<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This article is the second in a three-part series looking at core principles of mission mobilization: ways to inspire God\u2019s people for their global destiny.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Part 1<\/a> reminded us that people around us pick up on our passions and watch our lives rather than just listening to what we say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Part 2<\/a> pointed out the importance of explaining the biblical basis for missions and the remaining task and engaging people through stories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now let\u2019s look at inspiring the heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When it comes to inspiring ourselves and inspiring minds, we see there are things we can do. But what about inspiring people\u2019s hearts? Brothers and sisters, we need to recognize that this is God\u2019s territory. He is the one who created the heart and who understands the heart even when we don\u2019t understand our own. And he is also the one who can change the heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And when it comes to missions, people often need a change of heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A man named A.T. Pearson said, \u201cChristians need conversion to missions as much as a sinner needs conversion to Christ.\u201d A bit shocking. What do you think? What is he trying to say here? One thing we already know about conversion to Christ is that the Holy Spirit does it. We don\u2019t save people! We can sow the seeds, but Holy Spirit converts. Could it be that the same principle is true in mission mobilization? Is it the Holy Spirit who brings that moment of revelation?<\/p>\n\n\n\n For a long time, I did mission mobilization with what you might call a secular humanist presupposition. Secular humanists have this idea that people are basically good. If a good person is doing something wrong, it\u2019s because they didn\u2019t get the right education. This is the thinking: if you give people the right information or training, they will do the right thing. Good information will lead to good choices and decisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But I discovered it didn\u2019t work. I would do a great job sharing information and nothing would change. Maybe more information is not the issue. When you look at the world today, there has never been more access to information, ever. We have so much at our fingertips. But has that allowed us to be better human beings? Do we see less war, injustice, corruption, and immorality? Even just looking at my own life: How many amazing books have I read? How much have they actually transformed my life? Information does not necessarily lead to transformation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We can make a lot of disciples who can give the right answers, but what they understand hasn\u2019t changed their hearts. We may find this in ourselves, too: We know what\u2019s important but don\u2019t live it out. I\u2019ve become convicted and convinced that I want to be a disciple who not only hears but also obeys the Word and applies it. It\u2019s so much more valuable to get a little bit of information and apply it and obey it than to get a lot and not apply it. The world needs disciples who act on what they know.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And this is where we need the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the one who adds revelation to the information we receive and brings it to our hearts so we can say, \u201cWhoa, that\u2019s for me.\u201d He helps us apply it in our life and gives us the ability to be transformed from the inside out, not just by stuffing our heads full of more information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It would be nice if we could just turn on a switch in our hearts (or someone else\u2019s) to have a burden for the lost, to really want to reach out to a group like the Fulani people of West Africa. But it turns out there is no switch like that. I can\u2019t flip the switch. What I can do is say, \u201cGod, can you give me some of your heart for the Fulani?\u201d When we do mobilization, we need to remember we can\u2019t give people a love for the lost, and they can\u2019t drum it up for themselves either. What we can do is tell people about the lost and our love for the lost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Often, in the past, if I did that and it didn\u2019t bring change, I would get frustrated and judge people. \u201cI\u2019ve told you this so many times! Why don\u2019t you care? Why don\u2019t you get it?\u201d Have you ever felt that way? That\u2019s another reason we need the Spirit\u2019s help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When it comes to evangelism, we\u2019ve been taught that our job is to sow the seed. As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 3:6, \u201cI planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow.\u201d It\u2019s also true in mobilization. We can tell stories, share information, and offer opportunities, but it\u2019s the Holy Spirit who can bring the mobilization equivalent of conversion, that \u201caha!\u201d moment when people say, \u201cOh! I have a part to play in the Great Commission.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is the way we\u2019ve been saying it at GlobalCAST Resources: Mobilization is to the Body of Christ what evangelization is to the unreached. The same principles that we apply in evangelism can inform how we do mobilization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This has been so helpful to me. I don\u2019t know about you, but in the effort to try to get people to care, I\u2019ve tried to do the Holy Spirit\u2019s job. And that\u2019s not a good idea. I may even try to use things like fear and guilt and shame to get people to do things. When we try to play Holy Spirit, it\u2019s just manipulating. It\u2019s ugly and it doesn\u2019t bring life. So we must let the Holy Spirit do His job. He will convict someone of a certain thing and then actually give the grace to respond to that conviction. So He\u2019s so much better at this than any of us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When it comes to evangelism, we know we need to pray because prayer can change hard soil to good soil that can receive the seed. Let\u2019s approach mobilization the same way. If there is hard soil where you\u2019ve been sharing this message and inviting people to do things in missions, and it\u2019s just not working, step back and give yourself to prayer. Ask God to make them ready to receive the message of missions. You are joining in with Jesus\u2019s mobilization prayer, \u201cAsk the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field\u201d (Matthew 9:38).<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019ve been emphasizing that mobilization is the work of the Holy Spirit. But I want to acknowledge that it\u2019s still a partnership. You can see this in the life of Paul. He\u2019s walking on the road to Damascus going to persecute some Christians when Jesus confronts him and mobilizes him to be the most amazing missionary to the Gentile world. Amazing!<\/p>\n\n\n\n But, let\u2019s not forget the role of Barnabas. Barnabas took a risk on this known terrorist and walked with him as a mentor and a coach. Barnabas was key to Paul becoming a missionary to the nations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We need many more men and women with the heart of Barnabas who are willing to come alongside and encourage rough, unpolished, future missionaries who still have flaws, to coach them and be patient with them and walk with them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some statistics show that out of every 100 young people who say, \u201cHere am I, send me to the nations,\u201d only three actually go. Hundreds say yes. Three will go. I\u2019m convinced that part of the problem is a lack of mission mobilizers with the spirit of Barnabas who will keep them going. We need you, mobilizers!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another principle for inspiring the heart comes across clearly in Matthew 6:21, which says, \u201cwhere your treasure is there, your heart will be also.\u201d We need to give opportunities for people to pray and give and volunteer. Because as they invest in something, their heart connects with that very same thing. Do not underestimate the value of giving people opportunities to pray and give. That may be what inspires their hearts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Steve is a friend of mine, a young man invited by the Holy Spirit to say yes to going to another nation. And he did say yes. I happened to have the privilege of coaching and mentoring him, of helping him take the next step, and encouraging him along the way. But it was very clear that I did not talk him into missions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Later on, he was working in an unreached area and had learned the language and everything. Then while they were praying and worshiping God highlighted another province that was very needy. And Steve said yes again and went. The Holy Spirit mobilized him to a new place. But even then, other leaders, friends, and coaches helped him form a team and face the challenges of pioneering. It\u2019s always a partnership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We need many more men and women who are willing to encourage others to go further and have more influence than they do, themselves. People like Barnabas. I think he is my favorite picture of a mission mobilizer in the New Testament. Be a Barnabas!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Could you use some training (or inspiration) as a mission advocate or mobilizer? GlobalCAST Resources offers an eight-week, online missions advocacy course through YWAM\u2019s University of the Nations. This article was adapted from a video presentation you can find on the GlobalCAST Resources website. See Inspire The Heart!<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n About Bevin Ginder<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Bevin is part of Youth With A Mission (YWAM) and co-founder of GlobalCAST Resources<\/a>. He loves to connect, equip, and coach missions leaders, mobilizers, and advocates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Follow GlobalCAST on social media for regular doses of inspiration.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Part 3: Inspire the Heart Bevin Ginder, GlobalCAST Resources This article is the second in a three-part series looking at core principles of mission mobilization: ways to inspire God\u2019s people for their global destiny. Part 1 reminded us that people around us pick up on our passions and watch our lives rather than just listening … Continue reading How to Inspire God\u2019s People for Their Global Destiny<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":11382,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11380","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-practical-mobilization"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11380","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11380"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11380\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11383,"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11380\/revisions\/11383"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11382"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11380"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11380"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11380"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Inspiring the Heart: What Does It Take?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Christians Need a Conversion to Missions<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Secular Humanism Says\u2026<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
We Have to Rely on the Holy Spirit<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
There\u2019s No \u201cHeart Switch\u201d<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Evangelism and Mobilization Have Something in Common<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Don\u2019t Try to Be the Holy Spirit<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Prioritize Prayer<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Consider the Mobilization of Paul<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Offering People Opportunities to Invest<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The Story of Steve<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Conclusion: Mobilizers With the Heart of Barnabas<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Going Further<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Contact them<\/a> to learn when the next course begins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n