The Hope of Heaven in the Hearts of Missionaries

What reward motivates missionaries to make great sacrifices for the sake of Christ? We might think first of the expectation that they will see the fruits of their labors in their lifetime. The work is hard, but the reward is imminent — right?

Forty years after her husband and four others were martyred, Elisabeth Elliot cautioned against hidden assumptions as she reflected on the fruit of evangelism that followed the men’s deaths. “There is always the urge to oversimplify. . . . We are tempted to assume a simple equation here. Five men died. This will mean x-number of Waorani Christians” (Through Gates of Splendor, 264).

Her warning exposes a lie many of us believe, one by which we attempt to keep some measure of control: Our painful afflictions are worthwhile because of the rewards we will receive in this life.

The instinct to be motivated by future reward is right. And hoping for temporal rewards in missionary labor has its place (see Acts 18:9–11). The question is, to what degree does the promise of heavenly rewards motivate us to stay the course?

Hope of Glory

In 1 Thessalonians 2:17–20, we learn about Paul and his missionary team being torn away from the church in Thessalonica. Paul emphasizes that this hardship couldn’t be alleviated by a quick return, for Satan hindered them. Paul could have lost heart, but instead he kept praying and laboring for the good of the Thessalonians — and he did so by looking to a reward yet to come:

What is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you? For you are our glory and joy. (1 Thessalonians 2:19–20)

Paul looked well beyond his present tribulations to the day when Christ returns. On that day, the church he was torn from and labored so hard to gain would be his glory and joy. He labored on in the midst of trials because he knew the future glory would make all of his anguish worth it.

Paul returns to the same theme in 2 Corinthians. After rehearsing his sufferings, he explains why he doesn’t lose heart in difficult ministry. He stays the course even though his “outer self is wasting away.” Why? “For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen” (2 Corinthians 4:16–18).

It wasn’t only the potential evangelistic fruit of his labors that kept Paul persevering. His confidence in a great future glory made his present sufferings appear like so many feathers.

Your heart will remain committed to the work of missions as you remain committed to rehearsing the future glories of heaven. If you labor only for imminent rewards, you will likely not last. But if you understand and live inside the reality that Christ will reward you for your faithful work when he returns, you’ll have what you need in the power of the Spirit to remain faithful as you labor to fulfill your calling.

“Paul labored on in the midst of trials because he knew of the future glory that would make all his anguish worth it.”

We already know how future glory motivates present sufferings. Think of the doctoral student pressing on through years of study because of the prospect of a career in medicine. Consider the cancer patient enduring chemotherapy in the hope of future health. Look to the laborer sticking to a mediocre job for decades because of the promise of a future pension. We all persevere in difficult tasks because we are motivated by the hope of future rewards. Sometimes we just need to be reminded which reward is ultimate and truly lasting.

Where and How to Look

To what rewards do we look? Crowns made up of the lives of fellow saints whom we’ve pointed to Christ. Redeemed bodies that no longer labor with thorns or thistles. Desires that no longer doubt, deny, or disobey God’s good commands. Unity among all the churches from all nations. Most of all, John assures us that when Christ returns, “we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2). Here is our greatest reward, to gaze with unhindered access on the greatness of the glory of God, who will be with us forever and always. These are the heavenly rewards that motivate sacrificial obedience on earth.

How can we work to guard our hearts and look with Paul to the hope of glory?

• Learn: Study the Scriptures to understand what motivated past saints. Read good books, like Jonathan Edwards’s Heaven Is a World of Love, that will make heaven less ethereal and more real.
• Meditate: Don’t just read. Let your thoughts linger over heaven’s realities. Let them sink from your head down into your heart.
• Sing: There is a litany of songs that we can sing both personally and corporately that comfort us with the hope of heaven. A few personal favorites are “On Jordan’s Stormy Banks I Stand,” “Jerusalem, My Happy Home,” and “Hark! I Hear the Harps Eternal.”
• Pray: Offer prayers of praise and thanksgiving for all that you are seeing about heaven. Then pray that heaven would come down now and forevermore.
• Counsel: From the pulpit to the pew, from the coffee shop to the local park, counsel one another in the coming realities of eternal glory. You don’t have to give a lecture; just regularly remind yourself and others that all is not wasted.

Through prayerful study and meditation, by God’s good gifts of song and fellowship, let the joys of heaven capture your heart in every season — when you can see the fruit of your ministry and when you can’t, when temporal rewards seem big and when they seem absent.

Solid Hope

In the aftermath of the loss of their husbands, Elisabeth Elliot and the other grieving widows had to explain to their small children that their fathers had died on account of their hope in the life to come. One of those children, Stevie, said, “I know my daddy is with Jesus, but I miss him, and I wish he would just come down and play with me once in a while.” Weeks later, Stevie’s little brother was born into a world in which he had no earthly father. As that newborn child cried, little Stevie picked him up and said, “Never you mind; when we get to Heaven I’ll show you which one is our daddy” (Through Gates of Splendor, 247). He knew the solidity of heaven is the best explanation and inspiration for not losing heart on the field of mission.

May it be the same for us all who are laboring to sow the good seed. Press in and press on, dear brother or sister. Your sacrifices for the gospel “[fill] up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions” (Colossians 1:24). They aren’t wasted. Soon and very soon, the eternal weight of glory will be honey upon your lips, and you will be glad you gave him your all.