By Rev. Charles A. Bowen, A. M., Ph.D., Olympia, Washington.
It is not my purpose to enter into a defense of, nor champion the cause of, missions. They stand there immovable in the purpose of God. They are the corner-stone as well as the crown in the fabric of the Christian Church. This stone which for so many years was rejected is now become the head of the corner, and whosoever shall fall upon it - whatever church shall ignore its claims - shall be broken.
It is my purpose rather to seek in the field of missions for some message to the modern ministry, for some inspiration to the home church. I know it is impossible to divorce the Church from missions - they are both one; but if we may do so in our thought for a time, we shall find that missions are not so much in need of the home church as the home church is in need of missions. The home church today is not so much the source of encouragement to missions as missions are the fountain of inspiration to the home church. The question is no longer whether the heathen can be saved without the Gospel, but whether the Gospel can be saved for the home church if it is not given speedily to the heathen.
Across the whole Church today is an appalling dearth of aggressive spiritual life. Earnest souls are discouraged, and many almost despairing. They are groping and asking what is the trouble and what can be done. Whatever of encouragement there is comes largely from the mission fields. On the other hand, the fires on mission altars are burning brightly, souls by tens of thousands are being born every year. The faith of the missionary was never stronger, nor his hope brighter. The only cloud that crosses his horizon is the fear lest the church at home may not live up to her privilege.
If we in the home churches, with all our machinery and members and wealth and education and favorable conditions, as we think, are largely cumberers of the ground; and if missions against great odds, improperly supported, with very imperfect equipment, humanly speaking - if they are sowing and reaping abundantly, and to a large degree are saving the Church from utter humiliation when the Master comes year by year seeking fruit, then we ought to ask missions the secret of their power. If our lamps in the home churches are burning dimly, if out of our twilight and shadows we see the light in the far away distance shining steadily, it might be well for us to ask what kind of oil fills that lamp. Like Apollos the eloquent, the home church ought to be willing to be instructed by this Aquilla and Priscilla in “the way of God more perfectly.”
Now if I read aright the story of missions, the secret of their power, the message they bring to the modern ministry and to the whole Church is the emphasis upon this trinity of doctrines: Atonement in Christ, Ministry of the Spirit, and Prayer.
I. THE ATONEMENT AND MISSIONS
In emphasizing the atonement in Christ we believe that missions have good Scriptural grounds for their position. “God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of Christ,” was Paul’s battle cry. No doubt, on going to Athens and Corinth, Paul may have been tempted, because of their education and culture, to preach differently from what he did to the rough people of Galatia. But he did not. This is his testimony as to the kind of preaching: “I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures” (1 Cor. 15:3). And this was done in a most earnest fashion. “I determined to know nothing among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified” (1 Cor. 2:2). So deeply did that first great missionary feel the importance of this truth that he prays a curse upon anyone who preaches a different doctrine. So vital was this to Paul and so large a place has it in Scripture, that we believe the words of a recent writer are true: “The death of Christ has not the place assigned to it, either in preaching or in theology, which it has in the New Testament.” And again: ”It is not unjust to say that no man will so preach the Gospel as to leave the impression that he has the Word of God behind him if he is inwardly at war with the idea of the atonement” (Denny - “Death of Christ” - Introduction and p. 285).
Passing over the intervening ages till we come to the “Father of Modern Missions,” we find him saying: “It is absolutely necessary that we keep to the example of Paul, and make the great subject of our preaching Christ, the crucified” (Carey’s Covenant). Look at the Moravian Church; for every fifty-eight communicants in the home church they support one missionary in a foreign land, and for every member in the home church they have two and six-tenths members gathered in congregations among the heathen. What is the inspiration of this church which so inspired Carey that he exclaimed: “See what these Moravians have done!” Their secretary of missions in a recent address tells us that the compulsion of the Moravian Church is not from the great commission, but from this prophecy: “When His soul shall make an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand. He shall see of the travail of His soul, and shall be satisfied. Therefore will I divide Him a portion with the great, because He poured out His soul unto death.” From this they have their battle cry: “To win for the Lamb that was slain, the reward of His sufferings.” The only way they can reward Him is by bringing souls to Him. They are the only compensation for His suffering. (Ecumenical Conference Report, I, 79.)