Value of Men
Good Morning,
As I prayed over a world map, I was reminded of how needy our world is. Over seven billion people are in the world, and the fact that so few have heard the Gospel is a serious problem. I looked at the Middle East, dominated by Islam and the bondage of that deadly religion, then I looked down toward Australia and New Zealand and thought about the fact that those countries were just as hell-bound as the Muslims in Iran. Ruled by a socialist government, the “free" controlled and educated, brainwashed and condemned socialist is no less lost than the totem-worshipping, naked native in Vanuatu. In fact, those who are comfortable in the government’s care may be in a more serious situation. The government-dependent family member who has food and comfort may have less understanding of his need than a woman bound by Islam who has at least a small concept of her depraved state via the internet or media.
In fact, “… all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23) No matter where we live, “… we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.” (Isaiah 64:6)
It seems easier to give to the poor village people of Vietnam, yet the Irish and Welsh lie only a breath away from eternal damnation. Those who are bound by the demons of animism are no more lost than those who worship in gothic Catholic cathedrals. We live in a time in which over 90% of Europe does not attend church. I believe that number to be higher than the unchurched natives in the Philippines. When Mrs. Goddard and I visited Europe, we traveled for two weeks in Austria, Switzerland, Germany, and Belgium and never once saw a Bible-preaching church. Try driving down the dirt roads of Africa or South America, or the South Pacific Islands and see what land is more “lost.” For as we drove around Fiji, we saw little country churches everywhere. Maybe all did not preach the Gospel, but the people had Bibles and walked the roads to a church with some message of Christ.
Our hearts are touched by the suffering children with bloated stomachs, but our minds should be touched by the lost in any nation. A nation without clean drinking water burdens our hearts, but a socialist society like Germany should bring about a “divine call.” In Germany, for instance, you cannot home school your children, even as a missionary from another country. So many of our missionaries have left Germany for the sake of their children. Missionaries in Cambodia are free to educate their children in their own methods. To my knowledge, we have many more missionaries in Cambodia than we do in Germany. Who is more lost?
As I prayed for our missionary friend, Paul Sock, in Poland, I thought of the absolute absence of the Gospel there. He has no missionary friends. There is no Baptist pastor across town to whom he can go to fellowship or gain strength for the battle. By far, he is more alone than our missionaries in Ghana, Africa. He may be comfortable, safe, and able to drink the water, but the spiritual state of the people is perhaps more hopeless than those in Africa.
When God called Jonah to Nineveh, the people there were no more lost than the Jews Paul preached to in Jerusalem. Nineveh was a violent city, ruthless and wicked toward everyone, but hell was just as hot for them as it is for those who grow up sheltered in Kansas. People matter — all people everywhere.
May we pray for our missionaries. May we pray for our youth to hear the call of God in their lives. May we, as believers, dedicate more of our money to the ministry of the Gospel, to training young people in Christian schools, to colleges, and to the support of missionaries around the world.
Hebrew 9:27 “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:”
Pastor