Meeting felt needs is not enough (Authentic Servant: What I Learned from the Life of David Brainerd Part 3)

David Brainerd ministers among the Native Americans

When I first heard about missions at 7 years old, I thought it was the most exciting thing in the world. It became apparent to me early on that the world needs Jesus because I witnessed systematic gender discrimination and religious persecution as a child in a foreign country. I even chose occupational therapy as my pre-med course because I wanted to become a missionary doctor. I loved learning about how missionaries accomplished great things for God that made the world a better place. 

Decades later, I still think that missions is an exciting ministry. But I’m more realistic about it now. While missionary biographies inspired me and taught me much about God, I also subconsciously imbibed the wrong notion that missions is prestigious. It’s not! People are generally not going to admire you for preaching God’s Word because it exposes their darkness. They will malign you, beat you up, or even kill you for talking about your beliefs. You will suffer rejection no matter how much you try to adapt to their culture. 

Moreover, missionaries struggle with sin just like the rest of their brethren because they’re ordinary Christians. Their sins can discourage them and cause a stumbling block to others. They can also get into fights with fellow missionaries that make their work unbearable, given that they’re also dealing with homesickness, medical conditions, culture shock, language learning difficulties, family conflict, and revulsion at the horrible physical environment. Having a deep concern for people’s temporal needs will therefore never be powerful enough to keep a missionary on the field.

The Power Behind Missions

What will motivate a missionary to stay is nothing else but the truth that Christ is worthy of all the sacrifices that the Great Commission entails! This is quite evident in the ministry of David Brainerd, a missionary to the Native Americans in the 1700s. Brainerd was used to a convenient life because he was from a wealthy family. Common sense dictates that he would be better off living on the farm that he inherited than on the mission field because he kept on having all sorts of severe respiratory ailments. 

Moreover, he was constantly plagued by depression. He bore the trauma of losing his parents at a young age until his adulthood. He was also often emotionally tormented due to his pessimistic temperament. 

In addition, missions did not have the image of an exciting ministry in the 1700s. Rather, missions was that obscure little project where all the weirdos went to serve under the direst conditions. People instead expected young men of Brainerd’s pedigree to become a respectable local church pastor with a stable salary, a vocation that is as godly as being a missionary. 

But because of Jesus’ perfect excellencies, Brainerd resolved to obey God’s specific will for his life, which was for him to journey to a people despised by society that they may know Christ. Brainerd also found great joy in having a more intimate relationship with God in the process of proclaiming the Gospel. For this cause, he endured squalor, exhaustion, hunger, sickness, discouragement, loneliness, and persecution — even when he thought that the Native Americans were hopeless!

The Lord blessed Brainerd’s ministry by bringing forth revival among the United States’ indigenous peoples. God’s love for them also compelled Brainerd to spearhead their resettlement in an area with better living conditions and the establishment of a school that improved their literacy. Years later, William Carey would be inspired to pioneer a Gospel ministry in India because of Brainerd’s testimony. Thus the modern missions movement was born!

His Infinite Worth 

Jesus is the Pearl of Great Price for which saints throughout the ages have given their all. Brainerd wrote, “It is sweet to be nothing and less than nothing that Christ may be all in all…Oh how worthy is the blessed God to be loved, adored, and delighted in, for Himself, for His own divine excellencies!”

Fellow Christians, why are we involved in missions? Are we in it for self-promotion or do we long to glorify God even if we will suffer losses for His sake? Are we entertaining the naive notion that the desire to meet felt needs is sufficient to make us stay in the ministry? It’s easy to romanticize serving other people groups when we’re far from them. But when they can oppress you because they’re living next to you, your passion for them could be gone in a second. Only Christ’s infinite worth is sufficient to keep us faithful. But from the holy ambition of knowing Him and making Him known will flow the love for people that will inspire us to serve their practical needs that they may see Jesus in us. 

(Read Part 1 and Part 2.) 

REFERENCE:

Edwards, J. (1949). The Life and Diary of David Brainerd (P.E. Howard, Jr., Ed.). Baker Book House (Original work published in 1749).