I grew up listening to my mother read to us stories of great missionaries. I was fascinated by their lives.
There was a time—not so long ago in the pages of history—when the Church looked out over the nations of the world and did not see enemies…
It saw souls.
Men and women, gripped by the love of Christ, left behind everything familiar—home, country, comfort, and often family—so they could carry the Gospel to lands that had never heard the name of Jesus.
They did not go with weapons.
They went with the Word of God.
They did not go to conquer nations.
They went to win hearts.
The Missionary Spirit of Another Generation
Consider men like Hudson Taylor.
He did not go to China to make it British.
He went to become like the people he was trying to reach—learning their language, wearing their clothing, living among them, suffering with them. Many criticized him for it. But he understood something we often forget:
The Gospel is not carried by power—it is carried by sacrifice.
Think of Adoniram Judson.
He buried his wife and children on foreign soil. He was imprisoned, beaten, and left in chains.
For years, there were no converts.
No visible success.
No support system like we know today.
Yet he remained.
Why?
Because he believed the souls of Burma were worth more than his own life.
Consider Robert Moffat.
He labored in Africa for years before seeing significant fruit. At one point he said he had seen “the smoke of a thousand villages where Christ was not named.”
That sight did not fill him with fear.
It filled him with burden.
And then there was James Chalmers.
He went into some of the most dangerous regions of the world—places where violence was real and immediate.
He did not go with an army.
He went with the Gospel.
And in the end, he gave his life there.
What Did They See That We Do Not?
These men looked at the same kinds of places we now hear about in news reports.
Regions of conflict.
Cultures different from their own.
People with beliefs they did not share.
And yet they did not say:
“Those are our enemies.”
They said:
“Those are souls Christ died for.”
A Shift Has Taken Place
Today, many of the same regions that once received missionaries are now places we speak of in terms of:
- Strategy
- Security
- Threat
We hear about them in the language of politics and war.
And something in the heart of the Church has changed.
Where once there was a burden to go…
Now there is often a hesitation, or even a hardening.
Where once there were tears…
Now there is sometimes fear.
The Danger Before Us
Let me be clear—this is not about ignoring the realities of a dangerous world.
Governments will do what governments do.
But the Church must never forget what it is called to do.
Because when the Church begins to see people primarily as threats instead of souls…
We have lost something sacred.
Jesus did not say:
“Understand your enemies.”
He said:
“Love your enemies, bless them that curse you…” (Matthew 5:44, KJV)
Have We Grown Comfortable?
There is another question we must ask ourselves honestly.
Have we grown so comfortable in our lives that the burden for the lost has grown dim?
We build:
- Careers
- Homes
- Retirement plans
And again, there is nothing wrong with responsibility and provision.
But somewhere along the way, many have lost the urgency that once drove men across oceans with nothing but faith.
The early missionaries did not ask:
“What will this cost me?”
They asked:
“What will it cost them if I do not go?”
The Mission Has Not Changed
The world has changed.
Nations have changed.
Politics have changed.
But the command of Christ has not changed.
“Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” (Mark 16:15, KJV)
Not just to friendly nations.
Not just to safe places.
Not just to those who believe like we do.
To every creature.
A Final Thought
There was a time when the Church sent missionaries to the very lands we now fear.
They did not go with hatred.
They went with hope.
They did not go to destroy.
They went to save.
And perhaps the question for us today is not what the world has become…
But what the Church has forgotten.
If Christ were to stir that same spirit again…
Would we go?
Would we pray?
Would we weep for the lost?
Or have we become so settled in this world that we no longer feel the weight of eternity?
May God awaken His Church once more.
May He restore the burden.
May He remind us that every nation—no matter how distant, how different, or how difficult—
Is still a mission field.
