Our God is a missionary God
Oswald Smith was pastor of the People’s Church in Toronto, Canada from 1928 until 1959. When he first went there, the church was tiny and in danger of closing. On his first Sunday he preached twice on the subject of mission. He spoke again about mission at the midweek church prayer meeting, attended by just a few people. One of the elderly ladies who were there summed up the courage to say to him: “Mr Smith, you are preaching about the need to take the gospel to the ends of the earth. But our church is on the verge of closing its doors because we are so few.” He replied, “Sister, if we do not have enough conviction to desire to proclaim this message to the ends of the earth, our church will die.” Today that church is several thousand strong and supports several hundred missionaries.
Where does such conviction come from, such missionary vision? This is how Lindsay Brown, International Director of The Lausanne Movement, answers the question: “’Why bother with mission?’ The answer permeates the whole of the Bible. If we are uninterested in mission, we are unbiblical Christians, for our God is a missionary God.” I am proud to be part of a church that has long had such a missionary vision, and pray that God will sharpen and strengthen that vision among us, and that we will see more of our number being set apart by him to proclaim his gospel to the ends of his earth.