"I never made a sacfice."
"I never made a sacrifice." These were the words of David Livingstone, the great missionary to Africa, to a group of Cambridge students in 1857 as he appealed to them to become missionaries to foreign lands for the cause of Christ.
What Livingstone was calling attention to is that truly the work of missions ultimately is not sacrifice but investment. What David Livingstone proclaimed is what Paul proclaimed in Romans 8:18: "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us." (ESV)
The work of foreign missions should not be seen primarily as an act of permanent sacrifice but of eternal investment. Indeed, there may well be suffering and sacrifice required in this world, but put into its eternal context it is really great gain. As Paul put it in Phil 3:7-8: "7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ." When we see our lives and all that we have in the context of eternity, it changes our very understanding of sacrifice. What we once treasured as most valuable in this world becomes "rubbish" because we see the true treasure of Christ.
What Livingstone was calling attention to is that truly the work of missions ultimately is not sacrifice but investment. What David Livingstone proclaimed is what Paul proclaimed in Romans 8:18: "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us." (ESV)
The work of foreign missions should not be seen primarily as an act of permanent sacrifice but of eternal investment. Indeed, there may well be suffering and sacrifice required in this world, but put into its eternal context it is really great gain. As Paul put it in Phil 3:7-8: "7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ." When we see our lives and all that we have in the context of eternity, it changes our very understanding of sacrifice. What we once treasured as most valuable in this world becomes "rubbish" because we see the true treasure of Christ.
