A Passion for Souls
by Joel Stephen Williams
When I was young my home congregation supported several families as missionaries to Thailand. The missionaries often stayed in our home when they were back in America reporting on their work to their supporters. I listened with fascination to their many tales of life on the other side of the world in that exotic Asian land. One event stands out prominently in my memory. As a teenage boy I walked into the living room one morning and one of the missionaries was examining a book, an almanac. He said very excitedly: “Come here, Steve. Come here and look at this.” He was looking at population statistics for various cities around the world, especially in Asia. He would say: “This city has 100,000 people in it and there is no church there. And this city over here has...” On and on he went. I knew at the age of about fourteen or fifteen why he was willing to beg for support, to live on the other side of the world, and to learn a very difficult language. He had a passion for souls. One of those men and his wife are now in their late 80s and are still in Thailand. They have given sixty-two years of their lives to that work. That is a passion for teaching the gospel to those who need to hear about Jesus Christ and salvation from sin.
From one of my professors, I cannot remember which one, I heard a fascinating story many years ago. A young missionary was back in the States on furlough. His first Sunday at home he walked around the large, spacious church foyer where people were visiting with one another at the end of the worship assembly. He walked up to one man and said: “Hello. I am home on vacation, and I was wondering if you would be willing to take me with you this week as you make your visits or as you teach a home Bible study.” The man to whom he spoke was at a loss for words, but somehow, he broke off the conversation and got away from the young man as quickly as possible. Not one to be discouraged, the young missionary approached another man with the same question, only to get the same reaction. He was very lucky, though. The third individual he approached said: “Certainly. I have an appointment to meet with a family on Tuesday night. I would love for you to come with me.” That young man was a missionary on foreign soil, because he had a passion for winning lost souls no matter where he was. He was concerned about the lost before he went to the mission field and was still concerned about the lost while he was at home on vacation.
The point of these stories is evident and clear. The mission field is not necessarily over there somewhere in a distant land or over here in a large city. It is wherever the lost are – at school, at work, down the street, next door, or maybe at home. Also, the key ingredient to being evangelistic or being mission minded is attitude. We must have a love for lost souls and want to increase the population of heaven. Do we have a passion for souls?
No comments:
Post a Comment