Is it wrong to have a negative motivation for the most important tasks in life? If we were honest, we would accept that some of our most important considerations are motivated by the potential of negative consequences. In our concern for human life, we prioritize safety. We wear seatbelts and buy cars with airbags because of what might happen if we didn’t have them. We check the ‘used by’ dates on food because we don’t want to get sick. We get lawyers to form legal wording that protects us from financial loss. We are creatures who constantly manage life because of the negative consequences of our Genesis 3 world.
For Christians, we know that the most significant consequence of a fallen world is being separated from God and under the condemnation of his righteous wrath. We know that this is the situation for all mankind outside of Christ and we know that if people do not hear and respond to the gospel, they remain under an eternal condemnation that they have no ability to change. If it were wrong to motivate by a negative consequence, then we should ask ourselves why the Apostle Paul does it. Rom 10:13-14 For "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." 14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? What Paul is saying here is that if we do not go out with the gospel, the people who do not hear it cannot call upon the Lord and be saved. How will they believe if they have never heard?
We don’t point the finger at Paul because he is putting some guilt trip on us. In fact, we know that for the great missionary Apostle there was so much more to mission than the negative consequences of human sin. As Paul continues in Romans 10, he makes us aware that Jews have indeed heard that gospel. They have had it all along and rejected it. Romans 11 shows us that God has all along purposed to graft into one tree both Jews and Gentiles who repent of sin and trust in the Son of God, Jesus Christ. God is truly in charge of his gospel that goes out to all nations even though originally rooted in one nation. There is one tree of life representing one people of God in Jesus Christ. In Romans 9-11, Paul leaves no doubt that this tree is planted, grown, grafted, and brought to full maturity by God. At the end of Romans 11, Paul makes this clear in one of the most powerful statements in all of Scripture. Rom 11:36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.
Even when Paul calls us to consider that people will not be able to find salvation if nobody goes to them with the gospel, Paul also shows us that his ultimate motivation for all of it is because every aspect of God’s mission is for God’s glory. Paul may use a negative consequence to move our feet, but he ultimately wants to move our heart because a Christian should be most concerned about what God is most concerned about – His glory. It’s not wrong to say that we need to go to the nations because people need to be saved. It’s just not the highest motivation a Christian can grasp. When it comes to gospel mission, our heart and our feet move best when God’s glory is our greatest motivation. If you feel the guilt of the importance of mission, why not try grasping the glory? God saves for his own glory, and nothing could be more glorious.
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