Testing the Gospel
By Shirley Mitchell
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
Matthew 5:3
God finally told me that it was my season to read the book Always Enough by Rolland and Heidi Baker. The Bakers are missionaries to the poorest people on earth. This book tells of their stories in Mozambique, a war-torn, famine stricken country with thousands of throw-away children. They show that God is still in the miracle business. He still multiplies food, sends financial resources where there were none, and heals the sick. The most desperate poverty and the most devastating natural disasters are not beyond the arm of God to show His power and His love. They worship God in the garbage dumps, have revival in the bush, preach in refugee camps for flood victims, and see the Spirit of God move in mud churches.
Near the end of the book, they write about testing the Gospel, stripping away everything from their preaching that was fake, and giving God the room to work. I must share with you what they said. Here it is:
“Heidi and I deliberately came to Mozambique to face situations like this. We came to test the Gospel and strip from our preaching everything that didn’t work and wasn’t the Truth. We came to give people the living Jesus, not to try out our mission strategy on them. We came to love the poorest of the poor into the Kingdom, not to promise them a cheap road to health and wealth. We came asking Jesus to kill us, destroy us and remake us however He wanted so that we would be useful to Him here. And now we faced the test.
These people were suffering. They were sick and weak. They had seen their children die in their arms. Muslims persecuted them. They saw no hope outside of the Good News we brought. So we preached the purest, simplest messages we could, straight from Scripture. We had no confidence in any other ideas we might have. They needed words that the Holy Spirit would back up. They needed to know what Jesus will bless and support, what will attract His company and presence. They needed content they could depend on to the death.
Their simple backgrounds were littered with witchcraft, syncretism, folk stories and petty religious legalism passed down from centuries of colonialism. Their cultural traditions left them exposed to inefficiency and immorality. Lack of viable government leadership and medical services in the bush deprived them of benefits we take for granted every day. Our pastors could read, haltingly, but most of their people could not. They could hardly picture the outside world, much less the Israel of Bible times. But one thing they knew: They wanted this Jesus we preached!”
Pray with me: Oh, Lord, my God, people in desperate need want Jesus. They don’t want sweet stories or empty promises. They want You. I offer no mission strategy. I place my confidence not in my ideas. I do not promise the cheap road to earthly prosperity. I just want to give them You. I just want to share the Good News that Jesus Lives. You died for me so that I might live and live with You forever. I eagerly await that day. Until then, strip me of myself. Crucify my own selfish desires. Remake me into Your Image. I cry out for YOU! Be visible to me and through me. It’s in the Name above all names, in Jesus’ Name, Yeshua’s Name, I pray. Amen.
Excerpt from Always Enough by Rolland and Heidi Baker, Copyright ©2002, 2003 by Chosen Books