Years ago I was visiting a Wycliffe tribal missionary in the jungles of Bolivia working with his tribe. This handful of Indians were the remnant of large tribe; a man several wives and his large family were all that were left. This missionary was willing to invest five to ten years living in the jungle with his family to bring the Gospel to these few people.
The nationals saw them as a group of dirty thieves.
In speaking one day here in the U.S, I brought this example up as an illustration of dedication and commitment. Later a friend of mine pulled me aside to give me his take on this missionary. My friend was a "mature" Christian, intelligent, wealthy ... and an engineer. He was logical and pragmatic in his perspective ... so his response was as follows
"Von, why does this missionary invest his time and our money on so few people? It would make more sense to become a pastor of a church here, that way he could work with a hundred, two hundred or three hundred people. His so called investment just doesn't make sense."
Most of us Christians claim that even if we were the only sinner on earth, Christ would have willingly sacrificed His life for us. We're satisfied with that pious answer. Yet this missionary willing to invest his life in this handful of primitive people to give them the Gospel, an education, medical help ... well, it doesn't make sense.
Or does it?
Our missionary brother was called to do God's will and that's what he was doing in the middle of the hot humid jungle.
Indeed God's ways are not our ways. God's thoughts are not our thoughts. Isaiah writes it this way. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts." (Isaiah. 55:9)
... and God is not willing that any should perish! (II Peter 3:9)
Ahh secular Christians, making their hasty judgments based on bang for the buck!
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