I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart.For [if it were possible] I would wish that I myself were accursed, [separated, banished] from Christ for the sake [of the salvation] of my brothers, my natural kinsmen, who are Israelites …
(Romans 9:2-4a, Amplified Bible)
 
Some Christians, especially from mainline denominations, are de facto universalists. They seem to believe I’m OK – You’re OK (to borrow the title of a 1969 self-help book). As long as a person is sincere and basically decent, he or she will go to heaven. All paths lead to God, they think. We evangelical Christians know better. When we consider people without Christ, we believe I’m OK – You’re not OK. But instead of sharing Paul’s passion for their eternal welfare, our attitude is too often I’m OK – You’re not OK but I don’t really care.  
 
For any missions work to succeed, whether as an individual or collectively as a church, we must care about the lost, and deeply. A. W. Tozer admonishes Christians to care, writing … 
 
The multitudes that were so dear to Christ shall not be less dear to me. If I cannot prevent their moral suicide, I shall at least baptize them with my human tears. I want no blessing I cannot share… Though I, through the grace of God in Christ, no longer lie under Adam’s sin, I would still feel a bond of compassion for all of Adam’s tragic race, and I am determined that I shall go down to the grave or up into God’s heaven mourning for the lost and the perishing.*
 
If honest self-examination reveals that I have a caring deficit, then the place to start is prayer, not self-initiated activity motivated by guilt. If I will faithfully pray for the lost – not just once, but regularly – then the Lord will teach me to care. When we care about the lost, as Paul did, reaching out to them in obedience to the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20) is natural and exciting.
 
Here are more missions-related topics for prayer this week:
 
I hope you heard about Calvary’s Summer Missions Outreach – AKA Vacation Bible School – at church yesterday. Whether you have young children at home or not, ask the Lord to show you a child to invite – perhaps the child or grandchild of a neighbor or friend – and to open the family’s heart to your invitation.
 
Calvary’s third annual Serve Day is coming up on April 23. Eight projects serving five community organizations are planned. Pray that enough people will sign up to fulfill the commitments our Missions Council has made.
 
Pray for Jim and Lynette Hatcher and their colleagues serving with Greater Europe Mission. These are trying times for Europeans that also offer opportunities for the gospel. Jim recently wrote, “The news has been full of the terror acts and threats in Europe these days. Thankfully, GEM missionaries in Brussels (whom I used to supervise) are doing fine. We are praying that these times would result in many here in Europe turning to the Gospel of hope, the Gospel of the resurrection. For Lynette and myself and our colleagues in Vienna, we are safe and not anxious. It is true that God has not given us a spirit of fear, (2Tim 1:7) even as we know that in some ways a sense of security is an illusion and always has been (whether here in Europe or anywhere).”   (Read the Hatchers' latest prayer letter here.)
 
The Mexican state of Baja California is in the process of passing new laws governing orphanages. Pray for the staff of Hacienda Victoria in Rosarito as they work to comply with the new regulations for the good of the children they serve.

In Christ,
Carol Gilbert, Prayer Chair
Calvary Community Church of Brea

* from an article entitled “Our Christian Obligation to Care” originally published in Alliance Life magazine