“I wish with all my heart, that everyone who loves our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity, would in some way or other engage in [missions]…In respect to contributions for defraying the expenses, money will doubtless be wanting; and suppose the rich were to embark a portion of that wealth over which God has made them stewards, in this important undertaking, perhaps there are few ways that would turn to a better account at last. Nor ought it to be confined to the rich; if persons in more moderate circumstances were to devote a portion…of their annual increase to the Lord…here would not only be enough to support the ministry of the gospel at home, and to encourage village preaching in our respective neighbourhoods, but to defray the expenses of carrying the gospel into the heathen world.”
William Carey in “An Enquiry into the Obligations of Christians to Use Means for the Conversion of the Heathen” (Leicester: Ann Ireland, 1792) 84-85.
Over the next week I will be traveling to Hong Kong and Thailand with Pioneers Hong Kong. Consequently, the focus of my meditations over the next week will center around comments from noteworthy missionaries and Christian servants who spoke of the connection between the resources in our stewardship and the deployment of the same toward missions. The apostle Paul described this engagement as “partnership in the gospel” (cf. Philippians 1:3-6)
Few make this connection more clearly than Carey, whose two points are both profound and pointed. First, he argues that “there are few ways” funds could be used better. Seriously, can you think of a better use of funds than helping a spiritually dead person find life in Jesus Christ? Second, he says that if the rich and those of moderate means all participated, then money would not be an issue at all, in the work of the gospel both at home and abroad.