Lukewarm No More - Part 3 — George Verwer

A New Vision for Global Mission

This is the first time in front of a large congregation that I have ever shared this vision publicly. And I feel it is more significant than any other vision God has ever given me in my whole life. Because all the other visions were mainly to involve the organization that God put me in.

Earlier Visions That Shaped a Missionary Calling

OM. OM launched those ships though other people got ship visions as well. The vision to send people short-term which goes back to my living in Maryville, Tennessee and Realizing America at least had the opportunity to hear the gospel.

But Mexico didn't and I shared with my friend Dale wrote on let's go to Mexico this summer. That was also one of those small beginning visions. Which in those days I used to have about every other month.

The 200,000 Missionary Mobilization Proposal

But at God meeting me on that plane God giving me these Statistics giving me a number of ideas. I have a memo your questions answered about acts 13 breakthrough 2000 in which I've taken three pages to answer the toughest questions that people can fire at me about this wild idea of seeing 200 ,000 missionaries mobilized.

I Answer right off in the first question. What do we mean by a missionary? And I answer in that first question or the second question. Why do we need? 200 ,000. I pointed out by the way that in the United States We have hundreds and hundreds and hundreds upon hundreds of thousands of Christian workers.

Why do we need so many pastors and missionaries and Christian workers? I think the number has gone way over 1 million full-time workers in America. And we're all excited about 200 ,000 more for the rest of the world now we are talking about 200 ,000 more.

There's between 150 and 200 ,000 out there. Some of those are in furloughs. Some of those are coming back. We'll never be able to measure it right down to the last missionary because we're talking about the whole Globe, we're talking about having a global vision.

Going Against America’s Domestic Focus

And one of our burdens for this weekend even though you may not comprehend all of this is that we become global in our thinking. Global in our praying that we go against the tide and the present tide in America is against global Thinking and global giving and global praying the present tide is saying America is such a mess.

There's so many problems. There's so many drug addicts. AIDS is growing crime is growing prisons are bulging. Ah, many are lukewarm in our churches that our major thrust must be here. Let me shock you with something.

Christianity’s Strength and the Myth of a Christian Nation

There is no nation. I have been in and I've been out 40 years where Christianity is more deeply rooted and stronger than in the United States. So if you think the church and everything is a mess here, you know what I would suggest that Christianity in fact then is not true and Some people now in America believe that I don't and I believe in the stake and the reason many are discouraged and confused.

And praying all kinds of weird prayers and other things is because we have unbiblical Expectation as to what Christianity is supposed to do in a nation. And we have departed from the simplicity and the basic teaching of the New Testament which says narrow is the way and few there will be that find it into some kind of Concept where we're hoping somehow we will have a Christian nation, even though there are no verses in the New Testament about that.

The fact is Christianity has often thrived more in a hostile environment with hostile government and hostile leadership than it has thrived when Everybody was happy about it and government law was in line with what is taught in the New Testament.

Salt, Light, and Christian Influence in Society

Now on the other hand don't misunderstand me because I'm mega big in salt-and-light Teaching and I believe when there are committed radical Christians There will be the salt and light and that will influence government.

It will influence society and I am committed as an American to see that happen in every possible way. And when I speak at a place like Wheaton College, I don't challenge them all to go to the mission field.

I challenge him to do God's will and To build the kingdom and we need to build the kingdom in Chicago and Memphis as well as in Mongolia or New Delhi. And we need people in the marketplace. In the banking world in the political world in the arts world in every other aspect of society.

Revival, National Service, and Global Mission

And we have more than enough believers now in America to do it all. Of course people say well, we need revival. That's true. That's true in every other country in the world as well. Do you realize how small the church is in Europe where I spend a lot of my time and yet on a per capita basis?

Even in places like Germany and Great Britain and Sweden that church is relatively strong and healthy and They are planning to send out thousands of missionaries. Now, that's not many for countries the size of Britain and Germany.

But it shows that God is working there and this may not seem to be the normal place to start in our mission thinking. But I think we need to be reminded that God has done great things in our country. And God is working in our country and we are still one of the strongest if not the strongest Potential missionary sending country in the world.

American Churches as a Missionary Sending Force

I hope Korea passes us up. I hope Brazil passes us up, but any thinking person knows they have a long long way to go and As I go around to all these colleges next week or the week after I'm at Biola University I've just Sunday night been a Royal Roberts University 4 ,000 students.

I've just been at Briarcrest. I've just been at Bethel. I've just been at Wheaton. I've just been last year at Taylor University. There are thousands of students With cutting-edge commitment who are thinking about missions or who if they don't go want to become senders.

So I am excited about what God is doing in America last week 40 ,000 pastors gathered in Atlanta. Unheard of in the history almost of the world 40 ,000 pastors With basic Convictions from the Word of God.

They're not big into world missions yet, but they have that somewhere there in the promise and promise keepers I believe are going to move in God's timing into world missions and they Together with many others who are not necessarily connected with that will provide one of the greatest potential missionary ground swells.

That the world has ever known and we can get those 25 ,000 sending churches and we can get those 50 or 75 thousand. Depends on how many each church sends. I haven't worked out the numbers to that detail in this strategy.

It's doable. Do you know that term? That's a new American term. It's doable when I first heard that word in connection with missions. I didn't like it. Do you know Ralph winter has he ever come to one of your missions conferences?

Ralph Winter and the Unreached Peoples Challenge

Ralph winter surely with all of his Controversial thinking and ideas is one of the most unique missionary leaders in the 20th century. I I just thank God for this man because Ralph winter helped us look at the unreached people.

Ralph winter is an optimist. Ralph winter is still talking about giving the world everybody the gospel. But the year 2000 many have given up many missy allergist and especially the theologians are writing against this concept.

And Ralph winter is still saying it's doable. It's doable and he churns out the statistics and he churns out the information. And when I read it, I just get so excited I was sitting with him in the WEF world evangelical fellowship meeting in Manila and he was up in the balcony so that he could work on his word processor at the same time listen to what's going on and He was churning out some article to point out that we can do it.