God's All-Powerful Force

I find it wonderfully profound that no person, government, military force, or financial sum can prevent a Christian from carrying out the work to which Christ calls him/her. The tongue is untamable - therefore, we can always proclaim the message of Christ. There are always poor and oppressed people in the world, so we can always take action on their behalf in order to care for their needs. Since Christ is always with us, we can always teach others to do what He has commanded. There's only one way to stop Christians...the world must kill us. But how interesting - when the world kills Christians, the inevitable outcome is that more people believe and confess Christ. Two millenia of Christian history prove this. So Jesus is truly unstoppable after all...

-------------------------------------------------

Excerpts from The Local Church in World Evangelism, by Daniel K. Davey

"A candid appraisal of the involvement of Western Christianity in world missions is anything but complimentary. Whether through arrogance or ignorance, Western local churches are giving less to mission work than they did ten years ago, and they are committing fewer of their members to cross-cultural ministries. In short, Christians in the West are losing interest in reaching other nations with the gospel message of Jesus Christ."

"Sjogren and Stearns state that already a 'fundamental shift' has taken place in world missions. While the United States continues its decline in its world evangelization efforts, many other countries in the Eastern Hemisphere are rising to take its place both in raising monies and sending missionaries."

"The truth is, because Christ is living within the body, it is virtually unstoppable - all it can do is increase and develop [Eph. 4:12-15]. ... Christ's objective is clear - to reach every nation with His teachings. ... Now, without restriction, He has 'universal sovereignty,' which He will exercise from this moment [i.e. - the giving of the Great Commission] forward."

"There are many ways to dissect this strategy [Matt. 28:18-20] of Christ. As one carefully studies the passage, however, a dominant word appears and ties the entire passage together. The key word in this passage is [pas] and is usually translated, 'all.' Christ's strategy can be understood by studying the four usages of [pas]: [pasa exousia] (all authority), [panta ta ethne] (all the nations), [panta eneteilamein humin] (all things I comanded you), and [pasas tas hemeras] (all the days)."

"Christ's absolute authority over the earth grants His disciples access to their nation as well as to any population group in the world. In other words, Christ's authority makes the phrase restricted access people groups insignificant. This means the disciples and the future church have every right to speak the gospel message any place on the globe."


This article is one chapter in the book, Missions in a New Millenium: Change and Challenges in World Missions, W. Edward Glenny and William H. Smallman, gen. eds. (Kregel, Grand Rapids, 2000)