Divine Voyagers

Tom

It’s now been 4 weeks since we landed back in Sydney after trekking through the Balkans. We have many stories to tell: plane rides that felt more like a roller coaster, bus trips delayed because of 4 layers of language barriers, car drives slowed by highways under construction. We are still unsure of exactly where we will end up, and that’s okay. We trust that in His good timing, God will make clear the right path.

But as we wait, as we chat with people this side of our survey mission, a few people keep asking, “Why go there?” I’ve got two reasons and another stray thought.

1. We are going because God deserves everyone’s worship
As Christians, we believe that there is one true God. He created all things and He sustains all things. Most importantly, He created every person uniquely and wants to be in a relationship with them. If He created everyone, it stands to reason that He should be worshipped by everyone. In Philippians 2, Paul writes that one day every knee shall bow and tongue confess that Jesus is Lord. Our heart is for everyone to do that out of praise, not out of judgement. We believe our God, the one true God, is worthy of everyone’s praise and so we want to take to them the saving news of the gospel so they too can be in restored relationship with the Creator.

2. We are going because the Commission is still great
According to the Joshua Project, there are currently 7276 unreached people groups. That’s approximately 3.4 billion people who don’t know Jesus. Revelation 7 says that when Jesus returns, there will be people from every tribe, nation, and language praising his name. That hasn’t happened yet. Patty and I believe that the commission that Jesus gave to his disciples in Matthew 28 is still great and still needs to be fulfilled. We are to still go out into the nations, we are still to proclaim the gospel, we are still to share the hope of Jesus. God doesn’t need us to save people, but He invites us to join Him in His mission to do so. That’s why the commission is still great.

3. A stray thought: so why not stay and tell people in Australia?
Within 3km of our home, there are 15 churches. Do I agree with the theology of all of them? No, but I’m 97% sure that they will all say that everyone needs to hear the gospel. Zoom out even further and the number of churches increases all the more. Yes, there are people who still need to hear the gospel in Australia, but there are also so many more people here to tell them than in the places we desire to go.

No single person is beyond the need for the gospel. It’s as simple as that.

“Why are we worried!’ Rolf said suddenly. ‘This is God’s work! He’ll make a way for us.’ And as if to prove his conviction, he started to sing.”
― Brother Andrew