
The Lord wants to meet the physical needs of the missionaries. To encourage their commitment to the high call of God in their lives, the basic needs of food, clothing and shelter should be met by the church. If a man cannot go, he must support those who have gone, if the church must be of the same mind, same goal, same faith, same family and same commission.
Why should the urban church care?
“And I sought for a man among them…” (Ezekiel 22:30)
The word “among them” is to say that God is relying on His people, not strangers, to finance missions and support missionaries. The church must take care because Jesus cares. He could have taken away the hunger from their bellies, because He is God. He could have also released them to go source their answers. Yet, He did not do these. Rather, He partnered with men to meet the needs of the hour.
The Divine Partnership
“Whence shall we buy bread that these (missionaries in the wilderness) may eat?”
(John 6:5b Emphasis is mine).
In other words:
1. From where?
No comments:
Post a Comment