We just came through a three day jointly-supported missions conference at Piedmont and Salem. On Wednesday night Art Williams of Open Air Evangelism challenged our hearts with the vast need that still exists both in North America and overseas. As he moved toward the conclusion of his message, he drew a distinction between a missions conference and a missionary convention. He noted that at a conference, people often merely exchanged ideas on the subject at hand, while at a convention, material was presented to elicit a decision. This concept struck a resonant chord within my heart as my mind was catapulted back thirty-some years ago to a small Christian and Missionary Alliance Church, where we had annual Missionary Conventions that lasted from Sunday to Sunday. The opening night featured our children dressed in native costumes marching around the auditorium while the instrumentalists played A.B. Simpson’s well known missionary hymn, “A Hundred Thousand Souls a Day . . .” Throughout the week various missionaries showed their snake skins and other interesting curios while presenting impassioned pleas for the commitment of one’s life for the furtherance of the gospel. At the end of the week, it was not uncommon for the youth group to be lined across the front of the auditorium signifying, “Yes, I will invest my life in God’s service.” Now some thirty years later, I have to ask myself, where are the many who gave some semblance of saying, “Yes, I will . . .” Certainly, there were those God directed to stay home and invest their time, talents, and treasure in a local assembly so that others could go. Others found places of service as leaders of North American churches or in other venues of Christian ministry here in the States. A few took up the task and invested their lives in missionary service. Yet, many turned back, put off by the inconveniences demanded by a lifestyle of unabashed commitment. As I contemplate these matters, I am reminded of song written by Lanny Wolfe and sung by the LBC Chorale in the 1980’s. The words for the first stanza are duplicated below:

“Have I heard it for so long that it's just another song?
Has the story lost its thrill that I once knew?
Lord, give me a burden that’s so strong,
That it will last when my tears are gone
I’m tired of what I’ve been.
Lord, make me over again.
I’m so tired of being stirred about the lost who need to hear.
I’m so tired of being stirred that His coming is so near;
I’m so tired of being stirred till I cry bitter tears.
I’m so tired of being stirred but not being changed.”

The final stanza invites the Lord to step into our lives and rearrange things to suit His agenda, not ours. Perhaps, we need consider once again if we’re merely being stirred or truly being changed by all that we have heard.