Zambia Hunt

Edited from a sermon by G. Darrell Champlin

The Foundation of Our Commitment

Our commitment to missions must be driven by our love for God, rather than merely our love for people. This distinction is crucial. When service to others is fueled primarily by feelings of compassion, it will quickly lead to tiredness, discouragement, and eventually fade away. As Scripture reminds us, it is “the love of Christ that constrains us” (2 Corinthians 5:14).

We can only love others as God intends if we first obey the greatest commandment: to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind” (Matthew 22:37). Only then can we properly fulfill the second commandment to “love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:39).

The Problem with Compassion Alone

Deeds of compassion may be genuine, but when they’re rooted solely in emotion, they may often be fueled by selfish ambition. These acts of kindness might actually be meeting secret needs in our own hearts—giving us a feeling of goodness or relieving our guilt.

This type of compassion tends to dissipate when you discover that the people toward whom you felt compassion continue in lifestyles and choices that perpetuate their difficult situations. Western missionaries often view host cultures through Western eyes and are moved to “help” without proper understanding. Without cultural awareness and genuine care, that help can perpetuate problems instead of meeting real needs.

Compassion fades quickly when Westerners learn they’ve been “played” or that the people don’t want their particular form of help. Compassion may be what initially gets your attention, but only love for Christ keeps you going year after year.

A Burden or a Call: Understanding the Difference

Paul’s Divine Appointment (Acts 26:16-18)

When Jesus appeared to Paul, He said: “I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles—to whom I am sending you to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.”

The Greek word used for “servant” here is huperete—the lowest of slaves, an underrower. This referred to someone taken from prison and forced into a form of slavery that meant certain death. This slave would be chained to a bench in the bottom of a Roman warship, and there he would die.

Jesus essentially told Paul that He would chain him as a slave to a divine task—a sobering reality. The word for “witness” is the Greek word for “martyr.” In the original language, there is no difference between these words. A true witness is willing to die for their testimony.

While we are all commanded to be witnesses, some are specifically called to be missionaries or pastors. This call begins with salvation and continues into service.

The Nature of God’s Call

This call comes from eternity past, before the world began. It’s a calling to both salvation and service, set into motion by Christ’s incarnation and culminating in His crucifixion and resurrection. God’s purpose for our lives originates in His sovereign mind and is revealed to us in His time.

Paul explains to Timothy that he was “called before the foundation of the world” (1 Timothy 1). This call means being chained to the task as a slave—God’s servant—expending your life for the fulfillment of His mission purposes.

In Acts 26:17, this call includes a specific people to whom God is sending His messenger. The mission is clearly defined in verse 18: “To open their eyes.” The outcome of those opened eyes is threefold:

• That they may turn from darkness to light
• That they may turn from the power of Satan to God
• That they may be sanctified by faith in Jesus Christ

Understanding a Burden

The origin of a burden has several characteristics:

A burden is born against the backdrop of our own culture. We see things through our cultural lens. We might visit somewhere and be impressed by how wonderful and welcoming people are, but this is often a tourist’s perspective—something not quite real. It’s derived from what is seen, heard, and felt within the context of our own vantage point.

A burden originates within us. This is what makes us respond from within our own personhood. We feel this deeply from within, and this inner motivation moves us to respond.

A burden is the human heart’s response to another’s plight. This is born from compassion—your hurt in my heart. We are called to share the compassion of Christ for those who are “like sheep without a shepherd.”

Jesus demonstrated this in Matthew 9:37-39. He waited three years to give the Great Commission because the disciples wouldn’t have understood earlier—until then, their ministry had focused only on Jews, but now it would extend to everyone! Throughout His ministry, Jesus demonstrated the Great Commission by reaching out to thieves, prostitutes, Gentiles, and the marginalized.

In Matthew 9, Jesus ministered to the:

• Helpless (verses 1-2)
• Hired (tax collector Matthew, verse 9)
• Humble (verse 10)
• Haughty (verse 11)
• High-ranking (verse 18)
• Handicapped (blind, verse 22)
• Demon-possessed (verse 23)
• Harried (easy victims to predators, verse 35)

Jesus said, “Look at the harvest!” and called for laborers—an illustration of a burden born of compassion.

The Critical Weakness of a Burden

A burden is subject to dying! It can transform into loathing, discouragement, and defeat. We must recognize that most of what happens to people results from their own decisions. This reality can extinguish a burden based solely on emotional compassion.

Understanding the Call

A call is spiritual—while a burden is from within, a call is from without. It’s a response to God’s voice in our spirit (Ezekiel 3:17). God speaks to the prepared heart.

In the early 1900s, missionaries were often called at the average age of 10 years. Approximately 40,000 missionaries were sent during this period. These children listened to adult preaching and were taught to obey and listen. Their homes and churches prepared their hearts to know, love, and serve the Lord. They feasted on expository preaching.

A call is the Spirit of God speaking to our spirit, and we know it with certainty. It’s an unshakable assurance that God has spoken. This first happens in our salvation—God opens our consciousness, mind, and thoughts. By His grace through His Word, He convinces us of our guilt before Him and our need to repent and believe. He speaks to us about our call to service in the same way.

The calling is recognized by others—your local congregation will provide recognition and affirmation of that call. The key is to look upon the unseen with the eyes of our spirit, knowing we are called by God. It is God’s call that puts you there, and God’s call that keeps you, even when circumstances change.

Every great servant of God has had a specific place and people to which He has called them.

Three Hindrances to Yielding to Christ’s Lordship

First is a Refusal to acknowledge the “Mysterious Tremendium”—failing to acknowledge God for who He truly is. We need an overwhelming acknowledgment of the holiness of our great God (Isaiah 6:1-6). He is Holy and just and must punish every sin.

Second, is a Refusal to acknowledge the nature of our redemption (Romans 12:1-2). We were redeemed to worship God, and that worship involves offering ourselves as a daily sacrifice to the will of God.

A third hindrance is the Failure to understand and appropriate the brevity of life (John 6:35). God will fully encompass you; He will become the delight and life of your very being. “I will be in you in every fiber of my body”—”Eat my bread/body.” He becomes everything.

God’s Sovereignty and Your Purpose

If God is sovereign—and He is the ruler of all things (1 Timothy 6:15-16)—then His constant care for and absolute rule over creation exists for His glory and the good of His people. The universe exists in God—His presence causes the universe to be a universe. He sustains the world, keeping it moving instead of devolving into chaos.

This sovereign God has an individual purpose for each life! He demonstrated this with the Israelites when they left Egypt—He so dominated the minds of the Egyptian nation that when Israel departed, the Egyptians willingly gave their goods to them.

The question remains: Will you respond to His call with complete surrender?