Mere Missions

16 • M ere M issions : M oving F orward to M ultiply

spiritual demonic tyrant. The Church, though flawed and imperfect, has been faithful in the mission. The proof? You and me. We are disciples of the Nazarene because someone proclaimed the Gospel of Jesus to us and the Lord of the Harvest rescued us in our cry, “have mercy on me” (Luke 18.38). This line of “beautiful feet” (Rom. 10.15) who brought us good news is traced back to the obedience of the early Church who faithfully witnessed to the Lordship of Jesus. I love the Great Commission. I’m indebted to Christ the Victor who commissioned His Apostles to move forward and multiply so that one day I could respond to the Good News of, “the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe” (Rom. 3.21). And now, it has been my turn, it is our turn, to keep moving forward in missions in order to multiply. I resonate with the writer of Ecclesiastes when he cast this bit of wisdom, “There’s no end to the publishing of books, and constant study wears you out so you’re no good for anything else” (Eccles. 12.12). So why write a book? Each year approximately 1,000,000 books are written. What is book 1,000,001 going to contribute to the complexities of missions in the post-modern twenty-first century? I defer to the insightful words of A. W. Tozer who wrote, “The only book that should ever be written is one that flows up from the heart, forced out by the inward pressure.” For four decades of urban ministry among the poor, the principles of missions that I have learned, in many cases the hard way, have trickled out at various times and opportunities. I write this booklet to open the faucet and relieve the inward pressure flowing up from my heart for missions and my love for the Lord Jesus. That alone would suffice in relieving the pressure within my heart but if there is even one who is inspired and applies the mission nuggets that I share, then that would be an added blessing. I originally had a different title to this book but made a change after re-reading C. S. Lewis’s classic book, Mere Christianity . In