David Livingstone was a great missionary who paid the price, denying himself numerous privileges for the sake of reaching Africa with the seed of the Gospel. Though he is credited for fighting for the eradication of the slave trade, his heart was for winning souls for Christ and making his contribution to Africa to open up for Christianity.
In his own words, "The salvation of men ought to be the chief desire and aim of every Christian." These words are embedded in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ and the Apostles. Like the Apostles, the tough circumstances that David Livingstone ministered under speak of a dedicated selfless leader, who confronted every challenge to fulfil his God-ordained assignment.
The call to plant the seed of the gospel is not unto a specific individual, but rather to every Christian. The great commission is Jesus' command to the Church, to all believers, calling the true disciples to "go and make disciples of all nations ..." (Matthew 28:19). The one key lesson that the missionaries have taught us is the importance of obeying the command to go to the nations. Secondly, their commitment to the main assignment of planting the seed of the gospel produced true disciples of Jesus Christ. It has never been easy advancing God's Kingdom, but it is doable. These ministers, especially early days missionaries experienced severe weather conditions, diseases, hostilities and probably insecurity yet they pressed forward. I believe some of the key obstacles that the early missionaries faced are still our nightmare. For instance, the hardness of the heart is a serious obstacle even today. If they overcame such obstacles and achieved their goals, then we are more challenged to make such a positive mark in our generation.
The true mark of a growing church is seen in its discipling and sending ability. We agree that the modern-day church has deviated from this key element to focus on Mega Churches and massive crowds as an indicator of growth. While growing in numbers is important, the focus should be grounding the believer so as not to be swayed away from the true faith. The Bible says, "...And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and the prayers ... And all the believers met together constantly and shared everything with each other ... and each day God added to them all who were being saved." (Acts 2:42 -47). What the believers were devoted to was the seed of the gospel that the Apostles had planted. This enabled them to live out their faith for the transformation was evident.
In conclusion, self-evaluation is necessary for helping us to re-order our priorities and focus on winning souls, discipleship as well and getting involved in the holistic well-being of those we reach out to.
Exhortation by: Pastor David L. Malova.