The elderly man raised his hand but asked his question without waiting to be called upon. “I want to know the answer to the question posed at the end of the Sabbath School lesson,” he demanded. “If the invisible things of God can be seen in nature and are enough evidence for them to accept God, and if people in those foreign countries are only held accountable for what they know, why do we think we need to spend all this money to send people over there to evangelize them? We know the majority of people won’t accept the Lord anyway!”
The first person to respond matched attitudes with the elderly man as he spouted, “Because we are told to go—you know, Matthew 28. God told us to do it!”
Another person raised a hand timidly and added, “I think people are more likely to respond to the Gospel when it is shared by someone who has experienced salvation. A person is a stronger witness than nature. We go to the unreached people so they can see Jesus in us, and hopefully they will want Him in their lives, too.”
Conversation swirled around that theme for a few minutes as one after another tried to convince the elderly man that missionaries are needed. Muttering under his breath, he interjected his original argument: “Just for the few who could have been saved anyway. The majority will refuse to believe.”
One more hand went up, and the teacher, wishing to put an end to the distracting question, said, “We will have one more comment and then move on with the lesson.”
The buzz of conversation in the room quieted. “Yes, we are told that many will not accept salvation. But love will try. Love must try.”
Jesus knew that Judas would not accept the way out of selfishness, but He tried everything to save him. The prophets and apostles were told that not everyone would accept their messages, but they persisted in trying to convince people. Every missionary’s heart has been broken by the ones who turn away, yet they push on sacrificially in their work. Love cannot just sit there and watch people die while there is one more appeal that could be tried.
Do you sense that you are just sitting while people are dying, near and far? There is something you can do. Pray. Give. Go. Try.
