September 01, 1994 by Rick Wood

Where Your heart Is - There Shall Your Money Go.

There are few things in this world that get as much attention as money. People are always wanting to get more of it--as much as they can get, and they are generally very hesitant about letting others have any of it unless it is going to get them something they really want. We must ask ourselves then: how badly do I want to see all the peoples reached with the Gospel and how much am I willing to sacrifice in order to see all the peoples reached?

People are always looking for bargains, even in missions. But when is a bargain not a bargain? Money has the power to bring great good or to do incredible damage and destruction when it is misused.

Unfortunately, good intentions are not enough. We point out in this issue some of the problems that well intentioned efforts can cause when money is not used carefully and wisely. We also challenge our readers to evaluate their lifestyles and priorities in terms of God's priority to reach all the nations with the Gospel.

All of us as individuals will be judged by God on the basis of how we have used the time, talents, and money that He has given to us. How we spend and use money tells a great deal about what we value and what is a priority in our lives. Money is essentially an amplifier of what is already in our hearts. If there is a spirit of greed and materialism in our hearts then the money we have will simply magnify those character traits. But if we have a heart to see the lost reached, then this will also be expressed in how we use money. All of us need to take a hard look at our lives and see where and how we are spending the bulk of our time and money. Have you made a commitment to the completion of the Great Commission that is heart felt and is thereby reflected in how you use the money you have?

The average Christian in America gives just $50 a year to reach the world for Christ. Only a portion of this actually goes to reach the unreached peoples and $50 is a minute fraction of the available income that Christians could be applying to the completion of the Great Commission. If the 40 million evangelicals in America were simply to commit themselves to just $1 a day for frontier missions, this would release an incredible $14.6 billion dollars into the cause of world evangelization. This is over seven times what we now spend on all types of missions.

You might want to consider making a commitment to the Wartime Lifestyle as described by Dr. Winter on pages 20-22. A very small proportion of all believers making such a commitment can have a huge impact on world evangelization. Just 600,000 believers giving $6 a day or $2,190 a year would release $1.3 billion dollars--enough for 43,800 missionary couples to be sent out with $30,000 a year income. This would be enough new missionaries to begin planting the church in each of the unreached peoples.

Another way to help reach the unreached peoples is by supporting the work of global mobilization through ministries like Mission Frontiers. This publication now goes out to over 110,000 people in 150 countries around the world, giving the vision of reaching the unreached peoples to Christian leaders who can make a significant impact on the direction of world evangelization. The tremendous growth of the third- world missionary movement necessitates that we share this vision with them. MF is one way to do that. These thousands of leaders can literally impact millions of people around the world with the vision of reaching the unreached peoples, if we can continue to get it to them. But we need the help of people like you, if MF is to be all that it can be in mobilizing the global church. I am asking you to prayerfully consider supporting this ministry with your gifts of $136. 50 or more. We need your smaller gifts as well.

We continue to make progress toward the goal of having MF cover its costs this year but we still need 645 more participants and we are more than half way through the year. So we need to pick up speed if we are to meet the goal of having MF pay for itself this year. I hope that you will not just assume someone else will meet this need. We need the help of all of you who are reading this in order for us to cover our costs.

Another way that you can help is by becoming a mobilizer in your local area. Do you know of mission-minded people who don't receive MF, but would enjoy it. Give us their names. Do you know of missionaries that your church supports who would enjoy receiving MF? Send us their names and we would be happy to send them a free subscription. If you would like to get together with other people in your area who receive MF already, let us know and we can get you started.

It is my hope that as a result of this issue we will all make a greater commitment to using all that we have and are to reaching all the peoples on earth with the saving knowledge of Christ. Let us recommit ourselves to making God's priority in reaching the unreached peoples, our priority in the use of our time, talents and money.