The Sacrifice

Written by Devon Bowman

The task of accomplishing the Great Commission is difficult. If it was an easy task we would have already accomplished it. The reality of the need is immense and yet there are few who desire to spend their lives to complete it. I believe that I understand the reasons now more than ever.

I do know that everyone is held accountable to God for obedience to Him, His Word, and the calling He has given us. That, of course, looks different for every individual. Not every person is called overseas–in fact most are not. That is not the point of this blog. The point is that all of us have a sacrifice we must make to accomplish this task. 

I use the word sacrifice for a reason. The only way that this task will be completed is through great sacrifice. Let us simply look back to the history of Christian faith and we will quickly see that the spread has only been through sacrifice. Many people have sacrificed family, security, fortunes, and even their very lives for the spread of the gospel. 

I think of the season that my family is in at the moment. We just packed up all our worldly possessions. In fact, the majority of them we had to sell or give away. This included our beloved family pet, Nelson the cat. Although life is certainly not about the accumulation of things, it does not make that transition easy. We still love Nelson and are so thankful that he is now in another loving home. But there were certainly tears shed at his departure from our everyday lives. Our furniture was never much but when you are selling your first purchases that you made as a family it can feel weird and even a little disorienting. 

We now have no place that we can currently call our own. We are blessed in that we have incredible friends and eventually family that have and will open their homes to us. For that we are eternally grateful. But I cannot say that it is not a little strange not to have a place that is home. Home was sacrificed. 

I do not say all this for pity or praise. I just desire to be honest. I think that throughout the years of these blogs I have been able to be open with you guys so I wanted to take this opportunity to do so again. The sacrifices that the Lord has asked us to make for overseas work have just begun. We have not yet said goodbye to our families. We have not yet moved to a place where everything familiar to us is a day’s journey away. We have not yet spent hours learning a language that is so dissimilar from our own. We have not yet had to miss a Christmas or birthday. Those sacrifices are ones we will see in the future. 

Our sacrifices for the spread of the gospel may not be the same as yours. But I guarantee that God is asking you to make them if you will listen. It may be the sacrifice of giving to missions and not just a few dollars here and there but continual sacrificial giving to support missionaries. God may be calling you to open up your home to allow missionaries a place to stay while they are home itinerating. You may be called to spend significant sacrificial time in prayer for missions and missionaries, not just a few minutes here and there but hours of fervent prayer. The first thing that we should do is not ask God if we are to sacrifice but what we are to sacrifice. If we think that sitting on the sideline is an option we have not seriously read the scriptures. 

I know that for me and my family the sacrifice is difficult but it is so worth it. Jesus is worth it! I know that your sacrifice is worth it as well. We have all been called to give our lives in one way or another to the spread of God’s kingdom.