Past Costing Point

"They had the Death car there... they piled the faggots round it. They lighted them, and a wild, wild wail rose up to the God who looked down and saw it all. Then the horn blew loud and long, and as the fire flamed, one part and then another caught, and as the terrible sound which they called the head-split cracked through the crackling of the wood, they seemed to put all the dread and horror of it into one intense yell. Why do I tell it so? Why break the pleasant scenes of home with this bit of the fiery barbaric? Why? Because it is true! IT IS TRUE! It has gone on like that for thousands of years. It is going on today. Is there nothing in it which speaks? Has it not a voice for you? A voice, yes, and a Cry. The cry God heard when He said long ago, 'The voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto Me from the ground.' Some of you are not much giving, not much caring... You who can resist the half articulate pleading of many and many a heart today, can you resist this? From millions of voiceless souls, it is rising now- does it not touch you at all? The missionary magazines try to echo the silent sob. You read them? Yes, and you skim them for good stories, nice pictures, bits of excitement- the more the better. Then they drop into the wastepaper basket, or swell some dusty pile in the corner. For perhaps 'there isn't much in them.' Very likely not; 'there isn't much in' the silence any more than in darkness, at least not very much reducible to print; BUT TO GOD THERE IS SOMETHING IN IT FOR ALL THAT. Oh! you- you, I mean who are weary of hearing the reiteration of the great unrepealed commision, you who think you care, but who certainly don't, past costing point, is there NOTHING will touch you?" -Amy Carmichael
There is the eternal question: "Do I care past costing point? Is anything less caring at all?" I am asking you, because I find that I must continuously ask it of myself as well. Interest and approval are nothing- it is when you begin to give sacrificially of some part of yourself that you truly become a participant, and not an onlooker in any task. But what is the task? And what will the completion of the assignment demand from us? The answer comes blazing down across thousands of years of human history: "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations..."- and the cost? Everything! "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters- yes, even his own life- he cannot be my disciple. And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple." It is the passionate desire of God that His name might be glorified among all the peoples of the earth! As a warrant for His imperative 'Go', Christ proclaims 'All authority on heaven and earth has been given to me.' And why? '...because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.' We might be tempted to say 'But God is so very powerful; the victory is His already? What possible use could WE be to Him?' That is beside the point- the issue is not God's power, or our lack of it- the issue is what He is asking of us. Again, it is so very easy to protest: 'But the world isn't seeking God! Even when they cry out at the barest extremities of anguish, it is not to Him- they are His enemies, enslaved to His enemy, bound in opposition to Him. Why should we battle to give them truths they don't want? And if only He can plant that wholly unnatural desire for regeneration in their hearts, how do we come in at all? What is the use of our going? Besides, they are so depraved- it's not worth the sacrifice-they don't deserve it.' And we would be right of course- they don't! But, Beloved, did you and I? Did we seek our Creator before we were sought by Him? Were we not depraved? Were we anything except His enemies? Were we worthy of the sacrifices others made to see us brought into the kingdom- sacrifices we may not even be aware of yet? For that matter, were we worthy of the ultimate sacrifice made by our Lord? Is there any sacrifice WE could make of which HE is not worthy? In honesty, we can answer without hesitation that we have been set free from a prison of foulness and hopelessness not a degree different from the perishing World's- no matter if the furnishings of the cell were different! Once again, we are dodging the crucial question. What did God command? Did He have a right to ask it? And in response, the unwavering imperative is 'Go'. Go to all nations- panta ta ethne (every family/people group) that they might '...fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgement has come. Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water.' What is He not able to ask of us? Is there anything in the heavens or on earth which is not His handiwork? Is there any one of us who was not 'bought with a price'- does the slave halt to quibble with his Master when every moment is vital?
"Only think of all these fragile ships decaying towards death from conception, bearing immortal souls poised over the fires of hell and eternal punishment- ETERNAL SEPARATION FROM GOD! Only stop to consider for a moment what it means! How can we become callous to such infinite horror? Even if the beauty of our mission is forgotten, surely the terror of what our failure must mean to them should drive us on." God never asked that we be successful. The Bible contains no 'salvation quota', makes no promise that in ourselves we are able to win men's souls. But He demands obedience. He doesn't ask you to rise to any mark, or be anything, except faithful in carrying out His will. And His will is unmistakeably that those who have not heard should hear- and that we should be His voice, proclaiming it to them! His love for you, and for His scattered sheep in the far corners of the globe cannot be satisfied with anything else! "But this is a people plundered and looted, all of them trapped in pits or hidden away in prisons. They have become plunder, with no one to rescue them; they have been made loot, with no one to say, 'Send them back.' "We look for light, but all is darkness; for brightness, but we walk in deep shadows. Like the blind we grope along the wall, feeling our way like men without eyes. At midday we stumble as if it were twilight; among the strong we are like the dead" 'They rely on empty arguments and speak lies...their cobwebs are useless for clothing; they cannot cover themselves with what they make.' Leonard Dober wrote, " Even if no one should be benefited, and no fruits follow my efforts, yet I will go, for I must obey my Savior's call." In eternity- when all is complete, and earth is only a memory, will it matter that you got a good job? Lived in that dream home? Got the right education? Married according to your inclinations? Had a safe, comfortable life? Where in Scripture are we called to safety, much less to comfort? What does that have to do with 'taking up one's cross'? Once again, I'm asking these things of myself more even than of anyone who reads this. If someone joins the millitary, it is expected that he will have considered the risks and sacrifices involved. He goes into every battle with the realization that he might be injured, that he may lose his life, or be imprisoned, that he may never see his loved ones again. And that is only for an earthly conflict- from men who may well be in the wrong! Yet if it is suggested that such strenuous discipline might be required of a follower of Christ, the idea is shoved uncomfortably away as extreme. In what way extreme? Are we not sent into the world as He was- to bring redemption to men at whatever cost God appoints? Should servants expect to fare so much better than their Master? Do we actually justify such arrogance on a daily basis, simply because it comes 'naturally' to us? NATURAL- to US! And don't we know what WE are?! Someone, I can't remember who, once said "Count the cost by all means- but do your arithmetic at the foot of the cross.' Face to face with Him, the language of sacrifice must necessarily vanish from our lips and hearts to be replaced by utter, joyful surrender- we have nothing to give Him, after all, which is not more than His by right! There is nothing we could consider giving up for Him that He hasn't already given up for us! Contemplate that for a moment- and then, open your heart, still fixed on His love, to the vision of the lost world. NTM estimates that there are 2500 unreached people groups remaining- peoples with their own language, and culture- but in no less need of the truth than you and I once were. NTM's figure is low- elsewhere I have found estimates that there are as many as 6,000 unreached people groups remaining, 4,000 of them unengaged, and that two billion people are included in that category. Who will go to them? Will you? Will I?
Our generation (I am speaking primarily to high schoolers and college students with this) is placed at a unique point in history. The communist block in Asia is rapidly opening up to foreign involvement- nations such as Vietnam, China, Cambodia, and North Korea, considered nearly inaccessible only a few years ago, are now rapidly developing, eager for educators and English teachers. According to the Joshua project website, 80% of the people groups of North Korea are unreached. Is it worth the "sacrifice" of a few years to "risk" your fragile life in the infinite hands of God in order to take the light there? What about Africa, wracked by poverty and disease, and home to so many of the world's unreached peoples? Or Indonesia and New Guinea, with wild tribes scattered through their jungles like pockets of jewels in a mine. The Muslims of Indonesia don't think that it is an 'unreasonable' sacrifice to go to those tribes with their religion; can no one be bothered to go to them with the truth? And there is the Muslim world- much of Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. Do you think they are all bomb strapping terrorists? Have you ever stopped to recognize them as ordinary people brutalized by extraordinary violence and fears, and dying in their sin? DYING IN THEIR SIN! With all the deserved penalty of that sin to be faced for eternity! Does it not move you at all? Is that knowledge, combined with Christ's power, not enough to lift us out of ourselves, of our petty hopes and plans, to the level of giving 'past costing point'? It is not an unrealistic aspiration. Do you think God created any heart that isn't His to mold and redeem? More Muslims have come to Christ in the past twenty years than in all of history! God is working powerfully in their culture; will you be a part of it?
Perhaps you are saying now, "Well, of course, if that is what God wants me to do, I'm willing- but I haven't been called yet." Would we give credence to the idea that some are not 'called' to purity? That there are people not 'called' to honor their parents? That it is possible to be a follower of Christ while not being called to love God and one's neighbor, to forgive those who hurt us, to refrain from hurting others? Are any of God's universal commands selective in their application? God called those who are redeemed by Christ to 'Go, and preach the Gospel to all nations'. Your part in that will differ from mine. He isn't calling you to go where the world thinks you should go, or the church thinks you should go, or where I think you ought to go (And I have to admit- a part of me wants to see every missionary hurl himself into the vast, gapingly empty, hope starved continent that is Asia) Your 'Go' may encompass the people next door, or the people on the other side of the world- but make no mistake. If you are a disciple of Christ, and following Him, you WILL go somewhere, or else be disobedient. And don't be too hasty in saying, "Oh, but I'm sure that God will be satisfied if I just stay here and share my faith. After all, doesn't our country have needs too?" America does have needs; we are in no position even to comprehend the needs of the world! For instance, while only four out of every one hundred Americans can be described as having no church connections, there are places in the world where there is the equivalent of ONE evangelical minister for the population of nearly the entire midwest! In North India there is one missionary for every 500,000 people! In North Africa there is one missionary for every two million people! That would be the same as having only 120 Christian workers, and seven SMALL churches to serve the ENTIRE population of Canada and the United States COMBINED! We have more evangelical churches than that in the Kansas City area alone! China has 400 languages and tribes with no access to the Gospel, and not a word of the Bible in their own language! I am not saying that America doesn't need workers, or that no one should minister here- but we are glutted with light compared to the rest of the world! Can you stand before God one day and say without shame that you labored to spread a feast before your own countrymen while billions starved outside your borders? Out of every 140 Americans who go into full time ministry, only one will go to the unreached world! Are you justified in following the other one hundred thirty-nine? Out of every dollar given to the American church, only one cent goes to the unreached world! Is that what we call 'strategy'? Is there any balance in that? Why are we so concerned with carpets and landscaping and lighting fixtures when a life or death battle is raging just out of earshot? I am not saying that God 'needs' you or your money. He is not a beggar, unable to provide for His own work. He will claim the victory in His time, in His own way- but will YOU be a part of it? Who has more joy in a victory- the one who gave everything to help make it possible, or the indifferent watcher on the sidelines? Exciting things are happening! Approximately 155,000 people entered the kingdom of God today! (Mainly in Lafricasia) In twenty-four years, unreached people groups went from 60% of the global population, to 30%! That means that fewer than thirty years from now, there could be a church plant in every known people group in the world... So what if you aren't sure exactly where He would have you go? Focus on Him and His leading. The worst thing that could happen is that the 'wrong' people might get saved! :-) Amy Carmichael worked in Japan and China for several years before she was brought to her life's work among the child prostitutes of India.
And what part will you play? God has given you the calling- He has equipped you with the power, even though you may not think so now. There is no useless ability: Computer technicians, doctors, nurses, farmers, teachers, scientists, mechanics, aviators, dishwashers- there is work for everyone! Only open yourself up to be placed where He wants you! There are so many who are eager to stay at home. So many who would like to give a few dollars and forget. So many who are closing their ears to the shriek of blind, uncomprehending agony rising up from the blind, STONE BLIND peoples of the globe- do you really want to be one more? Or will your life be different?
"But those generations passing away at this moment! They must hear of the Savior! How can we wait! O Lord of Harvests, do send forth laborers! Here am I, Lord. Behold me, send me. How deaf must be the deafness of the ear which has never heard the story; how blind the eye that has not looked on Christ for light; how pressed the soul that has no hope of glory; how hideous the fate of man who knoweth only night! God, arouse us to care, to feel as He Himself does for their welfare." -Jim Elliot
"And if we answer the call to discipleship, where will it lead us? What decisions and partings will it demand? To answer this question, we shall have to go to Him, for only He knows the answer. Only Jesus Christ, who bids us follow Him, knows the journey's end. But we do know that it will be a road of boundless mercy. Discipleship means joy." -Dietrich Bonhoeffer