Me: Where are you going?
Prodigal: To a meeting.
Me: Me too, I hope God will be there.
This is from the book Revolution in World Missions by K.P. Yahannan
One night while speaking at a church missionary conference, I was asked to meet privately with the church council to give my reaction to a new mission program they were considering. I already had preached and was very tired. I did not feel like sitting in a board meeting. The meeting, attended by 22 persons, began in the usual way, more like a corporate board meeting at IBM or General motors than a church board.
The presenter made an impressive, business-like proposal. The scheme involved shifting “third country nationals” from Asia to a mission field in Latin America. It was futuristic and sounded like a major leap in missions, but warning lights and bells were going off in my mind. To me it sounded like 19th century colonial missionary practice dressed in a different disguise.
The Lord spoke to me clearly: “Son, tonight you must speak to people who are so self-sufficient they’ve never asked Me about this plan. They think I’m helpless.”
When the chairman of the church council finally called on me to respond with my opinion of the proposal, I stood and read certain parts of Matthew 28:18-20: “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations….to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always….”
Then I closed my Bible and paused, looking each one in the eyes.
“If He is with you,” I said, “then you will represent Him–not just be like Him—but you will exercise His authority. Where is the power of God in this plan?”
I did not need to say much. The Holy Spirit anointed my words, and everyone seemed to understand.
“How often have you met for prayer?” I asked rhetorically. “How long since you have had an entire day of prayer to seek God’s mind about your mission strategy?” From their eyes it was easy to see they had prayed little about their mission budget, which was then in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The discussion went on until 1:30 in the morning, but a new sense of repentance in the room.
“Brother K.P. ” said the leader to me afterward, “you have destroyed everything we were trying to do tonight, but now we’re ready to wait on God for His plan.”
That kind of humility will bring the Church back into the center of God’s will and global plan. Churches today are not experiencing the power and anointing of God in their ministries because they do not have the humility to wait on Him. Because of that sin, the world remains largely unreached.
His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou has been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.
Matthew 25:21
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
