…So he got up and went… – Acts 8:27

The book of Acts chronicles the explosive growth of the early church. During this time, souls were being saved en masse as God manifested His power. But, one day, God pulled Phillip aside, telling him to leave his fellow apostles – and the tremendous work they were engaged in – to seek after one solitary soul on a desert road.

To the casual observer, such an instruction seems ludicrous. Why leave a throng of people longing for the truth, among whom so much good work for Christ can be accomplished, in search of one, solitary soul? Don’t the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one? In the human economy, most definitely. But in God’s economy, it often makes sense to leave the flock behind in search of one wayward sheep.

When we focus too much on a results-based approach to missions, we run the risk of leaving a single soul behind in our pursuit of the masses. Yes, we ought to cheer the missionary whose efforts produce dozens, hundreds, and even thousands of salvations in short periods of time. On the other hand, we need to pause before we poo-poo a missionary whose efforts seem unfruitful in comparison. God may have sent the latter missionary to a desert field where only one soul will be rescued from time to time. When that occasional soul is rescued, we ought to cheer just as mightily as we do the missionary who brings throngs to Christ.

In reality, it’s not up to the missionary to bring in throngs or to bring in solos for Christ. It is God who draws both the masses and the solos to Himself. All the missionary needs to do is be obedient to God’s call, no matter if that call leads him or her to a fruitful field or to an unfruitful one. In both cases, we ought to cheer the missionary on, for the missionary’s obedience will bring to Christ exactly the number of people Christ intends to draw unto Himself.

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