What is WorldView Ministries? — Part 6
This is Part 6 in a series of 6 articles defining and explaining the heartbeat of WorldView Ministries. My burden is to clearly relate who we are, what our God-given vision is, and how we are taking the steps necessary to achieve our vision.
Core Value #5: The Worship of God
The eternal plan of God is to receive glory from every kindred, tribe, tongue and nation. Our purpose in life is to participate in His plan.
Before one can understand clearly the mission of the church, he must understand the motive of the church. Almost every church member (even those who never attempt to do so) would say that the church should be reaching lost people. But many cannot give the correct reason as to why. The correct motive is the glory of God. The church exists for the glory of God. This is the reason and it must become our reason for all we do. The tragedy of the unreached world is not that they are lost and going to Hell, but the tragedy is that God, Who alone is worthy of worship, is not being worshipped by them.
If half the world is still unreached after 2,000 years of the modern missionary era, would you agree that the church is failing; that it is weak; that it has lost its focus? What is the problem? What is the source?
One could make the clear case that the church in general operates without the power of God upon its work. In most places, we are content to conduct our programs whether or not the power of the Spirit is evident. Last Sunday, thousands of churches carried out their normal schedule, and no one noticed that the Spirit of God was not there. Some operate like this for years without anyone ever having a broken heart over the absence of the true work of the Spirit, and without ever being grieved that over 66,000 people will die today who never heard His name. The church of today needs a revival of Holy Ghost power.
Behind the absence of power lies the absence of prayer. Most prayer meetings are “prayer moments” where we take a list of the problems and needs of our people to God in a consolatory act that helps us feel like we are bearing one another’s burdens. It is certainly right to pray for one another, but what about prayer for the world?
When is the last time someone raised a hand in your prayer meeting and requested prayer for the Sarikoli Tajik people with a population of 43,000 who are 100% Muslim and not one Christian among them? Have you ever heard a prayer request for the Palembang of Sumatra with over half a million unreached people? What about the more than 2,200 unreached people groups of India, some of which number in the multi-millions? Do we regularly obey the command to “pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest that he will send laborers into His harvest?” The world is not being reached because we are not asking for it. Psalm 2:8 say, “Ask of me and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.”
But the problem goes deeper. Behind this absence of the presence of the Spirit and this absence of prayer lies a bigger issue. The source of it all is the absence of passion for the glory of God. Have we ever wept for the sake of His name? Have we ever felt what David felt when he went down in the valley to face Goliath because the name of God was being defied? Where is the passion for His glory?
From the beginning of Genesis to the end of Revelation, from the creation of the world to the consummation, from the first invitation (Genesis 3:8-9) to the last invitation (Rev 22:17) God has been on a SINGLE MISSION to declare His glory and to draw all men to Himself. God is passionate for His glory! Are we? Robert Speer said in 1900, “If the church were what she ought to be, before twenty years would pass the story of the Cross would be proclaimed in the ears of every living man.” Another great missiologist said, “Where passion for God is weak, missions will be absent.”
Please, accept this loving challenge. Get alone with God and ask Him to make you passionate about Him. Not passionate about the work, or the ministry, or the church. Do not ask for a burden for lost souls, ask for a passion for God. If He will grant this request (and He will grant it to the earnest seeker), then what is in God’s heart will begin to become part of your heart. His priorities will become your priorities. His desires will replace your carnal, fleshly ones. And if one praying this will inspire another, then another, then another, perhaps we will have a revival of awareness of the need to reach the unreached world. Perhaps this awareness and this passion for God will cause us to place ourselves at His disposal and become part of the army of soldiers that will bring His name to every kindred, tribe and tongue and bring every creature to the throne of God in ultimate worship.
Summary
Church planting, national training, Scripture translation, the uttermost and the glory of God are the guiding principles of WorldView Ministries. Will you pray about partnering with us both in prayer and giving to reach those who are still waiting.