For about the past month, my thoughts have been very consumed with missions. Not my mission to Poland, but God’s ultimate plan to redeem people from every nation, tribe, and tongue. And what my part in that might be. And my mind and emotions have been all over the place. And I need to unpack them.

Glory

We were created to bring God glory. Period. God’s ultimate plan is one where He is glorified. As Christians, our primary concern should be for His renown, His fame, His glory at all cost. Thankfully, God’s plan to bring himself glory is also for OUR benefit. That thought freaks me out. He is so good! Only God could come up with this plan that glorifies Him and benefits us. But the ways that His plan benefits me is secondary. Primarily, His plan is to be glorified.

It is all over the Bible, Old and New Testaments. The heavens declare His glory. The earth declares His glory. He will be glorified in every nation. He will be exalted in all the earth. Declare His glory to all the people. He is crowned with glory. We are to make His name great among the nations.

Do you see a theme here? Glory, all nations, glory, all the earth, glory, all peoples. If He is being glorified by only some or even most of His creation, it doesn’t measure up to what He deserves. He deserves to be glorified in ALL the earth, people from every nation, every tribe, every language. And the Bible says that one day, that WILL happen.

Worthy

I have been reading Revelation recently. (I promise all of these thoughts are connected. I hope you can see how. )

In chapter 5, John has this vision of heaven during the end of times (so at some point still in the future). God is holding a scroll that has written on it the completion of His plan. An angel asks, “Who is worthy to open the scroll?” And no one in heaven or on earth was found worthy to open the scroll. John started weeping, because no one was found worthy. But then someone approached him and told him to stop crying because Jesus has come, and He is worthy to open the scroll.  Then Jesus came forth to open the scroll. And they sang this song:

Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.

See that word ransomed? Past tense! This means that at some point in the future God WILL be glorified in every tribe, language, people, and nation.

Because Jesus was found worthy.

Authority

Jesus said:

“All authority in heaven and on earth have been given to me.” So he could accomplish this whole “glorified in all the earth” thing himself. He has ALL authority in heaven and earth. But instead of doing it himself, He proposed a different plan.

The very next words out of his mouth:

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.”

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(Wojtek typed that. I almost erased it, but instead I decided to embrace it. He’s adorable. More on that later.)

The End

Matthew 24:14 “This gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed through the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”

The end (you know, all that Revelation stuff: God being glorified, Jesus returning to reign, us being with Him forever…) WILL NOT COME until the Gospel is proclaimed through the whole world to all nations.

And to whom has He assigned the task of GOING to every nation with the Gospel? US! ME! YOU if you are a Christian! That is our task! This is how we are to bring God glory! Remember? We live to bring Him glory. He is to be glorified in every nation. He tells us to go to every nation.

It doesn’t take a genius to connect those dots. But it sure took me long enough to do it! How did I miss this for so long? How are Christians still apathetic about missions? This is the task He has given us! And He will wait until we have accomplished it. The Gospel will be proclaimed to all nations, and THEN the end will come.

Unreached

There is this organization called the Joshua Project, “a research initiative seeking to highlight the ethnic people groups of the world with the least followers of Jesus Christ.”

Basically, they have identified the people groups of the world (not political nations, but ethno-linguistic people groups). They have identified16,307 people groups in the world. Of these groups, 6,651 are unreached. That is 40.8% of the world’s people groups that have no followers of Jesus.

Seventy percent of missionaries go to places that are already reached.

I say all of this to say…I sense the Lord leading me toward missions in places where people have never heard the Gospel.

Wait

Some of these thoughts are new, and some of them are old. For the past month all of these things have been on my mind.  Partly because I am returning to Poland, partly because I have several friends about to move to unreached parts of the world, partly because it has been the sermon topic at church. Regardless of the reason, it seems like every time I think about missions I cry.

When pastor Tim said that our generation might be the one to finish the task, I cried. It is unlikely considering the great number of unreached people in the world. But if our generation gets serious about missions, it is possible. What an incredible honor that would be. Can you imagine being THE mouth that God uses to share the gospel with THE last unreached people group?

When I think about the fact that God, who SO DOESN’T NEED ME, invites me to be a part of this task, I cry. That is overwhelming. What a freaking blessing. He asks us to take part in His plan to redeem the world. The fact that He can use ME? Seriously? I am a mess. But He is so good, He is able to MORE than make up for my shortcomings.

But most of the time I cry because He has asked me to wait.

I want to go. I am ready to apply for full-time foreign missions to unreached people groups right now. But He is asking me to wait.

A new ministry is starting at my church, and I was asked to pray about playing a role in this ministry. So I prayed and asked others to pray and asked others for advice and prayed and prayed. God confirmed that I am supposed to be here, serving in this ministry, for at least a time.  And I am SO excited about this ministry. It is a really organic, life-changing kind of ministry, and I am really thrilled about it! (More details to come…)

The one down side that I keep remembering is that it keeps me here. Of course, I will continue praying and sending and going on short-term trips. But as for anything long-term? God is asking me to wait.

And when I think about waiting years before going…I cry.

Urgent

I used to have recurring dreams about the end times. Every one was different, and they were never Biblical. In one of them hell was in the band hall… But they all had one common element. I knew that the end was approaching, and that I still had friends who did not know the Lord. I felt this extreme urgency to go and tell them! I was frantic! They had to know!

It is really convicting because I do not have that same feeling of urgency most of the time. And that can lead to apathy and complacency in missions.

Right now, I am feeling the urgency. But I know that it might fade. There will be times when I forget and get wrapped up in petty things. I am praying against that.

The Lord has asked me to wait, and I am asking Him to teach me how to wait well. He has a purpose in this time of waiting. I don’t know what it is, but I do know one thing – I must find a balance between complacency and discontentment. I can become too comfortable here so that I lose the desire to go, or I can be so ready to go that I miss what God has for me now.

Remember

So I have gotten very behind in scripture memory, but not this month. This month I know exactly what to memorize. It comes from Revelation. When I read it, I instantly thought the words were familiar. Then a tune came to mind, and I realized that these were the lyrics to a song I know! I had no idea that it was scripture before!

“Great and marvelous are your deeds, O Lord God the Almighty!
Just and true are your ways, O King of the nations! Who will not fear, O Lord,
and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come
and worship you, for your righteous acts have been revealed.” Revelation 15:3-4

Pretty much sums up my thoughts exactly.