“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” The Great Commission.
"In 1947, a young American minister named Bob Pierce traveled to China. What he encountered there shattered him. Orphaned children wandering streets bombed into rubble. Families torn apart by war and famine. The overwhelming suffering of a nation in chaos. But one moment changed everything.
A Chinese schoolteacher brought a little girl to him—a child she could no longer feed. With tears streaming down her face, she placed the girl in Bob’s arms. That night, overcome with grief and conviction, Bob Pierce wrote in his Bible words that would become the foundation of World Vision, one of the world’s largest humanitarian organizations:
“Let my heart be broken by the things that break the heart of God"
This was not sentimentality. This was not emotion for emotion’s sake. This was a man aligning his spirit with the very heart of the Almighty—a God who sees the suffering, who hears the cries of the oppressed, who acts on behalf of the helpless.
The question thundering from heaven today is this: Has your heart been broken lately?
Or have you become so comfortable, so insulated, so self-absorbed that the suffering of millions passes by your eyes like background noise on a television screen you’ve learned to ignore?"
The Great Commission given to every Christian is His or her mission.
Bob Pierce understood something that much of the modern church has forgotten: A Mission doesn’t start with a program. It starts with a broken heart.
When God looks upon this world, what does He see?
- He sees 8 million children who die every year from preventable diseases.
- He sees hundreds of millions living in crushing poverty, without clean water, without basic medical care.
- He sees the lonely elderly forgotten in nursing homes, yearning for a kind word.
- He sees teenagers contemplating suicide because they feel worthless and alone.
- He sees families torn apart by addiction, abuse, and abandonment.
- He sees the unreached peoples who have never once heard the name of Jesus.
And His heart breaks
When was the last time your heart was broken?
(Rev Noom Pastors the Christ Church, Bangkok. This is an excerpt from his power message. We will share more excerpts from this powerful message on Thursday. Contributed by a reader)
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