God has rigged the world in such a way that victory can only be experienced through risk.
(This blog is taken from a message David Joannes gave on May 6, 2018, at House of Praise International Church in Chiang Mai, Thailand. See the full video below.)
James Hudson Taylor, missionary to China, said,
“Unless there is the element of extreme risk in our exploits for God, there is no need for faith.”
“Unless there is the element of extreme risk in our exploits for God, there is no need for faith.” – Hudson Taylor
God has rigged the world in such a way that victory can only be experienced through risk.
This week, focus on the value of the intangible.https://t.co/zqjD0w8Yzd pic.twitter.com/wm4u0aoEqm
— David Joannes (@davidjoannes) May 6, 2018
(This is an excerpt tweeted from the full message David Joannes gave on May 6, 2018, at House of Praise International Church in Chiang Mai, Thailand. See the full video above.)
Daniel chapter 11 is a prophecy of plunder, a foretelling of affliction, a prediction of disaster. Enemies from the north, south, east, and west come to wreak havoc and overthrow God’s people. The advent of confusion casts a shadow over the social structure of culture. Hearts and minds reel with uncertainty. A God-focused, Kingdom-directed worldview is wrecked. Secularization, pluralization, and liberalism spawn an indifference and dissolution toward the holy and the Divine.
Today, we live in a parallel time—a state of global chaos and spiritual confusion. Subsequently, we are compelled by the scandalous grace of God; we are commissioned by the ineffable love we have found in Jesus.
We have an immeasurably urgent mandate to draw close to the Holy Spirit, take the transformative power of the Gospel to the nations, and establish the Kingdom of God in every corner and alcove on the earth.
I want to draw your attention back to a single verse in the middle of Daniel chapter 11:
“…but the people who know their God will be strong and will resist him.” — Daniel 11:32b, NLT
“…but the people who know their God shall stand firm and take action.” — Daniel 11:32b, ESV
“…but those who follow God will fight back.” — Daniel 11:32b, Good News Translation
“…but the people who are loyal to their God will act valiantly.” — Daniel 11:32b, NET Bible
“…but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits.” — Daniel 11:32b, KJB
Why does risk matter on the mission field?
Because if we do not act counter-culturally, the culture of the Kingdom will not be recognized.
Because if we do not speak out against injustice, the just rule and reign of Christ will not be known.
Because if we do not go to places of darkness—regions where the forces of evil have held souls captive for millennium—light will not penetrate the dusky shadows. (Remember, the Gospel is only good news if it gets there in time.)
Because if we do not dare to live holy and blameless lives infused with godly character, people will not see Jesus.
Because God’s glory matters; and His glory is often evidenced through the daring exploits and courageous risks of His followers.
God glories to dispatch His people into the depths of a fallen world where suffering is the standard system. He revels not in the affliction of His people but in their potential to overcome the kingdom of darkness. He equips His sons for battle and qualifies His daughters for combat. The Holy Spirit is an ever-present help in time of trouble. He beckons believers to follow Him into the darkness that His light might shine through them, illuminating the atmosphere with His glory.
James Hudson taylor wrote:
“Many [Christians] estimate difficulties in the light of their own resources, and thus attempt little and often fail in the little they attempt. All God’s giants have been weak men who did great things for God because they reckoned on His [power and presence with them].” [1]
For global Kingdom workers, the missionary journey began based on the premise of risk.
They abandoned home and country, family, friends, and creature comforts to see the Kingdom of God established at the farthest regions of the earth.
They crossed cultural, linguistic, and geographical boundaries, became cross-cultural missionaries, and thus established a new normalcy. They no longer viewed the world through a myopic lens; they came to see God’s macro global plan for the nations.
Yet, over time and through experience, it is easy to become less daring and more adverse to risk.
Never allow risk aversion to mark the expression of your missional life!
Excessive focus on tangible results begins to usurp our attention to the Holy Spirit’s ability to work through intangible means.
“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” — 2 Corinthians 4:16-18
On the mission field, risk matters. Don’t focus on the things that are seen; fix your eyes on the unseen, the eternal, the things that truly matter.
“China is not to be won for Christ by quiet, ease-loving men and women. The stamp of men and women we need is such as will put Jesus, China, [and] souls first and foremost in everything and at every time—even life itself must be secondary.” — James Hudson Taylor [2]
To new missionary recruits, Taylor said,
“Let us give up our work, our thoughts, our plans, ourselves, our lives, our loved ones, our influence, our all, right into His hand, and then, when we have given all over to Him, there will be nothing left for us to be troubled about, or to make trouble about.” [3]
You don’t really think that advancing the Kingdom of God on earth is easy, do you?
Listen to the voices of the past. If you want to thrive on mission, you will suffer setbacks and face physical, emotional, and spiritual challenges. You will have to die to yourself so that the life of Christ might be evident in you.
By embracing the reality that in a fallen world bad things happen to good people, you will discover that the path to victory lies not in your own power, but in the power of God in and through you.
“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me.” — John 15:4, NASB
Jesus commanded His followers to go. He promised the empowerment of the Holy Spirit to share the good news with every tribe, people, and nation. God loves to include His people in His global missions mandate. He desires that every individual might have the opportunity to hear of His unconditional love; that none should perish but that all should come to repentance. And His instrument of choice to accomplish this challenging task: weak and unassuming misfits; broken jars of clay.
“But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.” — 2 Corinthians 12:9, NIV
Some risks that we are called to take are more worthy than others.
Behind us stands a great cloud of witnesses—a host of Christian men and women who have gone before us. While on mission, many of them lost family and friends. They buried their children on foreign soil or in the ocean waters they crossed during long voyages abroad.
Their sacrifices do not negate the physical challenges that modern-day missionaries face, but they do call into question our commitment to the commands of Christ.
Are the occasional illnesses we encounter credible enough to crash our calling? Are the inconveniences of traffic and transportation reason enough to throw in the towel? And what if God asks us to lay down our loved ones for the sake of the Gospel? Is Jesus worth it? Will we put our hands to the plow and not look back?
Will we continue to make calculated risks for the advancement of God’s Kingdom?
These are valid questions. They cause us to consider the underlying motivations beneath our behavior. They call us to contemplate the foundation of our expectations. They dare us to discover to what extremes we will go in our risky endeavors. They ask us to anticipate whether or not the establishment of God’s Kingdom on earth is our primary goal.
When you embrace risk as the common means of missional living, you essentially elevate God’s sovereignty above personal well-being.
This week, I encourage you to focus on the value of the intangible.
Why does risk matter on the mission field? Because God’s glory matters; and His glory is often evidenced through the daring exploits and courageous risks of His followers.
[1] Dr. And Mrs. Howard Taylor, Hudson Taylor and the China Inland Mission: The Growth of a Work of God, Page 279, The Religious Tract Society, first edition, 1913
[2] A.J. Broomhall, Hudson Taylor and China’s Open Century, Book Five: Refiner’s Fire, page 57, London: Hodder and Stoughton and Overseas Missionary Fellowship, 1985
[3] Hudson Taylor, Hudson Taylor’s Choice Sayings: A Compilation from His Writings and Addresses, page 52, London: China Inland Mission
