by Stephan Joubert
What can a plain old shoemaker do to change the world in honor of the Lord? That was the challenge facing William Carey (1761-1834). Then he became a part-time minister in a local English town. But his pain for the world’s God-need grew stronger every day. On a day, at a local meeting of religious leaders in Northampton, he asked the attendees if it’s not the calling of all believers to serve the world with the good news of Christ.
According to legend a well-known church leader then stood up and told him: “Sit down, young man! If a sovereign God wants to convert the heathen, he doesn’t need you to do it.” Carey later wrote how upset he was at such people who knew the exact details of God’s plans without ever moving a finger to make a difference. This never-ending religious virus reminds me of the words of the character Morpheus in The Matrix: “You have to understand, most of these people are … so hopelessly dependent on the system that they will fight to protect it.”
In any case, Carey went to India. Here he worked very hard with his family for years in utterly trying circumstances before they saw the first convert. That was Krishna Pal. Carey writes about him in his diary: “He was only one, but a continent was coming behind him.” Pal later died as a martyr. Still, Carey persevered and translated the Bible into Sanskrit, Bengali, Marathi and Punjabi. Today, he’s rightly regarded as the father of modern missions.
No, we don’t all have to go to India to live and work effectively for the Lord. But we who consider ourselves followers of Christ all have one and the same calling. All of us, no matter whether we are housewives, pensioners, pupils, unemployed or ministers, are called and sent as full-time missionaries. All disciples of Christ have undergone a heart transplant. In each of our chests a merciful heart beats for a broken world. That’s why disciples can’t help but direct their lives to where this heavenly heart beat points — on those in need and searching for God, and on building up the kingdom of God.