Many missionaries have had the experience of asking themselves, “What am I doing here? Who am I to be doing this? Why would God use me? Why should people listen to me?” And there is good reason why they ask themselves this—they know their weaknesses. When such thoughts come, we must not allow ourselves to dwell only our weaknesses, but also upon God and His ways.
No matter who we are or what our circumstances, all of us will struggle at times with man-centered thoughts about our witness. We have a strong tendency to make ourselves too important. When we do this, our witness is handicapped, if not stopped altogether. Here are some examples of man-centered thinking:
§ We overemphasize personal abilities and spiritual gifts—“I can’t be used of the Lord to lead anyone to Christ because I am not…” or “We are not like.…” We tell ourselves that God uses only certain kinds of people, people who are different from almost all of us.
§ We get despondent about how decadent and evil our society has become—“These are such evil days.” “We cannot…God cannot…It is not like the old days… We are too different from the world; we can’t connect.” We allow such thoughts to sap our strength and breed, effectively silencing us.
§ We become negative about our local church, comparing it to other ministries we deem more successful—“We don’t have the money that… We don’t have the talent that… We are not able to be like…” and therefore tell ourselves that we cannot be effectively used of the Lord.
§ We think too much about our physical or educational limitations—We are either too old or too young. We are not healthy enough, educated enough, or mentally “quick” enough to engage the lost. We might be handicapped with feeling we are not “spiritual enough” to make disciples.
Thoughts such as these reveal a man-centered view of evangelism, a “ME-centered evangelism.” Instead, we must return to a God-centered view of gospel ministry. We need a God-centered, faith-filled expectancy in gospel ministry to replace our man-centered unbelief.
Five Reasons to be Expectant
I believe that there are at least five reasons why we as believers in Jesus should have a spirit of expectancy that God will work through us in evangelism:
1. We should have a spirit of expectancy because the Great Commission was given to us.
Matthew 28:19-20—“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations.”
Mark 16:15—“Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.”
John 17:18; 20:21—“As You sent me into the world, I also have sent them into the world” and “as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”
God did not give us these commands to frustrate us with an impossible task that He would not help us to accomplish. God intends to use His people. Fruitfulness in the ministry of the Gospel should be the norm, not the exception.
Yes, there is a tension here. How much visible fruit we see and how quickly we see it is up to God; but fruitfulness we can expect. God desires to use us to have a part in reaching the nations and peoples of the world for Jesus’ sake. This reality should affect how we pray, give, and go. It affects our willingness to send our children and grandchildren with a spirit of expectancy that God can and will use them for His glory!
2. We should have a spirit of expectancy because we have God’s Spirit in us.
Luke 24:47-49—“And that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And behold, I am sending forth the promise of My Father upon you; but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”
Acts 1:8—“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you: and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest [uttermost] part of the earth.”
Yes, Jesus gave to His people the Great Commission to make disciples among all peoples, but He told them not to act on that commission until they had received the Holy Spirit. They could not fulfill the commission without the Spirit. The Spirit’s indwelling and empowering presence in their lives was vital to enable them to obey this command of Jesus.
The Holy Spirit of God did come upon Christ’s disciples at Pentecost, and He has indwelt every believer in Jesus since then. One major purpose of the Spirit’s indwelling is to enable us to make disciples. God’s people everywhere should have a spirit of expectancy that God desires to use and speak through them because they have God’s Spirit! It does not matter what our position in life is, what kind of job we have, what our background is, or where we live. God’s Spirit is in us to enable us to be His witnesses for Jesus’s sake.
3. We should have a spirit of expectancy because we have experienced the power of the Gospel.
Romans 1:16—“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.”
1 Corinthians 1:18—“For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”
This good news of Jesus Christ is the most powerful message in the universe—for those who believe it! No believers in Jesus Christ would ever question the power of the Gospel, would they? We know what Jesus has done for us. We know how He has changed us. We know how we have escaped the power of sin and death because of God’s grace. We know God and have a relationship with Him! We have hope of eternal life and purpose! Somehow, over time, many believers seem to almost forget what God has done for them. Remember: if God could save us, He certainly can save others!
Maybe our forgetfulness stems from the fact that it has been too long since we shared our testimony with others. By giving testimony and witnessing of Christ we remind ourselves of God’s power to save.
Romans 10:17—“So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.”
We heard and believed. The heard Word results in faith for some.
4. We should have a spirit of expectancy because this is the age of grace before Jesus returns.
Matthew 16:18—“I will build my church and the gates of hell/Hades will not overpower it.”
John 10:16—referring to the Gentiles, Jesus says, “I have other sheep that are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd.” Gentiles will and must come in.
Romans 11:25—Paul explaining that God’s judgment is now on the Jews and that only a few will be saved until He returns, states that now is the day of grace for the Gentiles “until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.” Has the fullness of the Gentiles come in yet? No! If Jesus has not yet come, then there are yet more who will come to salvation in Christ.
As believers in Jesus Christ today, we are part of the fulfillment of this prophecy! And God intends to use us to keep fulfilling this prophecy until the fullness of the Gentiles comes in. The Church is God’s instrument through which He brings His sheep into His fold. What a privilege! What a responsibility!
Revelation 5:9—John describes a scene in heaven, a prophecy of what it will be like in heaven just before the tribulation begins after the rapture—“And they sang a new song, saying, ‘Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.”
Christ’s Church is global and will include all peoples! This will be because God used His Church as it prayed, gave, and labored in obedience to His Great Commission.
Our hearts should be encouraged through these prophecies. Our hearts should burn with a desire to be somehow used of God, to participate in what He is doing in this world. We do not know exactly how or to what extent God will use us, but we should have a spirit of expectancy that He will do so.
5. We should have a spirit of expectancy because we co-labor with God Himself.
1 Corinthians 3:6-9a—Paul says, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth…For we are God’s fellow workers.”
Paul preached the Gospel in Corinth, sowing the seed of the Word. His main labor was introducing the people to the Gospel, and some came to faith. Apollos came later and “watered,” meaning he continued to preach the Gospel there and more came to Christ and grew. But it was God alone Who could give life, and He did! It is impossible for us to “win souls,” but we are honored with being God’s voice as He brings salvation to others!
Gospel ministry is a process, usually a group effort. Our combined prayers, acts of service and mercy, verbal witness, obedience as individuals and as local churches—God uses all of these. We labor with God, and He works through us.
Technology has greatly increased the group effort aspect of gospel ministry. Often Christian co-laborers water where we have sown and vice versa. God is commandeering His troops.
We planted a church in Cambodia, where most of the Khmer believers were first introduced to the Gospel through a family member in America who fled there as a refugee. One Chinese medical doctor doing malaria research in our province became a friend. As we gave him the Gospel, he told us that his family back in China were Christians and had often urged him to believe in Jesus.
Three other families in other parts of our province came to Christ, and all three had been introduced to Christ previously through others in different parts of the country. We have witnessed to Koreans, Brits, Cameroonians, Canadians, Israelis, Norwegians, and others, most of whom had already been given gospel seed earlier in their lives.
God created us and our gifts to be useful in this ministry. He has placed us exactly where we are for HIS purposes. We must co-labor with Him by faith, refusing to make excuses. God will bring people to Himself through the combined witness of His people.
We must have a spirit of expectancy concerning the work of the Gospel! A God-centered, faith-filled view of evangelism gives us this attitude of expectancy. We must not allow ourselves to be held captive by unbelief or man-centered thoughts about making disciples – no matter what circumstances we face. Our focus must be upon God, what He is doing and will do, not on ourselves, others, or the times in which we live. An expectant spirit honors Christ.