Why Is Spiritual Integrity So Important in Missions Today?

Why is spiritual integrity so important in missions today?

It strikes me that perhaps the greatest challenge and opportunity in mission today is inextricably related to spiritual integrity.

I think in the world of mission, it is so easy to be pragmatic and professional in simply purveying a message. And what happens then is the sheer busyness, the hostility, the difficulty, all the practical challenges of life on mission can spiritually dry the missionary out. And what then happens is Christ may be spoken of, but without being Himself cherished. And so I think the greatest challenge in mission today is the spiritual dryness of missionaries.

And that spiritual dryness comes from not being fed great gospel teaching. Because what is it that feeds faith? It is the Word of God. Faith grows by the Word of God.

And the greatest opportunity is really to be found there. If we're to have missionaries who press in to know God better, to love Him, to adore Him, they will want to speak of Him. And they'll speak of Him out of an overflowing heart, out of joy. And so the people who hear him or her will not sense, "Here's just your God, but a God you don't enjoy. Why would I enjoy that God?" They will hear of a God who is enjoyable, delightful. They will want to know more.

Spiritual integrity, which is fueled by the teaching of the gospel shaping hearts, I think is perhaps the great forgotten need today in mission.

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