Who Gets Priority?

(continued - page 2)

God’s Directive

On the other hand, Mark 13:10 give us God’s directive or the second part of His will. This is something to which He is steadfastly committed. It is unalterable. Here it is – “And the gospel must first be published among all nations.” The same directive is re-worded in Matt 24:14 – “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” To top it all off, we even get a sneak-preview into the culmination of the world and the beginning of eternity in heaven and we find that this second part of God’s will, His directive, absolutely WILL be fulfilled! ”After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb…” (Rev 7:9)

But perhaps nowhere in Scripture is the is great directive of God more unmistakable than in the Great Commission. ”Go ye therefore and make disciples of all nations.” That is not poetry or literature; it is a piercing command – a very clear directive. The Komkmoba Bible reads like this – “Go! To every clan and make them my followers.” If you hosted a five-course dinner for a visiting dignitary, and he stated that he wanted to sample everything, you would not fulfill his wishes until you had given him at least a spoonful of each and every dish, right? That may be a crude illustration, but God’s directive is just that simple – we must enlist disciples of Jesus from each and every nation, each and every tribe. (The Greek word for ‘nation’ is ETHNOS = a race, a tribe, nation, people)

Now we can summarize the “2 wills” of God:

- God’s desire is for as many souls as possible to be saved.
- God’s directive is that souls from every nation must be saved.

Let’s pause for a minute. Those 2 sentences are easy to read, but profoundly sobering to consider. Please read them again.

Now, based on God’s revealed will, his desire and directive, let us re-examine our original question and our hypothetical scenario. Do the Naba people get priority? Should a brother like John move out to an unreached field even if it is not as cost-effective or efficient when there is plenty to do ‘at home’?

The answer may be a bit complex. One local church cannot meet the needs of all the unreached people groups in the world. But the local church can and must embrace the obligation of God’s directive and prioritize those groups. The over-arching theme and focus of the church’s ministry strategy should be guided by God’s some-souls-from-every-nation mandate. Our ministry choices must be based, not solely on efficiency or close proximity – but on the directive.

This means that those nations (tribes/ethnic groups) like the Naba of North Africa in which there are few or NO disciples represent not only a pitiful situation, but an emergency condition directly opposed to God’s directive to the Church. At best this is a tragedy, at worst it is disobedience on our part as God’s Church to carry out his directive. These ethnic groups with few to no disciples (also called ‘unreached people groups’) must move front and center in our agenda, both individually and collectively as churches. We have to renovate and re-evaluate our entire lives as we prioritize this emergency condition. Our response to these ‘unreached’ groups must move beyond “Oh, that’s a pity!” to “God, forgive us! We will do whatever it takes to fulfill Your directive!” Only in that state of mind will be ready to do something about the thousands of unreached ethnic groups still in the world today.

My dearly beloved brothers and sisters, let us be of one heart! I do not consider myself to have apprehended this issue (see Phil 3:12). My being a “missionary” really doesn’t change anything. We all must face the facts – those unreached people are still out there. My “Jerusalem” might have changed from Ephrata, PA to Katani, Ghana, but there are still a lot of “uttermost parts of the earth” with no disciples. I am standing with you, hand-in-hand, as we look at this awesome reality. Together, we must answer some serious questions and come to grips with what those answers mean to us as individuals and churches.

- Is the directive fulfilled yet – are there disciples of Jesus in every ethnic group? No.

- Then who is responsible for the unfinished job? We are.

- Should this unfinished directive get priority in our lives and ministries? _____ (you decide)

- What is our part, and what is my part in fulfilling this directive?

Will you get on your knees with me to find the answer to that last question?

by Weston Leibee

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