Motivational
Foundations (8)
Obviously,
God has commanded us to spread the gospel to all nations. But what motivates us
to carry out this mission?
Van
Rheenen’s three classifications of motivations for missions
(Gailyn Van Rheenen, Missions
(Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1996), pp.
37–48)
I.
Fundamental Motives,
1. God’s Love and Compassion: Love
compelled God to reconcile sinners to himself, and his love compels us to
minister (2 Cor. 5:14-15). We love because he first loved us (1 John 4:19)
This is the most Foundational of Fundamental motivations for missions.
2. God's Sovereignty Over
Time. God is patient, waiting for sinners to repent (2 Pet. 3:9), but judgment
will come, and it is a fearful thing for those who do not know Him (2 Cor.
5:10-11).
3. Outpouring of Thanksgiving—Often those who
choose to be missionaries are those who have a deep sense of gratitude for what
God has done for them. Cf. 2 Cor. 9:15
II.
Secondary Motives (usually humanitarian and personal)
1. Desire to Help Physically
Should
be rooted in God’s compassion and should always emphasize the church over human
organizations. Ministry should be holistic—integrating the message of God,
prayer to God, and social ministry. “Being touched by poverty is a Christian
motivation only when it is related to God’s compassion for the poor and reaches
beyond the physical to touch the spiritual” (Van Rheenen,
42).
2. Desire for Adventure: Many would not go if they
didn’t have this desire.
3. Building a Deeper Faith: When this becomes a
primary motive, the emphasis is on self rather than on others. If this is the
only, or the main, motivation, it can lead to spiritual disaster.
While secondary motives are not wrong or bad, they
are not strong enough motivations to sustain over the long-haul. Secondary
motivations must be combined with fundamental motivations in order to sustain
the missionary in effective long-term service.
III.
Defective Motives
1. Making a Name for oneself (Phil 1:15-17)
2. Building one’s own
3. Escaping one’s own Culture/Church: Can be very dangerous.
Healthy missionaries do not desert their own culture; they try to become
bicultural.
4. Reacting to guilt—guilt for sin; for failure of
parents, etc.
The
existence of defective motives should not reduce Christians to inaction. “God
may use ministers with faulty motives to carry his message. And frequently
faulty motives are transformed as ministers themselves are changed into the
image of God” (Van Rheenen, 46). However, one should
not choose to do cross-cultural mission work from defective motives alone. This
leads to spiritual disaster.
Reese’s list of Motivations (John Reese, “Introduction to Missions
and Missionary Preparation,” May, 1985. p. 27).
“The following is a list of possible reasons people have for going to mission
areas. Some are excellent motivations. Some are deplorable. Some are legitimate
when combined with ‘weightier’ motives.”
Exercise:
Place a check mark beside those motives you think are necessary and good.
Put
an “X” beside those you think are negative and put a “+” sign beside those
which you think are positive when accompanied by other fundamental motives.
Desire to see God honored.
Frustration with slow progress at home.
Escape
from traditional restraints, supervision, or authority.
Love and concern for people’s souls.
Loyalty to an institution; e.g. church, school.
Also, rivalry and competition with other institutions.
Desire to explore and utilize one’s talents, gifts, and
opportunities.
Attraction
to adventure, places different or exotic.
Gratitude to God.
Accompanying others; e.g., a wife with her husband, a team member
with his colleagues.
Employment; a job whereby to make a living.
Pioneering
spirit, which wants to break new ground.
Obedience to divine commands.
A stepping stone to position and recognition.
Desire to improve the living standards of the under-developed.
Earning salvation through self-sacrifice, deprivation, and hard
work.
Loyalty to friends, parents, or mentor.
Fulfilling expectations of others.
Fear
of divine punishment.
Guilt; e.g., shame at being rich and Western in a world of
poverty. Another e.g., seeking to
expiate for past sins.
To “prove oneself” to be a “man,” or “grown up,” or “independent,”
or “dedicated”, or “adventurous,” or “faith-filled,” or “non-racial,” or “a cut
above the average,” or “spiritual.”
Escape
from failure or social incompatibility in one’s home country.
Love
for God and His will.
Desire to accomplish worthwhile, purposeful work with lasting
results.
Now
underline the phrases that might express motives you have in
your heart.