Missions Without Love Are Meaningless

There is the saying that you can't have the Great Commission without first obeying the Great Commandment. Mark 16:15 says, "Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature." It's good to have missions. It's good to talk about reaching out the lost. But one must first ask this question, "Are you obeying the great commandment?"

These verses talk about the Great Commandment:
Matthew 22:37-40
Jesus saith unto Him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with thy soul and with all thy mind. [38] This is the first and great commandment. [39] And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. [40] On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
Mark 12:29-31 
And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: [30] And thous shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy mind with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these. 

Why do we talk about the Great Commandment before we have the Great Commission? One could think about St. Paul and what he wrote the following as the first two verses of the great love chapter of the Bible:
1 Corinthians 13:1-2
Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. [2] And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.

This is the issue. Without love (or spelled as charity in the Old King James) all the preaching is meaningless. It does help to have a good sermon, a pastor who's knowledgeable and articulate is indeed an asset to the church. What one must take note is that it doesn't matter what gifts the pastor is entrusted to by God's grace but if the missions are not done out of love then it means nothing.

It would be stupid to think you won't make enemies during the missions. When you preach the Gospel of Christ then expect to have enemies who will hate you for telling them the truth (Galatians 4:16). Yet Jesus already instructed about loving your enemies instead of retaliating (Matthew 5:44, Luke 6:27-35). There's bound to be insults (which seldom is symbolized by a slap of one's face) but Jesus said to turn the other cheek (Matthew 5:39). It's not about putting yourself or neglecting self-defense. Rather, it's not about getting into the usual stupidity of fighting back when one's insulted or getting into a fight just because someone said something offensive. It's about letting go whenever the fight was all a matter of an angry exchange of words. Also, there are lawful ways to deal with a false accusation that could have harmed well-being but revenge is definitely not one of them.

The preaching of the Gospel should never be used as an intellectual debate or earning big bucks but as one who tells the truth out of concern for the lost. Christians are called to tell the Gospel truth to people without making adjustments. It's not about salesman evangelism. The comparison can be like doctor who must tell the sad truth about the sickness even if it offends - all the while the doctor's main concern shouldn't be profit but helping others. True, money is needed for both ministry and medicine but putting money above the lives of others isn't loving either. The truth must be lovingly told as one can always tell the truth without loving. Yet no one can be loving without telling the truth.

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