Friends in Heaven: 7th Reason to Advance in Missions Today
March 23, 2010 – 3:58 pmIt is too small a thing that You should be My Servant To raise up the tribes of Jacob, And to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also give You as a light to the Gentiles, That You should be My salvation to the ends of the earth. (Isaiah 49:6)
There is an interesting parable in Luke 16 about the unjust steward. It is an example of the fact that things that can help and guide us can sometimes come from the most unlikely places. It also shows that we can at times learn things that are wise and true even from people who are otherwise sinful and disobedient. It might be good to take just a few minutes and reread the parable now (Luke 16:1-8).
Whatever else we may think about the unjust steward and his morals, one thing stands out to me. From the moment he finds out he is going to be leaving his first master’s house, he never gives another thought about the needs or demands of that master. All he thinks about is where he is going next.
Though his methods involve lies and forgery, when he is done he has made a lot of friends down the street, so to speak. He figures out how to take some of his former master’s money with him, even though he leaves his former job with empty pockets.
Jesus says an important thing in v. 9: “Make friends for yourselves by unrighteous mammon, that when you fail, they may receive you into an everlasting home” (Luke 16:9). We need to dissect this verse carefully.
“Make friends” in this context means winning people to the Lord here on earth, and the “unrighteous mammon” is simply the money of this world. “When you fail” is when you die, and if you have done what this verse says, then at that point those “friends” will be the “they” who are saved, waiting to welcome you into your “everlasting home,” heaven.
The message of this verse and parable is very simple. Use earth’s wealth to populate heaven. You know the old expression: “You can’t take it with you”? Well, you can. It just has to be handled correctly.
When I travel from one country to another, the money of the old country is no longer any good in the new one. I have to go to a currency exchange and change my old money into the money of the new place.
Missions is, simply put, a heavenly currency exchange. You are taking earth’s money and converting it into heavenly money, which is people, saved by God’s grace for all eternity.
Let me ask you something else. How many of you are still working hard to please the old master of this world, the world system, even though you know that at the end of your job (i.e., at the end of your life on earth) the world will kick you out penniless, with nothing to show for all your work?
Once you knew you were leaving (i.e., as soon as you were saved) was the time to stop trying to please the old boss and start thinking only of where you are going and how to maximize your profits in heaven. It is right to be a good worker, but do it for the benefit of your next boss.
Witnessing to the lost and helping missions is simply the best investment scheme for the future that has ever been devised. You can bank on that.
Glenn Kerr, guest author for the MM Blog, provides 10 reasons why local churches should advance in their effort to start indigenous church planting movements in regions that do not have a gospel witness.
Glenn J. Kerr is chief translation consultant for Bibles International, the Bible Society of Baptist Mid-Missions. He has worked as a consultant for 15 years, being involved with translation projects on five continents and about 28 languages.
He has a master’s degree in Hebrew and Semitic Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, has done graduate studies in linguistics at Michigan State University, and is currently in doctoral studies through the University of South Africa.
He teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in Bible translation and related linguistic subjects on an adjunct basis at three Bible colleges and universities in the US as well as his consulting work overseas.
