I’ve been reading Charles Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening devotional, and in one of his writings, he said this:
We are so sluggish that the best motives cannot quicken us, apart from the Lord himself. What! Will not hell quicken me? Shall I think of sinners perishing, and yet not be awakened? Will not heaven quicken me? Can I think of the reward that awaiteth the righteous, and yet be cold? Will not death quicken me? Can I think of dying, and standing before my God, and yet be slothful in my Master’s service?
Partnership development, or raising our financial and prayer support team, has been an interesting journey for us. It’s been difficult — miles and miles of travel, speaking before congregations, phone calls, letters, sharing Christ’s heart that ALL would come to repentance. Part of our job of support raising is to share with other Christians about the work being done to reach those who have never had the gospel, especially those in our future home, Papua New Guinea. Support raising is not easy — as Spurgeon noted, many of us in the church are sluggish.
The longer the partnership development takes, the more urgent the task becomes in Papua New Guinea. The computer department in Papua New Guinea is short of workers. They are waiting for us to arrive. Currently several important projects have been put on indefinite hold, computers are often replaced quicker than they can be repaired (naturally, replacing is more expensive), and soon being behind on computer work may affect things like the timing of training materials being printed and delivered to the field. In an area of the world where remote communications is a necessity, we cannot afford to be sluggish.
The best motives — sharing the news of Christ and his plan of salvation — cannot quicken us apart from the Lord himself. 2 Corinthians 5:14-15 says, “For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died, and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.”
Please pray that the love of Christ will compel the Church to action, and that we would not be slothful in the work of missions.