Shortly after his salvation at age 13, Nate Saint gave this testimony at a young people’s meeting at his church, using the following notes:
- Paul said in Acts, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.” I believe, therefore I am saved and heaven-bound.
- Being saved, I have a purpose because Jesus said, “Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature.”
- Having a purpose, being in the fight against Satan, and belonging to God’s army of Christian soldiers, I must be in training. This training I get here at Bethany [Baptist Church, his local church]. Here the Word of God is opened widely and taught clearly, wholly, and simply.
- I enjoy school because it further prepares me to serve Jesus and enter into His work of winning souls.
- To me, Bible school means more than silver or gold because these are corruptible, but salvation is eternal.
- I want this Bible training so I can say later, like the Apostle Paul, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.”
Jungle Pilot, Chapter 3, pg. 49
Several things stand out about Nate Saint’s testimony — his simple faith in God’s Word, his understanding that his local church was his primary training ground for the ministry, his perspective on the reason for schooling (which gave joy instead of drudgery), and his eternal perspective. Any one of these points demonstrate a maturity beyond his years and would be worthy of further consideration. It is remarkable that at 13 years of age, Nate Saint already viewed everything in his life through the lens of God’s command to go into all the world and preach the Gospel and began structuring his life plans and goals around that.
What I find the most remarkable about this testimony, besides the spiritual maturity, is that Nate Saint did not experience a “call to the mission field.” Rather, he simply took the Great Commission as God intends it to be taken — a personal command to be obeyed. In simple faith and obedience, he understood that it is the personal responsibility of every Christian to go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature.
This particular perspective highlights a simple truth that we seem to have departed from in our modern-day missionary emphasis. Instead of understanding the Great Commission as a mandatory command for all believers, it has, instead, become a mystical “call” that is applicable to only a select few. “Is God calling you to the mission field?” was a common challenge given in youth group and in college, and while some do go to the mission field, many do not simply because they weren’t “called.”
I believe the intent behind this challenge is good. You do want to make sure that God wants you to serve as a foreign missionary, because there are some days when the only thing that keeps you going is the absolute certainty that you are where God wants you to be, doing what He wants you to do. However, in our push for certainty, I’m afraid we have unintentionally created a specialized class of believers — “the called” — who are the ones responsible for fulfilling the Great Commission while others are excused.
Some might object and argue that it is biblical to wait for a “call of God,” citing the prophet Jeremiah’s call in Jeremiah 1:5, or perhaps they will reference the classic text in Isaiah 6:8, or maybe they point to the what is often considered the first missionary call in Acts 13:1-3. However, out of these three examples, only one resembles today’s “call to missions.” Jeremiah was prepared by God from birth for a specific prophetic office much like John the Baptist (Luke 1:13-17), and Isaiah volunteered for God’s service. Only in Acts 13 do we find something close to a “call to missions.”
However, it is important to remember that the book of Acts records a transitional period in the formative years of the early church. Much of what is recorded is descriptive of what God did rather than prescriptive of how it should always be done. So, yes, while we do see a special call for Barnabas and Saul in Acts 13, we also see examples of local churches and “ordinary” believers taking the gospel to the regions beyond. The church at Thessalonica would be one such example.
So that ye were ensamples to all that believe in Macedonia and Achaia. For from you sounded out the word of the Lord not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith to God-ward is spread abroad; so that we need not to speak any thing. (1 Thessalonians 1:7-8)
How did this local church spread the gospel throughout their locale and the regions beyond? Did they wait for a special call? No! Instead, they took the Word of God personally and realized their responsibility to obey it.
…when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe. (1 Thessalonians 2:13)
The effect of emphasizing a “call”
It is an undeniable reality that there are fewer men and women going to the mission field today than in years past. Dr. Don Sisk notes, “in 2023, only 2% of graduates from Independent Baptist colleges went to the mission field.” This figure would not include those who are local church trained and sent, but I would imagine those numbers would not significantly increase the percentage if included. Part of this decline, I believe, is because we’ve alleviated the personal responsibility of world evangelism by promoting a “call to missions.” “God has not called me” then becomes an accepted reason to not go, and an easy excuse to hide behind. Hudson Taylor faced this same attitude in his day, and his response, though uttered more than 120 years ago, remains just as pertinent today:
“It will not do to say that you have no special call to go to China. With these facts before you and with the command of the Lord Jesus to go and preach the gospel to every creature, you need rather to ascertain whether you have a special call to stay at home. If in the sight of God you cannot say you are sure that you have a special call to stay at home, why are you disobeying the Saviour’s plain command to go?”
Hudson Taylor
Moving forward with a more biblical mindset
It will not be instantaneous, but by God’s grace, we can return to a biblical emphasis by:
Preaching surrender instead of a call
Romans 12:1-2 is still God’s expectation for every believer. Surrender is more than just a willingness to go. It is a blank paper that you give to God and say, “This is my life. Write anything You want on it. Fill it in with whatever pleases You.” This is our reasonable service to our Lord.
Encouraging others to volunteer for service instead of waiting for a call
Rex Cobb of Baptist Bible Translators Institute in Bowie, TX, in an excellent article entitled “Volunteers for Jesus”, writes the following:
“A good way to know if missionary service is God’s will for you is to volunteer for it! Perhaps you should get on your knees and honestly volunteer to go to the foreign field, then get up and immediately begin to prepare and move in that direction. Lift up your eyes. Start asking God where you should go. Get information. Look for open doors. Discuss it with your pastor. Get a passport and visit some mission fields.”
Obeying the clear commands of Scripture personally, rather than expecting others to go in your place.
There are two very clear command in Scripture that relate directly to world evangelism. One is to pray for labourers (Matthew 9:38) and the other is to share the gospel with everyone, everywhere (Matthew 28:18-20, Mark 16:15, Acts 1:8). Are we obediently praying and going, taking God’s commands personally?
Conclusion
Spurgeon once said, “Not all men should be missionaries, but all men should struggle with it.” I believe that we would see more Christians sincerely grapple with serving the Lord on the mission field if we return to a biblical emphasis in our preaching and our missions recruitment endeavors. We must emphasize that God’s command to go is every Christian’s responsibility and not just for a select few who receive a special “call.”
