"What the world needs now, is love, sweet love; it's the only thing that there's just too little of..." -- a folk song of the 60s
"All you need is love .. Spread the word, the word is love!" --song lyric from The Beatles
"How these Christians love one another." --Celsus, second-century Greek philosopher
"Love makes the world go round." --song lyric from 1961 Broadway play Carnival!
"By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another" (John 13:35, NIV).
"We love because he first loved us" (1 John 4:19, NIV).
"But children, let us not love with words or speech but with action and truth" (1 John 3:18, NIV).
"Once you've experienced it [the love of God], you want to pass it on!" --famous gospel song
Atheist philosopher Bertrand Russell said that "... what the world needs is more Christian love." He was right that only Christianity is the faith with compassion. How many hospitals and relief organizations have been founded by infidels? It was the Christians who came to the rescue at the "killing fields" of Cambodia during the Khmer Rouge persecutions and atrocities post-Viet Nam. The Eastern faiths recognize only karma as justice and believe people are to work out their own problems and suffer the results of their own evil and sin, which is some iron-clad law known as karma, working like cause and effect. Mother Teresa Calcutta, now canonized by Rome and who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979, was only allowed to work with the "untouchables" of India because the elite or upper castes didn't care about them and had written them off.
There are basically three religions thriving in India (Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism), with only a minority of Christians, who face persecution most everywhere, though the apostle Thomas founded a church there that still exists. The best way to reach out to these pagans is to show them what they lack and what Christ has to offer: love. Only Christianity is a faith of love and believes God is love; Muslims reject this kind of deity and the consequence is that the Golden Rule is also rejected because there is no reason to love the "infidel" or non-Muslim.
The church needs believers filled with the Spirit and with the love of Christ to show what Christ can do in transforming souls. Love is the first of the fruits of the Spirit and this means all Christians know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge through the Spirit. " It costs so little to teach one to love, and so much to teach them to hate," according to Father Flanagan, founder of Boys Town in Omaha, NE.
The point is that missionaries must start young, reaching out to the youth, who represent the future, and are not so committed to the traditions of the ancestors, but are impressionable and teachable. If you want to change a nation for Christ, the younger generation must be reached and seeds planted. God's Word will not come back void (cf. Isa. 55:11). Mother Teresa was right in her devotion: Christ has no hands but ours to do His work, no voice but ours to speak up for Him, no ears but ours to listen for Him, and no feet but ours to go for Him. We also have the mind of Christ to implement His will and to out-think the enemy.
God wants to do a mighty work but He has chosen to use the church, not angels. If we cannot go, we must be committed to sending and preparing, and even supporting those who will go. Truly "God's love has been poured out into our hearts" and we are Christ's "ambassadors" and representatives of it on earth in real time 24/7. (Cf. Rom. 5:5).
When we realize that the harvest is ready (cf. Matt. 9:37-38) and abundant like Jesus promised and predicted, we are all the more committed to the cause of the Great Commission. The Lord of the Harvest is reaping and sending and calling missionaries to the mission field. All Christians are given a part in this commission and must spread the Word to the best of their abilities, with their spiritual gift--we are all men and women on a mission! The point is to start where we are--bloom where we are planted and let God promote us--and He will if we are willing. I've heard it said that we should be willing to go anywhere, as long as it's forward to manifest this love--the greatest expression of love we can share is to preach the gospel in Jesus' name.
Discipleship entails following Jesus wherever He leads us and no one knows the will of God for his entire life ahead of time, or where God may send him. Look at Abraham, not knowing where he was going, but stepping out in faith. The Christian life takes faith and walking in the Spirit on a daily basis through all life has to offer. Christ's love has no ebb and flow like ours does, and we are given this agape or divine love in Christ in order to share with the world. The point is that no one knows where Christ will lead him if he's obedient to the heavenly calling. One may join the military not knowing where he'll be deployed and God will use him, or his occupation may force moving to new locals to plant seeds. All God asks is for us to be willing and obedient. As Mother Teresa said so eloquently: "It's not what you do, but how much love you put into it that matters."
But we must set our hearts upon finishing the mission given us ("my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me--the task of testifying to the good news of God's grace," (Acts 20:24, NIV). We must not pawn the mission off on our brother, but seek the gift we have and be faithful to it, so the Lord will indeed say, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant." We all have a part in this great work and no believer is diminished. God doesn't want our achievements; He wants our obedience; to obey is better than sacrifice per 1 Sam. 15:22. We must not disparage some one's gift or look down on him for we all must be faithful to what we are given. We all share in the mission: some go; some send; some prepare; some teach; some support; some pray! Soli Deo Gloria!
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