1

The Revolution of Love

2 The Revolution of Love
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The Revolution
of Love
Moulding Our Lives to Mirror God

George Verwer
 The Revolution of Love
by George Verwer

Copyright (c) 1989 George Verwer

The right of George Verwer to be identified as the author of this work has been
asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Acts 1988.

Scripture references are taken from The Holy Bible,

New International Version (NIV). Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica
 Contents

Acknowledgements 7
Introduction 9

1. The Revolution of Love 13

2. Spiritual Balance 45
3. A Wide-Open Heart 57
4. Real People, Real Power 81
5. Accepting Yourself and Others 99
6. New Generation—Unfinished Task 113

Bibliography 137

5
 Acknowledgements

The message of this book would not have been possible

without the dedication of my dear wife Drena, who has
stood with me now in the battle for twenty-nine years.
My thanks also go to my editor, Dr Ruth March,
for her tireless efforts to transform my spoken messages
into print.

7
 Introduction

This book is a collection of messages that were first given

in spoken form. Two are being republished, and the rest
have never been published before. Revolution of Love
was originally part of the ‘orientation material’ that was
given to young people joining Operation Mobilisation
for one-month summer campaigns in Europe in the
early 1960s, and reflects many of the early emphases
of OM. The emphasis on ‘Spiritual Balance’ came later
on in the ministry of OM, and these messages were
then published together in book form in 1977 under
the title Revolution of Love and Balance.
The name ‘Operation Mobilisation’ came from
the vision that God gave a small group of students from
Europe and America back in the late 1950s. We felt that if
Christianity was a spiritual revolution, a ‘revolution of love’,
then the important thing was to obey what the Lord Jesus
had told us to do in living for him and going and teaching

9
10 The Revolution of Love

people in all nations of the world to be his disciples. We

felt that many of the young people who in those days were
sitting in the large churches of the USA, Britain and Europe
could be mobilised to tell those who did not know about
the good news of Jesus Christ and the need for repentance
and a personal faith.
I felt strongly about the need for prayer and
evangelism because without the faithfulness of one
elderly woman in the States I would never have known
about the joy of knowing God in a personal way. I was
brought up in a home where such things were not talked
about. Then, one day, I received a Gospel of John through
the post. This Christian lady had seen me going to my
high school and had already started to pray that I should
become a Christian.
She had to pray for several years before anything
happened at all. Then, in March 1955, the evangelist
Billy Graham came to Madison Square Gardens. For the
first time I heard and responded to a clear message on the
salvation that God has made available to us through Jesus
Christ, and I surrendered my life to him.
Some people ask if that sort of decision of total
commitment can really last. I would like to tell you that
what happened to me that night so many years ago has
been a reality in my heart and life for every single day since.
I can assure you that it is not some late adolescent escape
 Introduction 11

from guilt, but it is a true, living and real experience with

God himself made possible through what Jesus Christ has
done on the cross.
When we presented the challenge of those who had
never heard to the young Christians of the western world in
the 1960s, they responded in their hundreds. Today, many
thousands of young people have spent time with OM, as it
is usually known, in one of the short-term or longer-term
options, and ‘OM graduates’ are found in almost every
Bible college or missionary society in the world.
The message contained in ‘A Wide-Open Heart’ was
first given to a group of OMers and other Christian workers
in Peshawar, Pakistan, early in 1988. The refugee crisis
in Pakistan means that Christians from many different
backgrounds and organisations are working together in
service and evangelism, so that a broad-minded attitude
is particularly important. We in OM have always taken a
strong stand against extremism, and this plea to be open-
hearted in the work of God reflects that view.
‘Real People, Real Power and New Generation—
Unfinished Task’ were messages from OM’s leadership
training conference at Birmingham in March 1988.
This conference is not primarily for OM leaders but for
young people in positions of responsibility in churches,
Christian Unions and Christian organisations. I feel that
these two powerful messages on discipleship and power in
12 The Revolution of Love

the Christian life, and on the challenge of mission in the

world today, are relevant not only to these young people
but to many in the church today.
Finally, ‘Accepting Yourself and Others’ is taken from
a seminar given to our local OM teams here in Bromley, in
the spring of 1988. This seminar helped to answer the need
of many people to learn to accept their own personalities
as God accepts them, and therefore to learn to accept other
people in the same way.
I share these messages with you with the hope that
as you study them it will help you to be a true spiritual
revolutionary for Jesus Christ.
George Verwer
Bromley, Kent
Chapter 1

The Revolution
of Love

JESUS CHRIST WAS A REVOLUTIONARY—the

greatest and most complete revolutionary this world has
ever known. Not a political revolutionary, but a spiritual
revolutionary.
And I believe that Christianity is a ‘revolution of love’,
a revolution that the Holy Spirit wants to bring about in
our hearts and lives as he radically changes the way that we
think and act. I am convinced that there is nothing more
important in all the world than this.
As we see the state of the church worldwide and
the state of many believers today, it is easy to become
discouraged. We look for discipleship; we look for those
who are working together in unity, in prayer, in power
. . .and we see quarrels and divisions, complacency and
mediocrity.
Many people are asking, ‘Why is the church in such a
state? Why is Christianity today making so little impact?’

13
14 The Revolution of Love

Some people think that somehow we have missed

some essential teaching or experience, and if we can only
rediscover this secret through new meetings and books,
deliverance and restoration will once again be brought to
the church.
Now it seems to me that it would not be very fair of
God to keep secret the most basic ingredient of Christian
effectiveness. And, in fact, I do not believe this ingredient
is a secret at all.

Let us look at Galatians 5:22–26:

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness, and self-control. Against such things
there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus
have crucified the sinful nature with its passions
and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us
keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become
conceited, provoking and envying each other.
The fruit of the Holy Spirit is love. But what does the
Bible mean here by love? In 1 John we find a clear and
simply–stated definition: God is love.
In other words, true love is from God. . .it does
not exist apart from him. We know that God is One.
Therefore, we cannot think of God the Father without
thinking of love; we cannot think of the Lord Jesus Christ
without thinking of love; we cannot think of the Holy
 The Revolution of Love 15

Spirit without thinking of love. There is no separation.

God does not send love. He does not manufacture it. God
is love.
Now that appears to be a very simple statement, but I
am convinced that only an extremely small percentage of
believers have really come to grips with this truth.

The Basic Message

This is, I believe, the basic ingredient that is largely lacking
in Christianity today, and the lack of it is the source of
most of our problems. It is the cancer that is eating away
at the church, but it is no secret. In fact, it is so non-
secretive that it is written on almost every page of the New
Testament. And yet, because our hearts are so hard and
cold, and because we are so self-centred, we do not see (or
we do not really believe) that the basic message of the New
Testament is love!
I am absolutely convinced that most of us miss this
most obvious and often-repeated message, even while
we are laying great emphasis on what is an ‘orthodox’
interpretation of the Bible; what is ‘biblical teaching’.
Well, I would like to ask, ‘What is biblical teaching?’
We have long discussions on the Second Coming, on
the meaning of the crucifixion, on the church, the
Holy Spirit, and so on. But what about love and humility
and brokenness? These usually go into a separate category,
16 The Revolution of Love

but I want to tell you that if your teaching does not include
love and humility and brokenness, then your teaching is
not biblical.
There are thousands, even millions, of people
who claim to be ‘orthodox Christians’ because they
cling to a certain set of beliefs in accordance with the
Bible. They are aware that they do not practice much
humility, but they do not think that makes them any
less orthodox. They are aware that they do not really
love other Christians (especially those who are different
from them), but that does not cause them to think their
teaching is not biblical.
They may admit that they know nothing of serving
others and considering others better than themselves,
and yet they consider themselves Bible-believing,
orthodox Christians.
They could not be more wrong! This is not
Christianity but a travesty of Christianity—thinking we
can be orthodox without having humility, thinking we can
call ourselves Bible-believing Christians though our lives
do not show love or the other fruit of the Spirit. In fact, I
believe that this is the greatest error that has ever hit the
church of Jesus Christ!
Teaching cannot be separated from practical living.
I cannot see Jesus Christ as some sort of split personality,
partly doctrinal and partly moral, trying to bring two
 The Revolution of Love 17

separate realms of truth into our minds. He is not on one

occasion satisfying our intellectual curiosity by teaching us
things about God, and in a separate exercise meeting our
moral need by trying to make us more like the character of
God. You cannot have a correct understanding about God
without wanting to live in a way that pleases God.
‘Oh,’ someone says, ‘there is a good, evangelical
Christian. . .he has a very good understanding of the
Bible. He doesn’t have much love for others and he’s not
very humble, but he certainly understands the Bible.’ I tell
you, he does not understand the Bible if he does not love
other Christians. What do we read in 1 John 4:8?
Whoever does not love does not know God.
There is no more biblical teaching than love, and apart from
love there is no biblical teaching. Love is the foundation
of all other biblical teachings, and you cannot build the
building of biblical truth without that foundation.

The Wise Man

Let’s turn to some verses that teach us a lot about this
revolution of love and how it works out in everyday life.
James chapter 3, beginning at verse 13:
Who is wise and understanding among you?
Well, who is wise and understanding among you? Is it the
person who knows all the answers? Is it the person who
has the solution to every problem. . .the one who always
knows which way to go, how to tell people about Christ,
18 The Revolution of Love

how to hand out literature? Is this the person who has true
wisdom? Possibly. But not necessarily.
The passage goes on,
Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in
the humility that comes from wisdom.
In other words, God says to the man who has the correct
theory and who knows what the Bible teaches, ‘All right,
let’s see it in your life. First, above everything else, let’s see it
lived out. If a man is truly wise, then he is truly humble.’
Reading on in James, we find that certain things
mean that a person cannot have true wisdom; just
‘spiritual cleverness’. ‘But if you harbour bitter envy and
selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or
deny the truth.’ If we show off our great knowledge and
understanding of the Bible, and yet our lives are not filled
with humility and love, but with bitterness and pride, we
are actually lying against the truth with our lives. And how
do you think non-believers feel when they see Christians
saying one thing and living another?
James goes on to explain bluntly where this false
‘wisdom’ comes from: ‘Such “wisdom” does not come
down from heaven, but is earthly, unspiritual, of the
devil.’ It must indeed please the devil with the damage it
can cause.

An Illustration
Let me illustrate this kind of ‘spiritual cleverness’ with
 The Revolution of Love 19

an incident that occurred in our work some time ago.

A team member made a mistake when doing something
practical. Naturally, one of his colleagues was keen to put
him right.
Very quickly he said, ‘This is wrong. You should
not have done it that way.’ The first team member said
defensively, ‘Well, I was told to do it that way.’ The second,
even more heatedly, said, ‘Well, I know it is not right. This
is what you should have done.’ And soon they had a full-
scale argument.
Later on, I was able to have a talk with the one who
claimed to be right. I said to him, ‘Do you still feel you
were right in that situation?’
‘Absolutely,’ he said. ‘I was right and everybody else
knows I was right!’ And, indeed, he had managed to
convince everyone else that he was right—not only on the
practical point but in the way he had acted.
Then I said, ‘Tell me, when you spoke to him, were
you controlled by the Holy Spirit or by your emotions?’
He stopped at that and thought for a minute. ‘Well,
I don’t suppose that I was really what you would call
controlled by the Holy Spirit.’
I said, ‘Well, then, you were controlled by your
emotions.’ He was a bit hesitant but said, ‘All right, I
admit that I was controlled by my emotions and not by
the Holy Spirit, but I was still right.’
20 The Revolution of Love

So I said, ‘But surely the Word of God says that those

who are controlled by their sinful nature cannot please
God!’ (Romans 8:8)
He wasn’t right! The way I think, the way I believe
Christ thought, the way I believe the New Testament
teaches, he was absolutely wrong in the way he had acted,
because even though he was telling what he believed to
be the truth, he was saying it without love, and the Bible
teaches that you cannot tell the truth without love and still
please God.
We ask, ‘Is it true? Is it theologically accurate? Is it
orthodox?’ And all the time God is looking at the state of
our hearts, and our lack of love for our brothers and sisters.
I believe that the curse of today is orthodoxy without love,
orthodoxy without power, orthodoxy, without the life of
our Lord Jesus Christ!
When we as Christians try to communicate in areas
that have been traditionally Roman Catholic or Muslim
or Communist, we must always remember that no matter
how right we are about an issue, the minute we act
without love, we are being controlled by our own nature
and not living in Christ, and that is sin. No matter how
much ‘truth’ comes from our mouths about the need for
repentance and faith in Christ, and about the inability of
any other religion or philosophy to bring people to God,
if it is spoken without love it will not please God.
 The Revolution of Love 21

That is what the Bible is saying in these verses.

This ‘wisdom’ that does not come with kindness and
gentleness and love is not wisdom. It is unspiritual, devilish.
Some of the most horrible and unbelievable situations can
arise in the church amongst those who have ‘lip truth’ but
do not live the truth.
The next verse says, ‘For where you have envy and
selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil
practice.’ Where there is no true love, where there is no
true wisdom, you cannot hope to have Christians working
together in an orderly way. In the work of Operation
Mobilisation we have seen again and again that no matter
how much people know about the Bible, if they are not
living it out in their lives there will soon be disorder,
confusion and pain.

Pure and Peace-Loving

True wisdom, on the other hand, will never bring
confusion: ‘But the wisdom that comes from heaven is
first of all pure’ (verse 17a). God’s wisdom is primarily not
orthodox, but pure. And whenever what we say, and do, is
not pure, then it is not from heaven, but is a mere earthly
‘spiritual cleverness’.
God’s wisdom is also peace-loving (verse 17b).
Alan Redpath says that when you know you are not
controlled by the Spirit, when you know you are a little
22 The Revolution of Love

upset, then just do not open your mouth! I like the way he
puts it: ‘At that moment, literally force yourself back into
the will of God.’ Force yourself back into the will of God,
and then speak. But never open your mouth when you are
not controlled by the Spirit, for no matter how hard you
try you will never speak with true wisdom.
How many times have you hurt someone because you
spoke too soon? Husbands and wives, how many times
have you hurt your partner because you did not keep
quiet a few minutes longer, until you were in control of
your tongue? I have lost count of the number of times I
could have kicked myself just because I did not wait a little
longer before I spoke.
James reminds us, ‘The wisdom that comes from heaven
is first of all pure; then peace-loving, [then] considerate.’
Considerate wisdom—gentle, the Authorized Version says.
I wish many young people would study this verse. It is easy
to be a ‘keen Christian’ when you are young—and we are
grateful for that. When you are young and energetic it
seems that the world is just waiting to be conquered in
the name of Jesus Christ. You cannot imagine why it has
taken so long.
But when we reach the age of thirty or thirty-five, or
after the first child has arrived, suddenly it becomes a bit
harder to raise the enthusiasm for yet another outreach
or yet another meeting. Suddenly we are a bit more
 The Revolution of Love 23

understanding of others and a bit slower to condemn

them for their apathy. Finally, we have to admit that so
often we have been working in the energy of our own
nature. Youthful energy! Youthful enthusiasm! But where
was the gentleness that should have gone with the energy?
Remember, the wisdom that comes from heaven is always
considerate of others.

How Do You Respond?

God’s wisdom is also ‘submissive’. Now this is an emotive
word. Does the Bible mean we should be some kind of
doormat for others to step on? Certainly not. In fact,
when you look a little more deeply into the meaning of
this word, you find that it could have been translated
‘easily persuaded’. So ‘submissive’ in this context means
that we should not be stubborn when we are wrong; that
we should be easily taught and corrected.
How do you respond when, for instance, you are
helping to make tea after a church meeting and someone
says; ‘Oh, you shouldn’t have used that water—it wasn’t
really boiling. Pour it all out and start again. And why
have you used these teaspoons? We always use the ones in
this box. . .’ Are you willing to be corrected?
Or what if you have been playing the guitar for your
music group in the morning service and someone comes
up to you and says, ‘That chorus you were playing at the
24 The Revolution of Love

beginning was much too slow. . .and I don’t like the one
we finished with, it’s too noisy for the older people. And
the way you were standing was all wrong, we couldn’t see
your face at the back. . .’ What would you say? You need
to be close to the Lord to accept criticism, however well
meaning it may be.
I believe that one of the greatest tests in the Christian
life comes when we are confronted with correction and
criticism. When we are criticised, rightly or wrongly,
then we must learn to lean not on other people’s opinion
of our work, but only on Jesus. Possibly that is why God
sometimes allows the props to be knocked from under
us, and puts us under fire in the form of criticism. We
need to learn to work only for his ‘Well done, good and,
faithful servant.’
This passage gives us some other ways to test true
wisdom. Next, James says, ‘the wisdom that comes from
heaven is. . .full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and
sincere.’ Full of mercy—towards those who are weak,
those who are insecure, those who have done wrong; full
of mercy and full of the fruit of the Spirit. It is impartial
and sincere; without hypocrisy.
This is true biblical teaching—truly orthodox
belief. And I pray that if anyone can show me that this
is wrong thinking or that I am misinterpreting the
New Testament, and that it is possible for me to
understand the Bible without peace, purity, gentleness,
 The Revolution of Love 25

and so on, that they will show me. But please do not
try to tell me that some Christian you know has a good
understanding of the Bible but a miserable, loveless life,
because I will just not believe you. Biblical teaching and
true, God-given wisdom always comes with a Bible-
linked life. And all true Christian work will reflect this
partnership of biblical teaching and biblical living.

Explosive Message
Perhaps the clearest explanation of what is meant by
the ‘revolution of love’ is found in 1 John 3. This letter
is so loaded with revolution and dynamite that, if taken
seriously, it makes the writings of Karl Marx look like a
damp squib.
I will never forget a young, red-hot Communist
who came into our Operation Mobilisation office in the
North of England many years ago. We read this letter
with him and showed him the teachings of Jesus, and
two weeks later he got down on his knees in the kitchen
and gave his life to Christ. I tell you, the message of
1 John could have been written yesterday, so relevant is it
to today’s generation!
Now let’s see what God says to us through 1 John
3:11:
This is the message you heard from the beginning:
We should love one another.
What are we as Christians trying to get over to people?
26 The Revolution of Love

Sometimes it seems that our first message is ‘believe’.

Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved. Believe in
the Lord Jesus and afterwards everything will be fine. But
when I read the word ‘believe’ in the New Testament, I
find something that is like an atomic bomb. When a man
really believes in Jesus Christ, it is revolution becoming
operative, a revolution of love. You cannot separate the
one from the other.
We know that true belief must include repentance. But
what does ‘repent and believe’ really mean? Does salvation
come when we first believe, or only when we have shown
God the evidence of our changed lives? The Bible teaches
clearly that salvation comes through faith alone. But real
belief brings revolution. It results in a changed life. There
is no such thing as real belief which does not change the
believer. ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus and you will be saved.’
Doing good will never save you, no matter how hard (or
long) you work, or how much you achieve. But when you
have believed, you are going to do good as a result, because
the Holy Spirit, who lives in you as a Christian, wants to
do good through you.

The Holy Spirit

Many years ago, when the gifts of the Holy Spirit were not
talked about in most churches as freely as they are now, a
friend came to me with stories of wonderful experiences
 The Revolution of Love 27

some people had had in the Holy Spirit. I have to admit

that I was a bit sceptical. I asked her, ‘When the Holy Spirit
works in such a mighty way, shouldn’t the people who have
had such experiences afterwards be filled with love and joy
and peace? Shouldn’t they leave everything they have for
Christ’s sake, as we are told the early Christians did in the
book of Acts? Shouldn’t they even be willing to lay down
their lives for others?’
Now I think my friend knew perfectly well that not
all the people who had had these experiences ‘in the Spirit’
showed the evidence of a ‘revolution of love’ in their lives,
and that some Christians who did show this evidence
had never had this sort of experience. So she said to me,
‘Sometimes the Holy Spirit comes just to give us joy and
a wonderful experience of blessing.’ I said to her, ‘You
mean that sometimes the Holy Spirit comes apart from
his holiness?’ And she had no answer to that.
I strongly believe that all Christians should seek to be
filled with the Holy Spirit. But I tell you, the Holy Spirit
does not come apart from his holiness. The emphasis is
not on ‘Spirit’ but on ‘Holy’, and he cannot divide up his
gifts and his character. Therefore, it is possible to measure
people’s true depth of experience with the Spirit (although
it would be more correct to say the Spirit’s experience with
people) by the way that they live day by day.
28 The Revolution of Love

You cannot separate the word ‘believe’ in its biblical

context from the word ‘love’. Don’t try! How many men
are there in our churches, leaders some of them, who speak
to a congregation from the Word of God, but in their
homes know nothing more about loving their wives than
the man in the next house who cannot stand his! And they
go on and on, continuing to think they are spiritual men
with just a besetting sin of not being able to really love
their wives. I find this absolutely heart-breaking! To me it
is completely incompatible to say that you are a spiritual
person and then not be able to get on with your family or
even your neighbour!
If your ‘besetting sin’ is that you cannot love people,
you are in serious trouble. I do not mean to say that it
will always be easy to love people, or that you will not
have battles about it. In fact, you will find that the devil
will fight you tooth and nail in this area, often twenty-
four hours a day. But this should not discourage you,
for the Word of God clearly teaches that we are to love
one another.
We cannot have fellowship with God without
having fellowship with our brothers and sisters in
Christ. We cannot love God without first loving our
fellow-Christians.
Look at 1 John 4:20:
If anyone says, “I love God,” yet hates his brother,
 The Revolution of Love 29

he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his

brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God,
whom he has not seen.
The popular idea today seems to be that if we love God
enough, we will eventually love our brothers and sisters in
Christ. But this is not what the verse says. It states clearly
that if there is any brother or any sister who we do not
love, actively, operationally, then our relationship with
God is seriously wrong.
I am convinced that many of our prayers do not get
any higher than the ceiling because of our lack of love and
hardness of heart. If some of the prayers we hear in prayer
meetings today were being answered, the world would
have been evangelised long ago. Fantastic things are asked
of God. ‘Lord, we claim this country for you.’ ‘We believe,
Father, that you will open a way into China.’ ‘Lord, we
trust you to bring a hundred new people to the meeting
tonight.’ And on and on we go, and yet all the time there
are other Christians in the same prayer meeting whom
we cannot stand. Oh, not that we don’t love them. . .we
would just rather not sit next to them. Of course we don’t
hate them—it is just that our personalities conflict!

Love Your Enemies

There are dozens of watered-down phrases for not loving
other people. ‘Oh, I love him in the Lord, but I don’t like
his mannerisms. . .Susie is all right, but she is so hard to get
30 The Revolution of Love

to know. . .So-and-so has emotional problems, and such-

and-such comes from such a difficult background. . .’
In the sight of God it is all hypocrisy. God never
said in the Bible, ‘Love your brother if he is a keen
Christian, well-dressed, a good evangelist. . .and if he
gets on with you.’ No! In fact, Christ told us in the
Sermon on the Mount that real love does not begin
until we love our enemies!
This whole concept of loving our enemies is,
for the average person of today, nothing but an out-
dated theological phrase, so impossible for human
nature to attain that it is often not taken seriously even
among Christians.
We know so little of it, so little of really loving people
who cannot tolerate us, who speak evil of us, spite us, do
not like us, or the way we operate. Christians who live in
cultures that are opposed to all Christian work and often
all foreigners must learn the hard way what loving their
enemies really means, if they are to go on loving even
those who persecute them for Christ’s sake. Meanwhile we
in the West often cannot love even the people around us,
who do us no harm at all!
Some time ago, someone told me flatly that he loved
everybody. I said to him, ‘I find that hard to believe.’ But
he was insistent that he loved everybody. Now I happened
to know of at least one person to whom he didn’t bother
 The Revolution of Love 31

to say ‘hello’ in the morning. He could pass this person

several times a day, never showing kindness—not a smile.
So I mentioned this person’s name and asked ‘Do you
really love him?’ He said, ‘Of course I do. Well, I mean, I
love all the believers.’
It was all in the head! There is no love without action.
Potentially that Christian may have loved everybody.
Theoretically he may have loved everybody. But it was
not a reality.

God’s Work
Who is it that brings about this revolution of love? When
you became a Christian, the Holy Spirit of God came to
live within you, with all his potential for this tremendous
life of love. The Holy Spirit is there, just waiting to take
possession of you and make you more loving. He is just
waiting to move you to volunteer to do some shopping for
the older people in your church, or to help clean out the
gutters. But what happens? Our pride, stubbornness, and
self-centredness soon get in the way and stop the action of
the Holy Spirit in our lives.
Jesus Christ said, ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’
Now, it’s very nice that we Christians have been given the
truth. But what has been the result in the practical realm?
What has it been in India, for instance? Certain missionaries
went with their heads in the clouds, taught, ‘Love your
32 The Revolution of Love

neighbour as yourself, but then shut themselves away from

the people in their missionary compounds, and put locks
on all the doors. And in Africa, what have been the results?
Well, in many places, the missionaries have said, ‘We love
our neighbours as ourselves. But, well, the coloured people
had better use the back doors, and clean the houses, and be
the nannies for the little white children.’
What, then, does all this talk about love really mean?
‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ Well, how do you love
yourself? How did you love yourself this morning? You
got out of bed groggily, wiped all the sleep out of your
eyes, went to the mirror and said, ‘Oh, how I love you!
You are so wonderful; I love you, I love you, I love you so
much!’ Did you? Well, if you do that too many mornings
someone might call in a psychiatrist for you. That is not
the way we love ourselves! That is the way we love our
neighbours. ‘The Lord bless you, dear brother. Yes, yes, the
Lord bless you. The Lord do wonderful things for you!’
We sign our letters ‘love in Christ’ and think, ‘Well,
that’s another one out of the way.’ But that is not the way
we love ourselves. Perhaps we can understand love better
if we use the word ‘care’. You have been caring for yourself
all day long, ever since this morning when you woke up
and your self-love automatically went into action. You had
a wash, maybe used a few creams and lotions, and put on
the proper amount of clothes to keep your body warm.
 The Revolution of Love 33

Shortly after getting out of bed, you had a little pain in

your stomach—very slight, but enough to get you into
action. Immediately you started toward the kettle and the
cereals and bread and jam.
If you are really honest you will probably have to say
that as you came to the table you were not wondering if
you could make some coffee or tea for anyone else, or if
you could make a start on the washing-up. No. You sat
down, and, noticing that there was no margarine on the
table, you began to look for some in the fridge. You were
taking care of yourself automatically.
I am not saying that this is wrong. Neither does Jesus.
It is wonderful that Jesus knows all about us; all about the
human mind. If we could only grasp this truth, we could
burn most of the psychiatry books in a big rubbish bin.
God doesn’t say that you should not love yourself. But
he does say that you should love your neighbour in the
same way as you love yourself. He does not say that you
should not have breakfast, but he does say you should be
concerned about your neighbour’s breakfast as well.
I pray that the Spirit of God will show you what this
revolution of love really is—what it means to obey the
command of Jesus Christ to love your neighbour from the
time you get up in the morning until you go to bed at night.
Only this will make an impact on such a materialistic age as
this one! Our books and leaflets will not do it. Our Bibles
34 The Revolution of Love

will not do it. Jesus said, ‘All men will know that you are
my disciples if you love one another.’ Not if you know
all about the Bible and are fired with great enthusiasm.
No! They will know it if you love one another. This is the
greatest challenge in the Word of God—to love people as
Christ loved them, to love them as we love ourselves, to
care for people as we care for ourselves.

Surrendering Everything
The only logical outcome of such love is to surrender
everything to God. I believe that when someone falls
in love with Jesus, it can be compared in some ways to
a young man falling in love with a girl he has dreamed
about all his life. The day they are married, he transfers his
bank account and puts it in her name, and he takes out an
insurance policy in her name. In other words, because he
loves her, he gives her all he has.
A lot of Christians have trouble with this sort of
teaching. Anything that involves money or possessions is
very sensitive, and I do not want to judge or condemn
anybody. Christians have very different ideas about what
is meant by ‘stewardship’ of money and possessions and
what is meant by ‘giving up everything’. One Christian
will sell his home and give the money to missions or to
the poor. Another will keep a beautiful home and use it to
show others the gift of hospitality.
 The Revolution of Love 35

I am not saying that God cannot use your possessions

for his work and for his glory, once they have been
surrendered to him. But I am saying that we must first
give all control of our possessions and our money to God.
I know that it is difficult. Often we hold back because we
have not yet learnt to trust God with our whole lives. It
is easy to sing ‘Jesus, I love you,’ and hard to hand over a
bank account. I believe that often those who hold back
have not yet fallen in love with Jesus Christ. Once our
relationship with him is right, we are no longer afraid of
his control. Then we can lay everything at his feet.
The man who does not know the joy of giving has
not yet begun to live, for it is, just as the Bible says,
more blessed to give than to receive. It is a revolutionary
principle of life that our greatest joys come from giving.
It is completely contrary to our human nature. By nature
we grasp everything to ourselves and we become the
centre. But when we become Christ-centred, it is just like
a centrifugal force, like a whirlwind throwing everything
outward and leaving Christ alone, our one supreme love.
‘Love your neighbour as yourself,’ said Jesus. And on
another occasion he illustrated in the parable of the Good
Samaritan who he meant by our neighbour and what he
meant by love. Care for your neighbour as you care for
yourself. That is why I find it hard to eat breakfast without
praying for India, why I find it hard to take a piece of
36 The Revolution of Love

bread and a sip of tea without a pain in my heart for those

who have no food.
We who claim to have the truth, we evangelicals,
we Bible-believers, have become hardened to the need of
mankind. In recent years movements like ‘Live Aid’ and
‘The Race Against Time’, which are not even specifically
Christian, have overtaken many Christian groups in
mobilising aid for the starving in Africa and Asia. Sometimes
I feel ashamed of the complacency of Christians, while
these young people are making such efforts. If I asked you
to distribute leaflets and promised to give you five pence
a leaflet, how many leaflets would you give out? If I said
I would give you £50 cash for every person you bring to
Jesus Christ, maybe you would be motivated to go out and
tell others about the gospel a little more! Is this really the
way we should react? We all know it is not. No one can
put a value on a soul.
We need to see where we are before God. Look at
1 John 3:14:
We know that we have passed from death to life,
because we love our brothers. Anyone who does
not love remains in death.
That is quite blunt, isn’t it? You say, ‘Oh, but I have been
born again.’ But how were you born again? Putting your
hand up in a gospel meeting did not make you born again.
Saying ‘Jesus, I believe in you’ did not make you born
again. You were only born again and freed from spiritual
 The Revolution of Love 37

death when you repented of your former lack of love and

trusted in Jesus to give you his Holy Spirit, to produce his
fruit of love in your heart for your brothers and sisters.
There are many people in our churches today who
have made so-called decisions at some time in their lives,
who have claimed to be Christians for many years and
yet have never showed any evidence of repentance and
whose lives are filled with a bitterness and a lack of love
towards other Christians. This is a delusion—the largest,
most detestable sugar-coated pill the devil ever gave out!
There is no conversion without revolution. There is no
conversion that does not produce the seed of a loving life,
tiny though it be in the beginning.
Look at verse 16:
This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ
laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay
down our lives for our brothers.
This is how we know God loves us. This is how we know
the love of God, the way we perceive it, the way we
understand it. He laid down his life for us. He died for us;
he did something. He did not sit up in glory and sing, ‘My
earthlings, I love you, I know you are mine.’ He did not do
that. That is what we do. We sit in our meetings and sing,
‘My Jesus, I love you,’ and yet often we are not on speaking
terms with the man in the seat beside us. Anyone who can
sing that without going out from that meeting to show
love in his life has passed through a religious pantomime
38 The Revolution of Love

that is an insult to almighty God. And I am convinced that

the world will never be evangelised unless we experience
the love of God in our hearts towards others!
Now I am not going to give you some sort of list of
steps to take so that you can experience the love of God.
There are no short cuts in the Christian life. I am not
going to tell you about some new gift or prayer style or
experience that will lead you closer to God. These things
have their place. But the first step to being filled with
God’s love is to want it! Want to be like Jesus! Want to
know this life-changing love! Want him with a spiritual
hunger that will get you so absolutely starved for God that
eventually through knowing him, his love will be poured
out into your life!
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst
for righteousness, for they will be filled.”
(Matthew 5:6)
It is a universal law that when you want something badly,
whether it is good or bad, if you continue to crave that
thing, desire for it will take hold of your subconscious
mind and eventually you will be motivated to get it. How
many times has it happened that someone has asked you
the name of a person and you have said, ‘I have his name
right on the tip of my tongue. . .now what is it?’ You were
motivated to want to know that name. You tried again,
‘What is that person’s name?’ And again, ‘Now what is
his name?’ And then you forgot about it for a while. You
 The Revolution of Love 39

thought you had forgotten about it. But you had fed a
wish into your inner being, into your subconscious mind,
and the wheels started going. Ten minutes later, completely
without conscious effort, what came into your mind? The
person’s name!
This hunger, this deep craving, can be used for evil
as well as for good. Many years ago a young university
student in Texas called Charles Whitman went up into
a tower on the university campus one day and began to
shoot people at random. This thought had come into his
mind many times before. He had even mentioned it to his
psychiatrist. But I am sure that the first time it occurred
to him he was shocked and thought, ‘I could never do
anything like that.’ Nevertheless, the thought continued
to come to him more and more frequently. He suppressed
it and suppressed it until finally it took possession of him
totally and he was powerless against his craving.
This is what happens when you crave something. Every
time you want something that is not of God, you sow
a thought. Maybe you have a desire you wouldn’t admit
to your best friend or your husband or wife. Maybe it is
new clothes, maybe it is marriage, maybe it is recognition.
Perhaps it is even something legitimate, if God were to
give it to you. But the craving is so strong in you that you
begin to think, ‘Other people have it’ and the seed of envy
40 The Revolution of Love

is sown in your heart. And then you think, ‘Why can’t I

have it?’ and the seed of bitterness is sown.
Probably all of us have had thoughts like that at one
time or another. But remember that if you go on allowing
these thoughts to have possession of your heart and mind,
they will take control of you. Soon the things of God will
start to mean less and less to you, and in the end God may
let you have your desire. But at what price?

Brokenness
In the same way I am convinced that if you want a life
of love, if you want to be conformed to the image of
Jesus Christ, if you want to join that remnant of people
who are fed up with words, hymns and hypocrisy, if you
want reality and revolution in your life, then you will get
it. If you are starved for such a life, then you will get it.
‘Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.’
It will take time. Perhaps you have heard this before
and you say, ‘Last year I heard a message like this and I
prayed and wept and rededicated myself before God. I
said, “Lord, I want to be loving, I want to be humble, I
want to be gentle, I want to be a servant.” And now you
look back at the past year, and it is not very impressive. Do
not be discouraged. What God wants of us is brokenness.
He wants us to realise that in our own nature we cannot
 The Revolution of Love 41

please him, that we cannot love our brothers and sisters,

that from the time we get up in the morning until we go
to bed at night we live a life of utter selfishness, except
when God interrupts us. Do you want this? Do you want
to know something of loving your enemies? Do you want
to know something of being a servant, something of being
easily taught and corrected, of weeping for people who are
without food and without Christ?
I will never forget a one-day campaign we had
in Bombay, when we were challenged to distribute
half a million Christian leaflets in one day. After we
had distributed some four hundred thousand leaflets
throughout the day, we then had a meeting in the evening.
And as we closed that meeting we said that if anyone was
motivated to go back into the streets with leaflets, we still
had a few left—about a hundred thousand! There were
several volunteers. I had absolutely no desire to go out that
night with more leaflets. It was 11 pm, we had started the
day at 5 am, and I had worked through the night before
on the maps of the city. I was tired. I did not feel any love
tingling through me. And as I started out, I just had to
stop where I was and turn my eyes towards Jesus. I saw
him walking an extra mile for me—I saw him going up
Calvary’s hill to the cross for me. That was love! It was not
cheap sentiment. It was not a letter signed, ‘I love you’. It
was action. And I said to myself that if Jesus could go the
42 The Revolution of Love

extra mile for me, then surely he would help me go the

extra mile for those others whom he loved. Love is action!
‘If you love me, keep my commandments.’
We went out into the streets of Bombay again,
and around midnight I could see for about a quarter
of a mile in front of us thousands of men and women
sleeping on the pavement. I’ve never before seen such a
sight in my life. I had two big bags filled with leaflets,
and for the first time in my life, I went from bed to bed,
giving out leaflets!
This world in which we live is a sick world. It is a
world of misery and tragedy such as most of us cannot
begin to imagine. Millions are sleeping on pavements,
starving to death, knowing nothing of the love of God for
them. The church sings, ‘My Jesus, I love you’. And at the
same time a couple of thousand of people a day slip away
into eternity. And we say that we love them. I say we don’t.
If we loved them with Christ’s love, we wouldn’t stop until
we had sold a million books and distributed a hundred
million leaflets and laid down our lives in every kind of
service and action to help them. And as we did it, our tears
would bathe these lost souls. I know too little about it. I
have wept little over souls and much over my unloving
heart. But I can say right now before God, ‘I want it! You
can take all that I have! You can take my family (and I do
not say this lightly), but I want a lift of love! I want God!’
 The Revolution of Love 43

If you can say this with me, I believe that God will
answer you! But if what you want is not God but Christian
service, Christian activity, or Christian fellowship, no
matter how good those things may be, then I do not
believe you will ever be truly satisfied.
Lord, we cry to you to teach us to love, to break
us of self, pride, stubbornness, that the love of
Christ, poured out into our hearts through the
Holy Spirit, might be operative daily, hourly,
moment by moment.
We cry to you to teach us to love our enemies, to
love our critics, not in word, but in deed also. We
cry to you that we want this life of love, and we
want you, for you are love!
Amen.
Chapter 2

Spiritual Balance

LEARNING ABOUT THE REVOLUTION of love is

something that is essential for all Christians, whether they
have been following the Lord for five days or fifty years.
Learning about the principles of spiritual balance is part
of growing up as a Christian—moving towards spiritual
maturity. In spiritual balance, biblical passages that give
different aspects of the truth are kept together; not being
watered down, but seen in context and in the perspective
of God’s whole revelation.
Spiritual balance, like spiritual revolution, is
something that must be real for each one of us. If we
only understand the principles of it in our heads, then
our discipleship will not withstand the test of time and
suffering. I am completely convinced that discipleship is
not just for ‘full-time’ Christian workers. Discipleship is
for every believer. Discipleship is not just for people who
are living in a Christian community or a Bible college.

45
46 The Revolution of Love

It is for believers everywhere. Discipleship is not a set of

rigid rules. The principles of discipleship are more flexible
and adaptable than many of us would dare to admit.
The unreal expectations of a few Bible verses taken
out of context can lead people into spiritual frustration.
Only by balancing one strong biblical truth with another
will we come to spiritual reality.

Flexibility
The first area of conflict which often arises with keen,
young Christians is that of flexibility; how much to try
to convince others of the great teaching they may have
received or the great experiences they have had, and how
much simply to accept all Christians as they are. This is
a conflict that may appear when young Christians have
been for their first period of training with Operation
Mobilisation; or their first term with a college Christian
Union; or their first Bible conference. Naturally, they may
come back brimming with ideas to their home churches
and begin to tell much older Christians just where they
have been going wrong and how they should change. And
just as naturally, the older Christians may react with some
resentment.
This is a situation in which the need for balance is
obvious. It is good for young Christians to have strong
beliefs, and to be constantly learning and sharing what
 Spiritual Balance 47

they have learnt. But what happens when others are not
so keen to listen?
As disciples of Christ, our chief rule must always be
love, and love brings with it sensitivity to the needs of
others. When we are in a church meeting or a committee,
and we find ourselves disagreeing violently about some
matter of priorities or finance or church politics, and we
feel the anger welling up within us, love restrains us. Love
causes us to think before we speak. Most of us realise our
tongues run faster than our brains, and that this can get
us into trouble. True disciples are adaptable and flexible,
although they do not compromise their beliefs.
If you spend time working with any Christian group
you may find that you build up strong convictions on
minor issues, just because that is the way that group does
things. But if you then go on to join another group, or
return to work in your local church, you may find they
have different convictions on these points, or that they
do not consider these things important. This can become
very frustrating, and may place a barrier between you
and your new area of work and Christian service, unless
your attitude is one of spiritual balance. Unless you are
flexible, adaptable and loving, you will not be able to fit
into another fellowship easily.
There is nothing wrong with having strong
convictions, so long as we remember that we are still
48 The Revolution of Love

learners. A humble attitude will stop us thinking that we

have the answers to every situation, and make us flexible
to the convictions of others.
God uses men of completely opposite convictions.
There is one man of God who visited us on the MV Logos
once to do some preaching, and during his sermon smoked
a pipe all the time. Now this is something that most of us
involved in OM would find completely unacceptable. Yet,
although he believes and acts differently to us, he is a man
who is being wonderfully used of God.
God is so great and so mighty that he will always
carry on the work of his kingdom, and he will use people
despite their mistakes, weaknesses, and even wrong ideas
and mirror beliefs. Sometimes we will have to say; ‘Others
may, I will not.’ This is very different to saying, ‘I will
not, so no one else will either!’ which is using our own
weaknesses to judge and condemn others.

Work and Rest

Another area in which Christians often have great difficulty
is the need to strike a balance between working as hard as
possible, and yet leaving time to be relaxed and rested. The
importance of relaxation is becoming more recognised
today. There have been too many Christians, especially
leaders, whose ministry or families have collapsed under
the strain, simply because they never learned to relax.
 Spiritual Balance 49

Some Christians think that there is too much to do to

relax; that if they are truly disciplined they should be able
to work all the time. But this is not the way God has made
us. A time of relaxation helps us to build up our physical,
emotional and spiritual strength and power so that we can
then go on to accomplish more in a week than we would
otherwise have done in a month.
Different people relax in different ways. Some people
need complete separation from work to relax. Some need a
week’s holiday every so often, others can just take off a few
hours, while others can just change from one sort of work
to another. Some people’s attitude to work is much more
relaxed from the start, and they never become so uptight
as some others. We need to realise that it is God who is in
charge, and that we are not indispensable.
When we can trust God enough to relax, we will
become more, not less, disciplined. It is easy to produce
a false discipline, working ceaselessly, and being present
at every meeting, just to impress others. This sort of
attitude should never be encouraged. God, who looks at
the heart, knows whether our work is first of all for him
or for other people.
It is self-discipline that will last, not some discipline
that is imposed by others. Of course there are times
when we need to accept the discipline of the church or
community. This is only part of our own self-discipline.
50 The Revolution of Love

And of course there will be times when we fail and fall

short of our own standards. But I know of no better way
of learning than through failure.

Concern and Inner Peace

To be able to learn through failure takes another area of
balance; the ability to balance concern and inner peace. It
is good to be concerned that things are done in the right
way and that people are living in the right way, but it is
not good to have unhealthy anxieties. If we know that
we are working with God and that he is in control, it is
possible to have peace within ourselves when other things
are going wrong.
Without an inner compulsion to get things done
in the best possible way, many Christian leaders would
not achieve what they do for God. But that compulsion
must not become an obsession; it must be kept under
God’s control.
If we do not learn to have inner peace when things
go wrong, we will become impatient with those around
us. Look instead at how the Lord Jesus dealt with his
stumbling, fumbling disciples. They said and did many
stupid things, but he did not become impatient with
them, but forgave them everything.
 Spiritual Balance 51

Perfection Through Failure

When we learn to have inner peace because we know we
are complete in God’s own Son, we will be able to obtain
a balance between aiming at perfection and coping with
failure. To be perfect should be the aim of every true
Christian: to live a life in the Spirit, not to offend anyone,
to love everyone as Christ loves us, to do all things in the
right way and to glorify God in our every action.
But each of us must also learn to accept failure,
especially our own failures, mistakes and shortcomings.
We must know what to do when we fail. Wallowing in
‘repentance’ that is mostly made up of self-pity is not
the answer, for it merely paralyses our effectiveness. We
refuse to get on with the work of God, imprisoning
ourselves in a self-imposed purgatory, while the devil
chuckles with delight.
Avoiding failure is not the answer either. Many
Christians are so afraid of failure that they simply lower
their aims. ‘We won’t have a prayer meeting in case nobody
comes.’ ‘We handed out leaflets last year and someone
laughed at us, so we won’t do it again.’
To be afraid of failure in this way is to dishonour God.
Fred Jarvis has said, ‘The greatest sin of Christians is not
failure, but aiming too low.’ We must not try to diminish
God by our own lack of faith. We must have high aims,
but be able to accept our own failure.
52 The Revolution of Love

Some Christians tend towards a perfectionist attitude,

and may have impossibly high aims for themselves while
worrying over every slip and fall. Others will simply avoid
failure by compromising and lowering their aims so that
they achieve nothing at all for God. The difference is often
not one of spirituality, but of temperament. The only
answer is to have spiritual balance.
Sometimes Christians live a whole day in frustration
because they were unable to get their ‘quiet time’ first
thing in the morning. They really believe that the devil is
going to pounce on them extra hard. Actually the Bible
does not even mention having a ‘quiet time’. The devil
is going to attack us anyway whether we miss our ‘quiet
time’ or not. Let us aim for perfection, but not become
obsessive over it.
We must learn to handle our mistakes. Sometimes
our expectations are unreal. With young people who have
not had much experience of Christian work, but who have
read inspiring Christian books and been to impressive
Bible conferences, there are bound to be disappointments
and frustrations. These things are a normal part of the
Christian life, particularly in a group situation.
We should learn to take Christian biographies with
a pinch of salt. They are often so concerned to tell us all
about this great man or woman of God that they select
only the good points, leaving out the difficulties and weak
 Spiritual Balance 53

points. This is particularly true of books written some

years ago. The impression given is of a life free from any
mistakes and failure, and this can be very discouraging to
young people who then find that the Christian life is not
quite like that.
The inner history of many missions and societies is
not always pleasant and inspiring. Some of the greatest
men and women of God had amazing inconsistencies and
weaknesses. But God used them despite their mistakes,
for in Christ he made them perfect. In 1 Corinthians
we read about the most unspiritual Christians in the
New Testament. Yet Paul opens his letter by saying he is
writing to those who are sanctified. It is clear from the
letter that some of these people were living in sexual sin and
doing all kinds of things against God, but the apostle Paul
knew how to handle peoples’ failures. He encouraged them
to keep aiming for perfection, but he also showed them how
to pick themselves up and keep going when they failed. This
balance is the only way to achieve spiritual maturity.

Spiritual Maturity
There is a lot of spiritual immaturity in the Christian
world, particularly in the realm of material possessions. It
is amazing how easily we get the ‘I want’ bug, just because
we see that someone else has something and not because
we need it. Generally, if we really need something
54 The Revolution of Love

God will give it to us. But often it is only when we see

somebody else with something that we suddenly realise
we want it as well. We may start to envy someone else’s
food, or clothes, or music system. This is not genuine
need; it is simply jealousy.
God’s way is much more revolutionary than the
materialistic way of life we are used to. The apostle Paul
lived this out; he chose to go without some things that
other Christians thought were essential. Don’t base your
spiritual life on even the most dedicated Christian you
know. Base it instead on the Word of God and what the
Lord Jesus reveals to you. Perhaps the Lord has shown you
things you should not do, such as drink alcohol or spend
money on luxury items. Then you meet some apparently
mature Christians who are doing these things. This can be
most upsetting, and you may begin to wonder if you were
right to obey God.
Firstly, remember that these Christians may not be
as spiritually mature as they appear. Often people with
strong, outgoing personalities gain reputations as keen
Christians, when in reality they are depending on natural
ability rather than a close knowledge of God. Secondly,
remember that we all have strengths and weaknesses
in different areas. Just because these Christians have a
weakness in this particular area, does not mean that they
are not strong in other areas. In fact, some Christians are
 Spiritual Balance 55

able to stay close to God while doing some things that

for most of us would cause problems. We must not judge
others, but must obey what God shows us about the way
to run our own lives.
Let us beware of getting worked up by the way people
spend money. This is always a sensitive area. There are
some people who will spend more money in one week for
a hotel room and food than some of us would spend in a
month. Yet God is using them. How can this happen? It
can happen because God is sovereign, God is great, God is
a God of love, God is a God of mercy, and he looks upon
our hearts. Let us look to God and live our lives the way
he shows us, being able to say, ‘Others may, I cannot.’ This
is the sign of true spiritual maturity.

Spiritual Balance
Learning about spiritual balance enables us to learn to
distinguish the difference between what is biblical principle
and what is personal conviction. It is possible to find a
Bible verse to support almost anything, but only if you are
willing to take isolated Bible verses out of context.
Certain things we do in life do not come directly from
biblical principles. The larger principle of love guides us
to do things in the most convenient and practical way.
If we are spiritually mature, we can accept this, even if
56 The Revolution of Love

it means things are not always done in the way that we

would prefer.
Having a balanced attitude to important biblical
principles leads us from spiritual immaturity to maturity;
from frustration to fulfilment. Only when we learn to be
adaptable yet strong in our beliefs; to work hard yet to
relax in God; and to aim at perfection through failure, will
we become effective and used by God.
Lord, teach us about spiritual balance. Let us
not look to others for our example, but to you
alone; learning to follow your word, not just the
passages that we have selected to suit our own
abilities or temperament, but in its glorious and
complete whole.
Amen.
Chapter 3

A Wide-Open Heart

‘ALL MEN SHALL KNOW that you are my disciples if

you love one another’ said Jesus (John 13:35). Is this the
way the rest of the world looks at the Christian church? Or
do they merely see divisions and intolerance, criticism and
narrow-mindedness?
The narrow-mindedness of Christians is not a new
problem:
“Teacher,” said John, “we saw a man driving out
demons in your name and we told him to stop,
because he was not one of us.” “Do not stop
him,” Jesus said, “No-one who does a miracle in
my name can in the next moment say anything
bad about me, for whoever is not against us is for
us. I tell you the truth, anyone who gives you a
cup of water in my name because you belong to
Christ will certainly not lose his reward.” (Mark
9:38–41)
Now the Bible teaches us that the way to God is a narrow
road. And yet we do not have the right to try to make
57
58 The Revolution of Love

it narrower than it really is, by excluding everybody who

does not think and believe exactly as we do. Sometimes we
are so narrow-minded and so rigid that our hearts are not
wide open to what God is doing. Our hearts are closed, as
Paul wrote to the Christians at Corinth:
It is not we who have closed our hearts to you; it
is you who have closed your hearts to us. I speak
now as though you were my children: show us the
same feelings that we have for you. Open your
hearts wide! (2 Corinthians 6:12–13, GNB)
Narrow-mindedness is the opposite of an open heart; the
opposite of Christian love. God’s love, by contrast, always
believes the best of others:
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it
does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is
not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps
no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in
evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects,
always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails. (1 Corinthians 13:4–8a)
If we really believed these verses, it would be a joy to
work together with Christians from other denominations
and different backgrounds; to learn from individuals and
groups who may have different emphases and experiences
of the Holy Spirit, of sanctification, of mission and
evangelism. Instead, we bicker and fight over these and
every conceivable minor issue. I believe strongly that
 A Wide-Open Heart 59

a lack of understanding is a basic cause of this narrow-

mindedness, and that it is essential for us to look at these
issues that divide Christians with honesty and with love.
This is the only way in which we will learn to have a wide-
open heart.

Labels
Our fondness for putting labels on people, for assuming
that people will live up (or down) to our stereotyped
image of their spiritual background or denomination, has
probably caused more damage than any other issue in the
church. For a start, it is harder to generalize now than at
any other time in history. There are evangelical people and
Bible-believing people and charismatic people in almost
every denomination you can find.
Often we criticise; but in fact we are very ignorant
of what other people believe. For instance, I know a lot
of people who are very negative about the charismatic
movement, but, in fact, are very ignorant of what that
movement actually means and what it includes.
And what happens to the people who are criticised
in a situation like this? Often they in turn become more
narrow-minded. Especially if they feel they’re under
attack, especially if they feel threatened. They react
defensively, either by the spoken or written word, in a way
that may not help the situation. This is the way divisions
60 The Revolution of Love

and prejudices start. I’ve made some mistakes in this area

myself. I’ve said some things about people and groups that
were perhaps less than best, and sometimes those things
have been remembered ever since.
The Word of God teaches that love covers over all
wrongs. I strongly recommend that you read Love Covers
by Billheimer (see p 127). The Word of God also teaches
that different Christians can and should have fellowship
together. This means that we should know how to
compassionately disagree.
Someone asked me recently, ‘How exactly do you
compassionately disagree?’ Let me give you an example.
Maybe I have a strong conviction that I should wear red
socks. Then one day a Christian friend comes to me and
says, ‘Brother, I don’t believe you should be wearing those
red socks. I believe you should be wearing yellow socks.’
What do you think I should do in that situation? Do I
immediately say, ‘Yes, my friend, you are right. I see it all
now. All these years I have been disobeying God by wearing
red socks.’ Not at all! There is no reason why I should not
follow my own convictions in relatively minor matters. Or
do I say to my friend, ‘If that is the way you feel, we can no
longer have fellowship together. Until you repent of your
yellow socks, I will not work with you.’ No! He also has
the right to his own opinion. Neither do we spend weeks
and months ignoring the needs for evangelism, service and
 A Wide-Open Heart 61

prayer while we argue out this matter of socks. No, we

agree to disagree. I still love my friend, I still fellowship
with him, and I still work with him, however much we
compassionately disagree.
Now I know that this is a very trivial illustration. But
I believe that the same principle can apply to many other
things that Christians may feel are much more important,
although not as important as the basic doctrines such as
the divinity of Christ, the inspiration of the Scriptures, and
the need for all people to repent and believe. These things,
the things that you will find in the doctrinal statement of
most evangelical churches or organisations, are basic. But
there are many other things that are not basic. And if you
are to have anything to do with Operation Mobilisation or
any other Christian organisation, sooner or later you will
see things that you don’t like. Don’t let that hinder you!
I see a lot of things in OM that I don’t like, and I’m still
working with them. My wife sees a lot of things in me that
she doesn’t like, but she hasn’t abandoned me!

Doctrine
Now, says someone, it is all very well learning to
compassionately disagree over socks, or hymn books, or
orders of service. But what about much more important
matters? What about people who deny the lordship of
Christ, or the full inspiration of the whole Bible, or the
62 The Revolution of Love

need for mission and evangelism. Surely our attitude to

them must be one of absolute rejection!
We are on a narrow road as Bible-believing Christians
when it comes to these basic beliefs. And it is right that
we should have been clear in our minds what is a minor,
negotiable matter and what is beyond negotiation and
debate—the basic beliefs of our faith. It is normal to
have struggles with people over these basic teachings;
the church in New Testament times was constantly
struggling in this area. In some cases we may have to
separate from someone, in terms of working together.
I’m not saying that we can always work with everyone.
We need to have our principles. We need to have our
standards. But when we decide that we can’t work with a
particular Christian, it doesn’t mean that we get arrogant
with him; that we become unloving. It means that we
compassionately disagree.
We had a big meeting once with a particular group,
and we had to make the decision that we would not work
together unless they changed their position on a number
of areas. The biggest one was that at that time they
taught that to be a disciple you had to leave secular work.
Nobody was a true disciple unless they left secular work.
Now although that is not as fundamental as the divinity
of Christ, it was still a basic divergence, because one of
the strongest messages in OM is that you can be a disciple
 A Wide-Open Heart 63

back in your hometown, working in an office, a factory or

a school; wherever God puts you.
But we came out of that very difficult meeting
with love for one another. And in fact I have continued
my friendship with the leader of that group and we’ve
corresponded ever since. Sometimes we need to just let
these things go and be past history. Not to hold anything
against anybody, just continue to pray and press on with
the work.
Most evangelical Christians believe that the Bible, as
originally written down, is without error and fully inspired
by God’s Holy Spirit. Not surprisingly, this is the area
where we have the most disagreements with other groups
and individuals. But sometimes we need to understand
where the problem lies. Some people seem to find it easy
to believe every word in the Bible. Personally, I’m always a
bit sceptical about how genuine this is. ‘Oh, God’s Word,
it’s so wonderful; it ministers to me every day’; Christians
are always so positive about the Bible.
Nobody ever wants to admit that they have any
problems with the Bible; maybe because they don’t want
to be thought heretics. But I want to tell you that I have
had a lifetime’s struggle with it, especially with many
passages in the Old Testament. It would be so much easier
not to believe that it was inspired by God. Now in fact I
do believe that the Bible is God’s inerrant word, but I can’t
64 The Revolution of Love

say that I’ve arrived at that belief without a struggle, or

without many, many questions and doubts over passages
in both the Old and New Testaments.
I have tried to run back to agnosticism. I’m not a
natural Christian; I’m a natural backslider. I don’t believe
things easily. I’ve wrestled with the doctrine of hell every
year since my conversion, trying to reject it, so that I
wouldn’t have to believe that all these non-believers were
lost. It would relieve a lot of spiritual pain, a lot of pressure,
to believe that somehow all these good people will make
it to God some other way than by hearing and responding
to the gospel of Christ.
I have been very greatly helped in this whole area by
Dr Francis Schaeffer. Years ago I listened to a series of tapes
by Dr Schaeffer on this and similar subjects (see p 127),
which I found incredibly helpful. There are problems for
those of us who believe the Bible is God’s Word. But I
believe the problems are much greater for the man who
does not believe the Bible is God’s Word.
And once you accept that the whole of the Bible is
God’s Word, then you need to look at every passage on a
particular subject, in context, before you can see what God
is saying to us on that subject. You cannot simply base
your life on one or two verses on any one subject, taken
out of context. And if you take the whole of the Word of
God, and let one verse balance out another verse, as we
 A Wide-Open Heart 65

discussed in the last chapter, then I believe you will end

up in the land of the open-hearted. You will see that God
works in different people in different ways, and in different
situations in different ways. I am aware, of course, that
you can also take certain passages and promote a narrow-
minded viewpoint. But to do that you have to take some
verses and leave out other verses. Let’s take the whole of
the Word of God and enlarge our vision of what God is
doing today.

The Holy Spirit

The second large area of disagreement and narrow
mindedness among Christians is over the work of the
Holy Spirit in our lives. This is particularly ironical since
the Holy Spirit was given to the church so that we could
be united and so that we could love one another; so that
we might have power to witness; so that we might have
a Teacher and a Guide. Perhaps when you look at things
from the devil’s point of view it is not surprising that he has
used this issue to divide and confuse Christian people.
It is essential to understand that many of our present
divisions over the work of the Holy Spirit have arisen
from deep, historical differences in theology between
the different branches of the Protestant church. Now
this is not the time or the place to go into these different
theologies, although if this is troubling you, you could
66 The Revolution of Love

write to me, care of the publishers and I will send you a

booklist. All that you need to understand here is that some
churches emphasise very strongly the sovereignty of God
and therefore that when people become Christians, they
are baptised with the Holy Spirit at that point, and are
then saved for eternity. They are filled with the Holy Spirit
day by day if they are walking with God and learning to
do his will. The churches that emphasise this point of view
tend to be those known as ‘reformed’ and include many
Presbyterian, Baptist and Free Evangelical churches.
Other churches (including the Methodist and
Holiness churches) emphasise much more man’s free will,
and believe that once a person becomes a Christian, it is
then necessary to seek the ‘second blessing’ or filling or
baptism of the Holy Spirit (here these terms are taken
to mean the same thing) as a separate experience. They
believe that Christians have the Holy Spirit at conversion,
but that they must be filled with the Spirit to receive power
to work for God, and that if they turn away from God
their salvation may even be lost. Historically Pentecostal
and charismatic Christians have followed on from this line
of theology, but they emphasise the ‘baptism of the Spirit’
as a much more dramatic experience, usually involving
speaking in tongues. They also tend to emphasise the other
supernatural gifts of the Spirit, such as healing, more than
other churches.
 A Wide-Open Heart 67

Where it gets complicated is that in these days charismatic

churches have arisen from all sorts of denominations, so that
you may get charismatic Methodists, charismatic Baptists,
or charismatic Anglicans, as well as the ‘house churches’
and ‘community churches’. Most of these groups are very
strongly evangelical, and are similar to the Pentecostal
churches on their views of the Holy Spirit, although their
teaching on other issues, such as church government, is
usually quite different. Of course there are many, many
variations between all the different groups and between
different individual churches, so we must be careful not to
generalise about any individual’s beliefs.
All evangelical believers agree that the essential thing
is that we must be born again. Now some people have
tremendous emotional conversions, others have quiet
conversion experiences; others are not even sure when
they were born again. Are people from the first group
going to say that the others have never been born again?
Of course not! We can see clearly that God sometimes
works like a mighty rushing wind, and sometimes like a
still, small voice. But in both cases, the important thing
is to remember that God is working in different ways in
different people.
I believe that the same is true of the rest of the
Christian life. God works in different people in different
ways. God can fill you with his Spirit, if you are from the
68 The Revolution of Love

reformed tradition, like me, day by day as you walk with

him. Or he can fill you dramatically in what some would
call a ‘crisis experience’. Billy Graham says of the filling of
the Holy Spirit, ‘I don’t care how you get it: just get it!’
Today we are spending a lot of time arguing about words,
about the language we use to describe how the Holy Spirit
works in other peoples’ lives, instead of getting on and
letting him work in our lives.
Does God only use people from one stream of
theology? No, of course not. You only have to read any
history of missions to see that some of the greatest men
and women of God have come out of one or the other of
these schools of thought. And they all lived lives in the
power of the Spirit.
In fact if you read some of the biographies of these
great men of God you will soon see that the lives of the
one group were as powerful as that of the other group.
Wesley, the founder of Methodism, was completely
opposite in his theology of the Holy Spirit to Whitefield,
the great preacher, and yet God used them both in the
great evangelical revival in Britain. I wish we had a few men
like this now, whatever they believed about sanctification.
I wouldn’t bother asking a Wesley or a Whitefield what
he believed about the work of the Holy Spirit, before I
decided whether I could work with him. I can work with
anyone who has such spiritual reality in his life.
 A Wide-Open Heart 69

Fruit and Gifts

I believe we need to make an important distinction
between the fruit of the Spirit and the gifts of the Spirit.
The fruit of the Spirit is produced in all Christians as they
yield to the Holy Spirit, as we saw in the first chapter. I
believe that once a Christian has been truly filled with the
Holy Spirit, however that filling has come about, the fruit
of the Spirit will be seen in his or her life:
The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience,
kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and
self-control. (Galatians 5:22–23a)
This is why I am not that concerned whether you have
had a thunderbolt experience of the Holy Spirit or a ‘still,
small voice’ experience. I am convinced that the important
thing is what you are today in terms of holiness. Is the
fruit of the Spirit present in your life each day, and in
increasing power?
The fruit of the Spirit should be produced in every
Christian as he or she yields to the Holy Spirit. But the
gifts are given according to the will of God. He may give
one to one person and half a dozen to another! He may
even give different gifts to different people at different
times in their lives!
I do not believe that we should try to tie God down,
and insist that unless Christians have the gift of tongues
or prophecy or healing or whatever, that they are not filled
with the Holy Spirit. It seems to me that to be so dogmatic
70 The Revolution of Love

about what gifts individual Christians should have, and

to try to impose those ideas on others from different
backgrounds and different traditions, is not biblical and,
indeed, undermines the sovereignty of God in our lives.
Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all
teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all have
gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do
all interpret? But eagerly desire the greater gifts.
(1 Corinthians 12:29–31)
What are these greater gifts? Love is the greatest gift
of the Holy Spirit, as Paul goes on to show us in
1 Corinthians 13.

Extremism
Going on from divisions among Christians over the work
of the Holy Spirit leads us on to look at the position of
extremists in the church. Among extremists I include
those from all streams of theology, whose beliefs, if carried
to extremes, may become dangerous heresies.
For example, Christians may believe in the sovereignty
of God. But if they start to take that belief to the extreme,
and to believe in the sovereignty of God to such an extent
that they take away completely the free will of man, they
will deny any need to tell people about the good news of
Jesus Christ! ‘If God wants to save the heathen,’ they will
say, ‘he will save them. Don’t you get excited about it. The
whole world is in his hands!’
 A Wide-Open Heart 71

Other Christians may believe strongly in the need to

be ‘baptised in the Spirit’ to give power to witness. But
if they are not careful, they may become extreme about
the need for ‘spiritual experience’ or ‘revival’ and spend
all their time in emotionally-charged meetings rather than
getting on with the work for which the Spirit was sent.
I have met some Christians who seem to see demons
everywhere, and may end up getting themselves into
situations they are unable to handle. Every time they see a
sick person they think, ‘Demons!’ Now if you see someone
who is truly demon-possessed, the thing to do is to fast and
pray and to ask the advice of a more mature Christian or
Christian leader. Please do not think that you personally
must rescue every person with deep problems.
Some Christians become extreme over the question of
healing. Now I know that God can heal the sick. I know
that he can raise the dead! I believe God can do anything!
I personally have seen sick people raised back to health
after praying for them. But that does not mean that we
should be so taken up with prayer that we forget to call in
a properly qualified medical person, whose gifts of healing
also come from God.
Sometimes I meet people who get ‘guidance’ from
God through visions and dreams. Now, God’s method
of guidance is his Word, the Bible. I don’t doubt that in
some cases he may give a vision to someone. . .but that
72 The Revolution of Love

vision must be in accordance with the Word of God. I

am also very hesitant about putting a lot of emphasis on
God speaking to us through dreams—although I know
that in the Middle East we have seen God use dreams very
powerfully to turn Muslims to Christ.
How important it is to realise that when we start taking
verses out of context we can defend almost anything! No
matter what you are doing, you are in trouble when you
begin to trust only in your feelings, and then try to justify
those feelings from the Scriptures. God says that we are to
love him with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. This
includes the emotions, of course, but it also includes our
reason and our common sense.
I believe that it is nothing less than a miracle, the
way young people in OM from many, many churches and
backgrounds have worked together in unity for all these
years, with almost no serious division. Truly, only the
Holy Spirit of God working in peoples’ hearts could have
done the impossible!
But Satan will try to take any Christian organisation,
even OM, and make it extreme on some point or other.
I tell you, anything, no matter how good, taken to an
extreme, becomes a snare. And if we become unloving,
and narrow-minded, and start to judge and condemn each
other, then we are going to grieve the Spirit of God.
But when we learn to open our hearts to God to
 A Wide-Open Heart 73

be filled with his Spirit—whether we have an emotional

experience or a quiet, daily infilling—then the world
is going to shake! It is this that will bring people into a
realistic experience of Jesus Christ.

Dogmatism
It is truly amazing what Christian people can find to
disagree on. I have been to public seminars where you sit
and listen to two Christian speakers arguing with each
other quite strongly; sometimes on an important issue,
but other times on completely trivial matters.
One Christian leader in America has decided that
all televisions are idols, just as there were idols in the
Old Testament. And this group of Christians took their
‘idols’ into the backyard and they took out their guns
(I don’t know what they were doing as Christians carrying
guns, that seems to be quite acceptable in America) and
they blew up their televisions. Militant Christianity!
Yet another leader has declared that all contemporary
Christian music, particularly if it has a beat (I don’t know
‘how you decide whether or not it has a beat), comes from
the pit of Satan.
In his book, Love Covers, (see p 127) Billheimer talks
about the tremendous divisions that arose between the old
Holiness Christians and the new charismatic Christians.
He found it very difficult, as an old Holiness man, to
74 The Revolution of Love

accept these American charismatic as Christians, when he

saw the way they dressed and the way the women used
make-up. The old Holiness Christians believed make-up
was from Satan! These issues divided families and split
churches down the middle. And to this day, churches are
splitting over things like this, and best friends are turning
on each other.
I have run into storms in this area myself. Once,
when I was very young and very ignorant, I showed a set
of slides about our evangelistic campaigns in Mexico in a
very strong Holiness church, and one of them was a slide
of my aunt’s house, and she had a pair of shorts on. So I
said, ‘Oh, on the way to Mexico for our campaign, we
stayed with these Christian people’; (I didn’t want to say
my aunt) ‘and we had fellowship with them.’ That was the
end of my fellowship with that church! The pastor took me
into a corner afterwards and he said, ‘I have been fighting
shorts for over five years and you have come in here and
in twenty minutes undone what I have tried to do for five
years.’ I was just a young Christian I didn’t know shorts
were of the devil!
When I was younger, one of my areas of very great
dogmatism concerned drinking, as a believer, any form of
alcoholic beverage. I had a message against alcohol when
I was only seventeen that was considered right out of the
prohibition era. People compared me with Billy Sunday,
 A Wide-Open Heart 75

who used to smash bottles of whisky in the pulpit during

his sermons. And I was convinced that a dedicated believer
and a teetotaller were the same.
Then I came to Europe; to Spain. And I was longing
to see some of the Spanish Christians moving into full-
time Christian work, because there was so much for them
to do. I was very excited when God answered our prayers,
and delighted when one of these Spanish disciples came to
me and invited me over to his house for lunch. And there
they were, pouring out into glasses. . .WINE!
Of course, I soon discovered that even the most
committed Spanish believers have wine at their tables, and
they regard it as a really minor issue. But to me it was not
minor! I wrestled with this issue to the point of torture!
But in the end I had to accept that people from different
backgrounds could have different beliefs, and still work
together in love.

Separation
One of the biggest issues at present in the American
fundamentalist church is that of separation. Many of
the American separatist Christians have turned against
Billy Graham, and they have also turned against us in OM,
because they regard us as being part of the ecumenical
movement, which is part of the movement of Antichrist.
Now I believe in separation; from apostasy, from
76 The Revolution of Love

heresy, from sin! But what we’re talking about here are
double-separated Christians; that is, people who believe
in secondary separation. This means I that if I were to
have lunch with a Christian friend (even though I may not
agree fully with all his views), and he in turn has shaken
hands with a theologian who once denied the virgin birth,
then I would also be tarnished by that theologian’s views,
so if you were a true double-separated believer you would
not be able to have fellowship with me.
Now you may not have heard of this issue before; you
may think this is something quite small and unimportant.
But this is one of the biggest issues in the American church,
without any question. There was one Christian who was
one of the most outspoken voices of this particular brand
of Christianity, who conducted city-wide evangelistic
campaigns with only double-separated Christians. But
after many years of conducting these campaigns, God
showed him how unloving, how narrow-minded and rigid
he had been, and he decided that he had to leave.
He then wrote an article explaining why he was
leaving, which hit the fundamentalist world in America
like an atomic bomb. And because he had been so involved
he was able to expose all the bickering and the negative
criticism that took place in these supposedly super-
separated Christians. Indeed, he compared it to a KGB
operation in which people and organisations are listed and
 A Wide-Open Heart 77

black-listed, according to whether they can be considered

truly separated or not.
This issue has caused a lot of hurt and a lot of pain.
And that has been felt even out on the mission field. I
thank God that the heart of that Christian leader was
opened, and that he has written letters of apology to
many of the people that he had previously spoken against.
I believe that God was able to bring him out of that
cul-de-sac of rigidity because of his great love of the Word
of God. He had memorised so much of the Bible that the
Holy Spirit did indeed lead him back to the truth and to
a more open heart.

Organisations
Yet another area that divides Christian is the tension
between the local church and other Christian organisations,
often described as ‘para-church’. This affects us in OM,
because some people who would benefit both themselves
and others by working with us for a time do not come,
because they or their churches ‘don’t believe in para-church
organisations’. They believe that all mission should be
carried out by the local church. When it comes to sending
people overseas, of course, the local churches generally
do not have the experience or structures necessary to do
this—and so often very little results.
The work of God is bigger than any fellowship or
78 The Revolution of Love

organisation. Often, to get a particular job done, God has

raised up organisations or mission societies. They have
been brought into being to meet a specific need. We don’t
worship the organisation, we don’t get uptight because we
don’t agree with every single thing in that organisation.
We need to think about the picture of the body in
1 Corinthians 12:
The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I don’t need you!’
And the head cannot say to the feet, ‘I don’t need
you!’ (verse 21)
God has brought into being movements like OM as a
response to a specific need. We have a planet of five billion
people, with huge churches around America and Europe,
and many young people in these churches, at least when
we began our work, were sitting around doing nothing.
So God said, ‘These people need to move!’ And by his
mercy he raised up a ‘movement that had expertise and
gifts in mobilising and training and recruiting people, and
now those people (over forty thousand young people have
now had training in OM) are working with almost every
mission society in the world today.
But still some churches and groups believe that all
para-church organisations (such as SERVE, or OM, or
YWAM, or TEAR Fund) are not really of God, or are
somehow God’s second best. They believe (as we do) that
God works through the local church. But they seem to
see para-church agencies as somehow in opposition or
 A Wide-Open Heart 79

competition to the local church, whereas we believe that

they should be subject to the local church. Recently we
have seen signs that this attitude is changing, and we look
forward to the time when we will be able to work with all
these churches, as an overseas agency to carry out the work
of evangelism for and with the local church. We believe
that one of the greatest keys to the evangelism of the world
is partnership, and we long for that to increase.
Let’s stop bickering and judging and criticising the
way things are done in this movement or that organisation.
Let’s praise God for the work that all these different
agencies are doing; those that specialise in relief work,
those that specialise in outreach, those that specialise in
long-term mission and those that specialise in short-term
training. As we thrust ourselves into reaching many, many
people around the world who have never yet responded to
the gospel, I believe we’re going to need one another; we’re
going to need unity. And I believe that as we become more
united, we’ll be able to pray together in spiritual power;
and as we pray together in spiritual power, then we’ll be
able to tear down the strongholds of the enemy.

An Open Heart
So I want to plead with you, on the basis of these passages
we have considered, and on the basis of many, many other
passages throughout the Bible, to have a wide-open heart.
80 The Revolution of Love

Work with all of God’s people. Learn to love them. And

when someone initially turns you off, go back to your
room and say, ‘Jesus, I believe you’re going to do a work in
my heart towards that person.’ And sometimes the greatest
fellowship you have will be with people who are very, very
different from you.
You may even be surprised and end up marrying
someone who’s very different from you! I can tell you, there’s
nothing like discovering, as a hard-line fundamentalist
from a good reformed background, several years after your
marriage, that your wife is praying privately in tongues in
another room! And I am convinced that through unity
and through love we don’t have to sacrifice basic truth; we
don’t have to compromise our deep personal convictions.
But through love we can operate and live and function
in a way that will provide less scandal for the outside
community and bring more glory to God.
Lord, we pray that unity may increase in your
Body, and that we would have enlarged vision,
more open hearts, more open minds; not to
bring in error, but to keep things in their right
perspective by the power of your Holy Spirit.
Grant us this as we go forward together, often
struggling with very many basic issues in life, but
students of your word and committed to world
evangelism.
Amen.
Chapter 4

Real People, Real Power

HOW REAL IS YOUR CHRISTIANITY? Is it the sort

of discipleship that Jesus talked about when he said,
“If anyone would come after me, he must deny
himself and take up his cross daily, and follow
me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose
it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.”
(Luke 9:23)
Or are we, in the words of A.W. Tozer, that great man of
God who many called a twentieth-century prophet, simply
‘serving our own interests under a disguise of godliness’
(see p 127)? Instead of belonging to the local sports club, or
social club, we belong to the church. There we find meetings
‘with like-minded people at regular times (but not too often
or there will be complaints), pleasant and uplifting music
and even rewarding times of helping others.
But the Christian life is not firstly about more
meetings, or more songs. The Christian life is about justice
and peace and righteousness and godliness and purity.
81
82 The Revolution of Love

It’s reaching out to your neighbour, at convenient times

and inconvenient times. It’s helping him when his tyre
is punctured. It’s helping him when he needs to get to
the hospital. It’s not firstly about giving money, it’s about
giving chunks of your life. And until we start practising
that, we know very little of what Jesus meant when he
talked about being a disciple.

Being a Disciple
What does Jesus mean in these verses by denying ourselves
and taking up a cross? It is clear that he is not talking
simply about giving up chocolate for Lent, or even a
‘hunger lunch’ where money saved on food goes to the
starving. He is talking about a continual, daily process.
When Jesus died on the cross for us, he paid the price
for the sin of our own hearts. It was that sin which had
enslaved and corrupted us. And so, to follow him into
deliverance, we need to be saved from ourselves, from our
sinful nature and self-centredness. Only as we deny self
daily are we freed from its domination.
So it is our own selves, our own nature, that we are
to deny and put to death. For the cross, Jesus is talking
about here, is not some golden ornament to decorate our
churches, but an instrument of death. Only as we take up
that cross daily, identifying ourselves with Jesus’ death to
all that is opposed to the will of God, will we be delivered
from ourselves.
 Real People, Real Power 83

Now you may say that all this talk of denial and death
is old-fashioned and negative. But it is only through that
denial and daily death that true life begins. True, the cross
is the end of a life of sin and slavery; but it is also the
beginning of a life of holiness and spiritual revolution.
When Jesus says, ‘Follow me’ he is not calling us to a
narrow, negative existence, but to the most exciting and
beautiful fellowship you could ever dream of.

The Crucified Life

I believe that God is calling every Christian to this life of
self-denial and commitment. Jesus said,
“Anyone who does not carry his cross and follow
me cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:27)
To carry a cross and follow your Lord does not make you
into some kind of religious freak. I believe that we can
all have a deeper commitment, that we can be filled with
the Holy Spirit, and that Christ can be Lord of every
area of our lives, and yet that this can happen in a very
sane, down-to-earth, balanced and God-glorifying way. I
believe that it is possible for us to be genuine and sincere
in our Christian lives without becoming overly emotional
or introspective.
Why is it that so often, when Christians talk about
the need for repentance and the good news of Jesus Christ,
they are ignored by the world around? There are many
reasons, but I am sorry to say that one of the commonest
84 The Revolution of Love

reasons is that we do not live what we preach. We preach

a gospel of love, and yet we do not love each other. We
preach a gospel of commitment, and yet we ourselves are
not committed. And the man or woman in the street is not
deceived by our fine words and religious phrases. It is only
when the people around us see the evidence of a changed
life that they will begin to take what we say seriously.
The key to reaching people with the gospel is not
evangelism at home or abroad, not serving others in the
church or in the community (although all these things are
part of the gospel), but the changed hearts of Christians.
The key is for Christians to allow God to take over their
lives; putting self to death and letting Jesus rule instead.
We may spend all the hours we like in evangelism and
service, but unless our hearts have changed we will be
doing it for ourselves, and not truly serving God.
To change the whole direction of our lives in this
way may hurt at the time. A man of God once said, ‘In
the Christian life there’ll be no gain without pain.’ No
wonder so few are really going on for God today! We are
the generation that has run away from pain more than any
other generation; we’ve got every medicine in the world,
every kind of painkiller you can imagine. But there’s no
painkiller you can take that’s going to take away the pain
of spiritual growth.
Roy Hession in his book, Calvary Road (see p 127)
 Real People, Real Power 85

talks about the need for brokenness before God, the

need for coming to a place where we realise that our
lives without him are totally worthless, and that we are
dependent on him for everything. These ideas are not
very popular today. But when God begins to break down
the hard core of pride, selfishness and arrogance in your
heart, it’s going to hurt. Are you prepared for that? Can
you really sing, ‘Break me, melt me, mould me, fill me’
and mean it? Because God will answer your prayer, if you
mean it from the heart.
Let’s look now at four very practical ways in which we
can make sure that Jesus is really Lord of our lives.
1. Letting Jesus be Lord of our relationships. Have you
had any really good messages in your church lately on sex?
There are over five or six hundred verses in the Bible on
the subject of sex that we almost never preach on, but you
can be sure that if anyone gets into sexual sin, they will be
gossiped about and they will be looked down upon, and
they will have a rough time among all the nice respectable
Christians.
When we see people fall into sin who are part of the
church, we should realise that part of the responsibility
is ours. Because we have not taught on this subject, we
have not taught our young people how to have healthy
relationships with the opposite sex, we have not taught
them how to withstand temptation and have a realistic
86 The Revolution of Love

view of sex and marriage. Instead we watch more romantic

films and we read more romance books than any other
generation in history, and we’re paying an awesome price
for it in broken marriages and broken families, as people
find that their expectations of married life do not add up to
the reality. I’m not saying there’s no place for romance, but
I’m saying that the whole thing has got out of control.
Billy Graham said that if you don’t win this battle
against impurity, you lose the biggest battle in the
Christian life. And I know there are people all over the
world, though they may be leaders, though they may love
Jesus, who are walking in sin in the area of impurity. Every
time I’ve ever spoken in a conference people have come up
to me for prayer or they have written to me and they’ve
confessed sex before marriage or other kinds of immorality
or pornography that’s been tearing them apart and turning
them into a spiritual split personality.
Paul, two thousand years ago, wrote to Timothy, and
he said,
Flee the evil desires of youth (2 Timothy 2:22).
In other words, if you are young and you have a girlfriend
or a boyfriend, you don’t drive off in your parents’ car to
watch the sunset alone together on a hot summer evening,
and then pray that God will make your thoughts pure.
If you take your girlfriend or your boyfriend, however
 Real People, Real Power 87

many years they have been Christians, and you go alone

into the dark corners, the college bedrooms or the back
of a car, you are asking for trouble. No—instead you ‘flee
the evil desires of youth’. You keep in the company of
others, you take advantage of social events and sporting
events, and you build up a friendship and a spiritual
relationship that will keep you following God together
in the years to come.
In the middle of all the news recently about the
immorality going on among Christian leaders, my
daughter came to me one day and said, ‘Dad, I want to
know whether you have been faithful to Mother for all
the time you have been married.’ Now I have battled with
lust all my life; even before my conversion at the age of
sixteen I was addicted to pornography, and had already
had over a dozen girlfriends (fortunately that was in the
age of romance, rather than permissive sex). So it was one
of the greatest joys in my life to be able to tell my daughter
that by God’s grace and by denying self and taking up my
cross daily to follow Jesus, I had indeed been faithful to
my wife for all of these twenty-eight years.
I am hesitant to tell that story, but I think that it’s
important to realise that the media generally like to report
only the negative things. And for every Christian leader
who falls, there are dozens and dozens who learn the
basic principles of discipleship; who learn the disciplined
88 The Revolution of Love

life, the crucified life, who know how to stand against

temptation, and who are therefore running the race with
Jesus day by day.
2. Letting Jesus be Lord of our words. Is your tongue
controlled by the Spirit of God? The Psalmist was so
conscious of his need for control that he said,
Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord; keep watch
over the door of my lips. (Psalm 141:3)
Uncontrolled words have destroyed more churches and
more families, I believe, than immorality, crime or lying.
Destructive gossip is one of the most potent forces for
evil in the Christian world today. Because every time you
repeat a rumour, every time you spread a little titbit of
negative comment about a fellow-Christian or Christian
group, you are dividing and hurting the body of Christ.
And this has been one of Satan’s most effective strategies
in recent years.
There is a place for talking on a trivial level, particularly
with neighbours and non-Christian friends. Let us beware
of becoming so superspiritual that we can only reply with
a Bible verse when a neighbour makes some comment on
the weather. Our neighbours need to know that we are
real, sane people, and that we too are concerned with what
concerns them.
And there is a place for constructive criticism,
preferably made to the person concerned, face to face. But
so often what most of us do is to gossip. We are afraid to
 Real People, Real Power 89

confront people who have irritated us, people who have

hurt us, people whom we believe are behaving wrongly. So
instead of going to them and, in love, telling them how we
feel, we let all our bitterness and anger out to our friends.
And they pass it on to their friends, who pass it on to their
friends. Eventually, of course, it gets back to the original
people concerned, but by then it is so exaggerated and
negative that they find it very, very difficult to forgive. And
so you get division and bitterness arising in the church.
Now unless you have learnt, as a spiritually mature
person, to have some control in this area, then you are
not ready to use your tongue to tell people even in your
own culture about the gospel, let alone launch out into
cross-cultural evangelism. Because the potential for
misunderstandings in other languages and cultures is very,
very great. The work of God can be put back for years or
even decades in a sensitive situation by someone with an
uncontrolled and undisciplined tongue.
Learn to think before you speak. Learn to know what
Jesus would have said to that person, in that situation.
Whatever the temptation to seem right, or clever, or
simply to have the last word, it is our determination to
deny self and follow the Lord in this area that will make
the difference.
3. Letting Jesus be Lord of our time. Time, it is often
said, is our most precious asset. Not one of us knows how
90 The Revolution of Love

much of it we have left, or what will be God’s plan for the

rest of our lives. Yet when we let Jesus have true control
of our lives, we will not necessarily end up doing more.
Many of us spend far too much time already in religious
activity. We seem to be convinced that the more time we
spend, the better our service for the Lord must be. So we
rush around like whirlwinds, blissfully unaware that we are
victims of our own undisciplined and disorganised lives.
We are always ‘too busy’, and yet actually we accomplish
very little.
Many years ago I was in danger of becoming a little
extreme on this particular issue. I felt I should always get
up in the morning by 6.30 am, and if I slept later than
this, even if I had been late to bed the night before, I felt
that I should somehow work harder to make up for the
lost time. Also, I personally did not feel that I had the
time to relax or play sport, because the demands were so
overwhelming. And God had to show me that he was in
control, and that occasionally a little extra time sleeping, or
a couple of hours playing golf, or even an evening to take
my wife to a movie, could all be included in his plan.
Tozer says, ‘Working for Christ has today been
accepted as the ultimate test of godliness among all but a
few evangelical Christians. Christ has become a project to
be promoted or a cause to be served instead of a Lord to
 Real People, Real Power 91

be obeyed. . . . The result is an army of men who will run

without being sent and speak without being commanded’
(see p 127).
Let us make Jesus truly Lord of our time, thinking
about the priorities of what we have to do from his
perspective, not ours (and that may bring about some
changes that will surprise us) and organising our time
for maximum efficiency and speed. Let us keep calm
and relaxed, knowing that he is always in control and
that no so-called ‘last-minute crisis’ is beyond his power
and grace.
4. Letting Jesus be Lord of our finances.
‘Any of you who does not give up everything he
has,’ said Jesus, ‘cannot be my disciple’ (Luke
14:33).
This is not a popular verse today. For many people, financial
security is an important and overriding ambition. We
have already seen the absolute importance of surrendering
everything we possess to God. Now let us think about
letting him be Lord of every aspect of our finances.
For instance, should your choice of career be motivated
by the financial security it will bring? Or is your security
in the Lord of heaven and earth? This is not to say that he
may not guide you into a well-paid career. The rich have
greater responsibilities in the kingdom of God. We will see
92 The Revolution of Love

in the last chapter how great is the need for more senders,
more supporters, in world mission today. A lack of finance
is limiting the work of God today in every place I have
ever visited.
Is Jesus Lord of all your possessions? Have you laid
them at his feet, asking him which you truly need and
which you should sell or give away? Many Christians
today seem to follow unquestioningly the materialist
idea that every year they should own more and more.
But this is not God’s way. God supplies according to our
needs, and if you no longer need what God once gave
you, I believe you should think seriously about whether
you should still keep it. Equally, we must learn not to
hanker after things simply because our neighbours have
them. Our priority should be to glorify God, not to keep
up with those next door.
Most Christians today know very little about trusting
God for their everyday needs. In the nineteenth century
George Mueller supported not only himself and his family
but hundreds of orphans on the answers to prayer alone
(see p 127). He said that if we want great faith we must
begin to use the little faith we already have. Dare today
to trust God for something small and ordinary, and next
week or next year you may be able to trust him for answers
bordering on the miraculous. Many people who have come
on Operation Mobilisation campaigns over the years have
 Real People, Real Power 93

found that having to trust God for day-to-day finances has

transformed their attitude to money and possessions. If he
is really Lord of all we have, we need not feel guilty about
what he has given us, but can use it wisely and sacrificially
in his work.

A Deeper Commitment
‘If any man would come after me,’ said Jesus; and in this
one phrase he put before us the choice that has divided
the world ever since. Do we really want to follow him or
is the cost too great? If we really want to become followers
of Christ we must become personally involved in his death
and resurrection; through repentance, prayer, self-denial,
humility, obedience and sacrificial love. That is why it is
easier to talk about commitment than to experience it.
The cost of true commitment is indeed great. But the
rewards are even greater. It is only when we take Jesus’
words seriously, and act upon them, that his power breaks
through into our lives.
Let’s realise that the crucified life is for everyone.
The lordship of Christ is for everyone. We are all called
to purity, to reality. We are all to be keen to spread God’s
Word. Is it wrong for me to think that every Christian
should be excited about Jesus, the Son of the living God?
He is living in our hearts, making us kings and priests and
heirs of his kingdom.
94 The Revolution of Love

It’s because I believe that God has called every Christian

to a life of deeper commitment and true discipleship that
I am involved in a training programme like OM. If you
come on OM you won’t study for a degree or spend all your
time in books or essays or debates, although there will be
opportunity for all those things. Instead our programmes
have been patterned on the methods that Jesus Christ used.
Jesus’ training was on the job. His disciples were doers, not
just hearers. And they learnt as much by their mistakes as
by their successes.
In OM we expect young people to move out in
evangelism, in prayer and in team living. And quite
soon they start to find out what the crucified life is all
about. Because there’s nothing like a few real problems
of insufficient finance or food you don’t like or simply
the team member you can’t get on with to bring out the
areas in your life which are not yet controlled by the
Holy Spirit.
Now I’m not saying that spiritual growth is going to
happen overnight. And I want to make it clear that we
are learners, and we are strugglers. We are like the learner
drivers in Britain with their ‘L’ plates displayed for everyone
to see. And yet it’s as we are willing to learn that God leads
us on to a deeper commitment and a Spirit-filled life.
Pray your own prayer of surrender. Pray a prayer of
 Real People, Real Power 95

repentance, come to Jesus in faith, and breathe in that

forgiveness and that grace and renewal that the Holy Spirit
can give. And determine to be a spiritual fighter, a spiritual
runner, a disciple of Jesus Christ.
Let the Holy Spirit fill you. Trust God’s Word; God
has not given us a spirit of fear but of love and power and
a calm mind. Some of us need to understand more of what
it is to take a deep drink of the grace of God. I need the
grace of God, the forgiveness of God, and the mercy of
God every day. And I have found that often God meets
us in the moment of weakness, rather than strength. He
doesn’t always wait until we feel spiritual, he doesn’t always
wrap life up in a nice little present with a bow on the top.
The life of discipleship, the life of deeper commitment
includes ongoing battle and ongoing struggles. It will
include fear and worry and anxiety at times. But Jesus is
always there.
I believe God is waiting for you to make the greatest,
deepest commitment and surrender of your life to Christ,
and his word, and his cause, that you have ever made.
I believe he’s waiting for you to put your hands on the
plough and determine you’re not going back. Whether
he leads you to Hong Kong, Pakistan or Birmingham;
whether he leads you into ‘full-time’ ministry or whether
he leads you to be a hard-working sender supplying the
desperately-needed finance.
96 The Revolution of Love

Do you love Jesus? Do you love Jesus with all your

heart, soul, mind and strength? Have you put your life on
the altar as we’re told to do in Romans 12:1–2,
I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to
offer your bodies as living sacrifices?
Yes, this is a lifetime challenge. You may say it is too
much. But I want to say on the authority of God’s Word
that it’s not too much. Because God gives grace. He
forgives when you fall down. He lifts you up. He cleanses,
he renews, he forgives. He knows all about you. And he
loves you still. And it’s that love that should motivate us
to give our lives more fully to him in total commitment
and surrender, and be the real people that God would
have us to be.
Commitment is part of a process; if you’re not willing
to deny self daily, take up the cross and follow Jesus; if
you’re not willing to put into practice the principles of the
crucified life, then the initial commitment, even if made
for a second or third time in your life, will be of little
value. Praise God for the experience that you may have as
the Holy Spirit works in your life and blesses you and fills
you, but if that crisis is not followed by a process it will
become an abscess.
I believe many people are ready for God’s process.
I believe the Holy Spirit is preparing many people for
 Real People, Real Power 97

steps forward in their Christian lives. He may even have

prepared you, if you want to say with all your heart, ‘I am
crucified with Christ, I will surrender everything to him,
I’ll go where he wants me to go and do what he wants me
to do.’
Living God, by your Spirit, convict us of areas
where we’re fooling around. Convict us of areas of
laziness. Convict us of the barriers we’ve built up
around ourselves. May self be crucified; may you
be magnified, as we consider the challenge before
us, as we consider the spiritual harvest fields. We,
O Lord, want to be real people. We thank you
for real power, the power of your Holy Spirit,
who lives and remains in us. We thank you for
the power of the gospel, which is your power, O
God, for salvation. We thank you, Lord, for the
day you saved us and set us free. We thank you for
this great gift of salvation.
O Lord, we hunger and thirst for reality, that what
we say we believe will be a burning fire in our
hearts and in our lives. May we take steps of faith
to be your men, to be your women, to go where
you want us to go and to do what you want us to
do. We thank you, Lord, for your forgiveness and
your grace that can make all of this possible.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen.
Chapter 5

Accepting Yourself
and Others

JESUS SAID: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ If you

have never learned to love yourself you will find it very
difficult to love others as Jesus commanded. Accepting
yourself is not a once-for-all experience, but something
you will learn gradually, often through struggles
and failures.
You were created in God’s image. And part of his
creation was your particular personality, your appearance,
and even your background; all those things that you cannot
change and that make you into the individual you are.
God does not make mistakes. He knew you even before
you were born;
My frame was not hidden from you when I was
made in the secret place. When I was woven
together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw
my unformed body. All the days ordained for me
were written in your book before one of them
came to be. (Psalm 139:15, 16)

99
100 The Revolution of Love

So God knows how he can work in you and through you

and with you. To doubt that God can use you is to doubt
his power. Believing that God made you as you are is the
first step to self-acceptance.
God’s purpose for your life is not to destroy your
personality; instead, he wants to enrich it. Being filled
with God’s Spirit doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy a sunset
any more; it doesn’t mean you won’t get excited about
music or pizza; it doesn’t mean that you won’t fall in love,
that your heart won’t pound or your eyes pop when that
someone special comes into view. But it does mean that a
very powerful degree of self-control will come into your
life, so that you will be able to sort out the priorities, the
difference between your God-given personality and your
selfish nature, so that you will be able to say ‘no’ to self and
‘yes’ to Jesus.
It took me a long time before I slowly, gradually, began
to accept myself as God had made me. I had this image of
“what a really spiritual person should be like—very quiet
and yet powerful—and I just did not fit that image at all.
I even went as far as trying to dress in a way that I felt
people expected, in a dark suit and tie. But gradually I
realised that God could use me as I am.
You may find that your particular personality means
that you don’t feel comfortable with certain churches or
groups or organisations. You may appreciate them, you
 Accepting Yourself and Others 101

may agree fully with what they are doing, but you feel
you will never fit in with them. This is not a matter of
spirituality but of personality. Sometimes God may ask
you to work with them despite that, and sometimes it
will be agreed by everyone that it would be better if you
worked with another group.
I am very aware that Operation Mobilisation is not
everybody’s cup of tea. God has raised us up as a unique
fellowship, to carryon a unique task. We have to train
people in a specific way. When I was in Pakistan, I met
some of our men and women in OM Pakistan who are
learning Urdu. That takes extra discipline. That takes
perhaps a degree of soldiering and perseverance that
working in Britain may not necessarily demand; here you
probably have other problems, for which you need other
qualities. We’re all different. We all have different amounts
of energy, we all have different gifts. Be yourself; don’t try
to be somebody else.

God’s Purpose
It is important to understand why God has created us as
we are; with our own particular personality, appearance
and background. He has something planned for our lives
which can only be done by someone with that particular
combination of characteristics. His plan for your life
cannot be fulfilled by any other individual on this earth.
102 The Revolution of Love

Many of us may feel that we are too weak for God

to use us. But it is through these weaknesses that God’s
power is revealed in our lives. The apostle Paul was told
clearly by God,
“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is
made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9)
We all need to learn this principle. Often in Christian work
we look for the attractive person, or the clever person, to
be in our group. We need to learn to work with the weak,
the unattractive, the slow, for this is how God works.
Remember also that God has not yet finished his work
in you. However long you have been a Christian, whatever
sort of training you have been through, God has only just
started in his lifetime process of making you more like
Jesus Christ. Let us learn to look forward to what God is
going to do in our lives, rather than always looking back.
Think of your outward appearance as a picture frame
that shows off the inner qualities and Christlikeness that
God is developing in your life. Your inner self, the picture
of your personality developed in fellowship with God, is
the greatest advertisement possible for the gospel of Jesus
Christ. Jesus said,
“Let your light shine before men, that they may
see your good deeds and praise your Father in
heaven.” (Matthew 5:16)
If you are allowing God to develop genuine qualities of
love and humility in your life, even though you may not
 Accepting Yourself and Others 103

feel he has got very far yet, these will be recognised by

unbelievers.
If you find it difficult to accept yourself as you are, or
if you find in your heart bitterness or resentment against
God for your background or the way you are, ask God
to forgive you and help you. Some people have more
problems in this area than others. Those who have come
from difficult or unloving homes can have real problems
relating to God as a loving heavenly Father.

The Human Factor

If we believe that God has made our personality, then we
need to allow room for the development of that personality
in our lives. This is something that is often overlooked in
Christian circles. We must allow for the human factor or,
no matter how ‘spiritual’ we become, we will not survive
the tests and challenges ahead of us.
Some of the greatest men and women of God in
history have had problems in just this area. One of my
favourites is Elijah. In 1 Kings, chapter 18, we read that
the people of Israel had been turning away from the Lord
to follow the false god Baal. So Elijah summoned the
prophets of Baal and all the people and the king to Mount
Carmel, and challenged them to a contest. Two bulls were
placed on wood ready to be sacrificed. Then Elijah told the
prophets of Baal to pray:
104 The Revolution of Love

“You call on the name of your god, and I will call

on the name of the Lord. The god who answers
by fire—he is God.” (verse 24)
Elijah asked God for a miracle, and God answered him.
He prayed and the fire fell, and the people were awestruck.
He triumphed over the false prophets, made absolute fools
of them, and he became the great hero of Israel. But what
did he do next?
Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he
came to Beersheba in Judah, be left his servant
there, while he himself went a day’s journey into
the desert. He came to a broom tree, sat down
under it and prayed that he might die. “I have
had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life; I am
no better than my ancestors.” Then he lay down
under the tree and fell asleep. (1 Kings 19:3–5)
So here is the great prophet, under a tree, thoroughly
depressed. I find this story very moving because I see many
Christians suffering from depression and sometimes they
don’t seem to have heard about the examples that we see in
the Bible, in these stories of the great men and women of
God. Sometimes we always think that these things can be
answered by the right Bible verse or someone coming up
with the right spiritual prescription, and our pride keeps
us from actually seeking the help we need.
I praise God that I have seen people effectively
treated, medically treated, for some forms of depression.
 Accepting Yourself and Others 105

And so I believe that we need to discern when the problem

is emotional, or spiritual, or when it may be something
physical that will need medical help.
Discouragement is a normal part of the Christian life.
It is part of our human nature. Some people get discouraged
more easily than others, and some get depressed more
seriously than others. But if you are active for God and
you’re allowing God’s Word to challenge you, and you’re
being used even a little by God, then sooner or later you
will go through times of discouragement. And it seems
to me that if discouragement is a normal part of human
experience, then as Christians the important thing is to
know how to handle it.
I believe that discouragement is the most common
strategy that Satan uses to reduce the effectiveness
of Christians today. And part of the battle against
discouragement is won when we realise that this is
something that many, many Christians and Christian
leaders have been through before us.
I have treated the subject of discouragement more
thoroughly in my book No Turning Back (see p 127).
Basically, I believe that learning to handle discouragement
is part of normal spiritual growth. We should not expect
some sort of supernatural deliverance or emotional
experience to wipe out all our negative feelings. God has
given us his Word, the Bible; we should be feeding on it,
106 The Revolution of Love

and learning the promises of God. He has given us his

Son, the Lord Jesus, and put within us the Holy Spirit. It’s
as we learn to draw upon what we already have in Christ
by his Holy Spirit that we will be able to come through
discouragement.
Look at God’s strategy for discouragement in the
story of Elijah. First of all he makes sure that Elijah has
had a good sleep. Much discouragement can be put down
to sheer physical tiredness. Then an angel brings him
food, not once but twice, so that he is fully refreshed and
strengthened for what is to come. After all this Elijah is
ready to go on in the work of God.
I have found this story tremendously helpful. I have
always had the potential to become extreme on a number
of issues, and some years ago I began to think that it was
wrong for me to spend any time just relaxing and being
myself. I looked at the number of people in the world who
didn’t know Christ, and I looked at the need for prayer
and the need for evangelism and I thought that anything
else was a waste of time. I was trying to deny the human
factor. And God took this verse and showed me that I had
to allow time for my own personality if he was going to go
on to use me.
I believe that as we learn to trust God more and give
ourselves time to relax, we will be able to go on in the
Christian life far more effectively. Let us think of God’s race
 Accepting Yourself and Others 107

as a marathon rather than a sprint; maybe even an ‘ultra’

marathon where people run for as many as a thousand
miles at a time. If you started a race like that as a sprint
you would not get very far. It is the ones who have trained
hard and rested well, and who allow enough time to stop
to sleep and to eat who can survive that sort of race.

Forgiving Ourselves
Just as we cannot love others if we do not love ourselves, we
will find it difficult to forgive others if there is something
in our lives for which we have never forgiven ourselves.
We may have confessed it to God, and been forgiven. But
instead of then forgiving ourselves we feel we must suffer
for the sin, whatever it is, and try to work it out in a sort
of self-imposed purgatory.
If you know there is something in your life that you
have never forgiven yourself for, first make sure that you
have asked for God’s forgiveness. Then make sure that you
have made things right with the other people involved.
For instance, if you have stolen money, even if it is a very
small amount, it is not enough to ask God’s forgiveness.
You must also return the money.
Many of us will go to almost any lengths to avoid
going to someone and asking forgiveness. It is amazing
what excuses our pride can find for just this simple step.
Probably the best thing is to go straight away, as soon as
108 The Revolution of Love

we realise that it is necessary, without thinking too much

about it. However, do take care to be sensitive and not to
make things worse by speaking in the wrong way.
Sometimes Christians seem to feel that they should
not apologise or admit past sins to non-Christians. In
fact this is one of the most powerful messages a Christian
can bring. Non-Christian people do not like apologising
either, and they will realise that your faith must mean a lot
to you if you are prepared to bury your pride and admit
you have been wrong.

Accepting Others
The very process of learning to accept ourselves will take us
some way towards accepting others, as we recognise some
of the struggles they may be going through. However,
there are bound to be some times of conflict when we feel
another Christian has hurt us, and this can lead to deep-
seated resentment and bitterness if we do not react in a
Christlike way.
If you feel that someone has hurt you, keep calm and
rational. Try to understand the situation and what caused
it. Could you have prevented it? How do the other people
involved feel? Try to concentrate on kindness and love for
them, rather than your own hurt.
Make sure that you have forgiven anyone who has hurt
you. Then leave the hurt alone for it to heal. Do not dwell
 Accepting Yourself and Others 109

on it and the way you have been wronged, or bitterness

and self-pity will fill you. Do not withdraw from other
Christians, even the one who has hurt you, and accept
apologies if they are offered.

Forgiving Others
We should forgive others as we have been forgiven by
God:
Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many
times shall I forgive my brother when he sins
against me? Up to seven times?”
Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but
seventy-seven times.” (Matthew 18:21, 22)
Forgiveness is as basic to our Christian living as the cross
of Jesus Christ is to the plan of salvation. Forgiving others
means that we believe that God is in control. He is the
One who should judge and punish, if necessary, not us.
A lack of forgiveness can lead to many problems in
our lives. Bitterness may result in tension, inability to sleep
and even psychosomatic illness. It will stop our spiritual
growth, causing an inability to love God, doubts about
our own salvation, and a bad witness to others. It is not
surprising that depression may be the end result.
If anyone says, “I love God,” yet hates his brother,
he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his
brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God,
whom he has not seen. (1 John 4:20)
110 The Revolution of Love

If you find it difficult to forgive some people, realise that

all the hurt you have experienced may be God’s way of
pointing out their need. They may have deep-seated
problems that they are unable to deal with, and that have
caused them to hurt others. God may now be leading you
to do what you can to help. Pray for them, help them, be
friendly, and if you have hurt them ask their forgiveness.
This may help them to realise that they also need to ask
your forgiveness. Paul wrote to the Christians in Rome:
Do not repay anyone evil for evil. . .If it is
possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace
with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends,
but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written:
“It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord.
On the contrary:
“If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty,
give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his
head.”
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil
with good. (Romans 12:17–21)
So let us make these principles a reality in our hearts. Let
us learn to accept ourselves and others in all the complexity
that God has created, listening to God and waiting for his
voice. Let us learn to thank God for what he has already
done in our lives and for what he is going to do, allowing
 Accepting Yourself and Others 111

him to fill us afresh each day with his Holy Spirit, so that
we can go where he wants us to go and do what he wants
us to do.
Lord, you know all about us and you love us
still. We thank you that we have been accepted
by you and that is the basis of our acceptance of
ourselves. You love us with an everlasting love;
if we were the only one on the planet you still
would have sent your Son to die on the cross for
us. We thank you that your arms reach out to
embrace us. Draw us in. Deliver us, Lord, from
lack of self-acceptance. Deliver us from living in
unbelief. We yield ourselves to you and we believe
that you can and will do a new thing in our hearts,
in our lives, in our churches, as we move forward
by faith, learning to love ourselves and others as
you love us, that in the years to come we may still
be running, still be praying, still be praising, still
be learning.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen.
Chapter 6

New Generation—
Unfinished Task

WHAT PART ARE YOU PLAYING in God’s plan for

the world?
God’s plan for the world did not finish with the crucifixion
and the resurrection. It is now carried on through his
church, as we are indwelt with the Holy Spirit on a day-
by-day basis. It will lead to nothing less than the birth of
the living church in every nation and people group. It will
also lead to healing and God-centred change on every level
of society.
This task of world evangelism and spiritual revolution
has been committed to all of us who know him and are his
disciples. There are no spectators. We are all to be in the
battlefield and a part of the action.
Jesus, before he left this earth, told us of the task we
are to complete and gave us a promise to take with us:
“All authority in heaven and on earth has been
given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all

113
114 The Revolution of Love

nations, baptising 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.” (Matthew 28:18–20)
This task that Jesus gave us is not some after-thought of
his ministry, but is the logical outcome and culmination
of the whole of his life and work. Its emphasis is not just
on preaching but on making disciples, and on teaching
obedience. And his command to make disciples of all
nations is to all of us. It is not just to a few who feel ‘called’,
or to Christian leaders or Bible college graduates. We all
have a part to play in God’s plan of reconciliation. And
his promise to be with us always is to be claimed as we go
forward in faith to obey his commands.

The Task
Patrick Johnstone, in his prayer handbook, Operation World
(see p 127), estimates the size of the task that lies before
us. First of all we have to think of those who have never
even heard the gospel. Out of the approximately five billion
people who made up the world’s population in 1986, there
were between one and two billion who had never heard
about the need for repentance and the good news of Jesus
Christ. There were also between three and four thousand
people groups who had no church or Christian fellowship
 New Generation—Unfinished Task 115

of their own, and these groups range from small minorities

to quite large nations.
You may have heard in the news recently about the
Kurds; one of the largest unreached people groups in the
world. There are approximately twenty million Kurds
who no longer have their own political nation; instead
they are split up mostly between the nations of Iran,
Iraq and Turkey. They were very badly affected by the
chemical warfare in the Iran/Iraq war. They are just one
of dozens of other unreached people groups I could tell
you about; all of these are covered in the prayer requests
in Operation World.
Patrick Johnstone also reminds us that each new
generation must be evangelised afresh: God has no
grandchildren. Each person, whether they come from
a Christian family or not, must respond to the message
of Christ. This means that the whole task facing us is
enormous. So how can anyone say that the day of world
missions is past?
To get the job done, if we are serious about following
the commands of Christ, there must be an increase in the
church’s witness worldwide that is at least in line with the
increase in world population. This is the task we are facing.
Jesus’ words have never been more relevant,
“The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.”
(Matthew 9:37)
In many, many areas of the world people are crying out for
116 The Revolution of Love

a Christian witness, and we must ask ourselves why they

have none.
Now I am not convinced that it is the will of God for
so many people groups to have no witness. And it follows,
therefore, that some or many of us are not playing our
part in God’s plan; we are not carrying out God’s complete
will, whether it be to pray or to send or to go. We cannot
blame it all on God any more than William Carey, the first
Baptist missionary to India, could when people told him
so many years ago, ‘If God wants the heathen to be saved,
then he will take care of it without the likes of you.’ It is
God’s plan as revealed in his Word that these people hear
the gospel; that they receive a witness.
The challenge of world evangelism is as great today as
it ever was. We can use any number of missionaries if they
are Spirit-controlled, and Spirit-guided, committed men
and women. As we see the opportunities that are before
us, I believe that there are unlimited possibilities for long-
term and short-term service.
The methods: long-term. Our objective is to witness to
the whole world, whether people respond to the message
or not. Obviously we must constantly re-evaluate what
we are doing and always try to improve the way we
communicate to people, and also pray strongly that they
will respond. But we must not give up and go home just
 New Generation—Unfinished Task 117

because people in some areas are slow to understand the

message and follow Christ.
We must understand that there may be many reasons
why people do not respond. This is why Operation
Mobilisation has been able to tackle the evangelism of
Muslims, where there has been very little response, because
we have men and women who stick to the task. In some
cases our missionaries have been working in Turkey, which
is a mainly Muslim country, for almost twenty-five years.
And still, after years of patient and sensitive evangelism,
there are less than a thousand indigenous believers in
Turkey (and most of these are from minority ethnic
groups).
“My food,” Jesus said, “is to do the will of him
who sent me and to finish his work.” (John 4:34)
Our first objective must be not to see how many we can
convert, but to obey God. I believe we need to learn about
stickability. Paul says in the letter to the Corinthians,
Stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give
yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because
you know that your labour in the Lord is not in
vain. (1 Corinthians 15:58)
And in the letter to the Galatians he backs that up:
Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the
proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not
give up. (Galatians 6:9)
Now in that sort of situation, where it’s not possible to
118 The Revolution of Love

turn the leadership of the mission over to the national

church, because there is no national church, and it may
take several years to learn the language and the culture,
we need long-term missionaries. We need people who
are prepared to make cross-cultural communication their
career, to study it and work at it for many years. We need
people who can remember that they are servants and that
their objective is not ultimately to lead the nationals but
to make it possible for the nationals to lead themselves.
Such people are rare, and we treasure every one of
them. In many specialised missions, such as hospitals,
schools and those which concentrate on pastoral training
and teaching, long-term missionaries are also needed. They
provide continuity, language and communication skills,
and much-needed experience and spiritual maturity.
The methods: short-term. However, many Christians seem
to have got the idea that these long-term missionaries, with
their high levels of gift and grace and training, are the only
sort of missionaries that are needed. I read a book recently
saying that if we had more short-term missionaries they
would only get in the way of the career missionaries and
the national church. Some Christian leaders have written
off all short-term missionary work as ‘superficial’.
Now this seems to me to be limiting God. Many
people who may not have the grace and the gift to be a
long-term career missionary learning Urdu or Arabic could
 New Generation—Unfinished Task 119

probably still make a major contribution by giving two

years of their lives to being God’s soldiers in an overseas
spiritual war zone, particularly in areas where there is no
other mission and there is no other church.
Young short-term workers (and those whose families
have grown up) are a practical answer to many of the
problems of world missions today. They are able to go
out to needy countries at a time of life when they may
not have received much training, but neither are they tied
down by the family responsibilities of young children or
elderly parents. They are also much cheaper to support.
These days, the support of a missionary family is beyond
the resources of many average-sized churches. So it makes
sense to send out young people to gain experience or test
a missionary call before they commit themselves to a
lifetime overseas.
And the short-term worker, whatever his training or
lack of it, can play a vital role working under the leadership
of the longer-term missionaries and the local church.
Literature is still a vital way to get the gospel out; you
don’t need a PhD or a theological education to distribute
powerful gospel literature written for the mind and the
mentality of the target audience. We can now use films
and videos and audio-cassettes, but you need people to
drive the vehicle, to run the projector, to cook the food.
We live in a highly technical world. It’s not any longer
120 The Revolution of Love

a matter of just getting Bible teachers and theological

graduates; they are also needed, but they may be limited
in their work without mechanics and engineers and
maintenance experts. We need dedicated arms and
dedicated eyes.
The big teaching in Britain, the USA and some other
countries now seems to be; go through university, get
as many qualifications as you can, get a good job, make
money, and then, when you are all settled down, if the
Lord leads, you can go to the mission field. Now this
sounds fine, but in fact it does not work. Some people do
manage it; but most of us, once we are married and settled
down with our children, are stuck with life.
It is understandable that with all the changes and
pressures that a growing family brings, we are unwilling
to take on yet more change and yet more unknowns.
And those that do go overseas at this phase of life are
usually the ones who have already got involved as short-
term missionaries when they were younger. We should be
encouraging our young people to make the most of their
flexibility when they have it, so that they can then make
informed decisions about where the Lord is leading them
and their families later on.
It’s about time that we understood the difference
between reality and geography. Of course we call people
to lifetime commitment. But to give the idea that people
 New Generation—Unfinished Task 121

who serve for two years and then return haven’t made
a lifetime commitment to Jesus Christ is false. Their
commitment to Christ is not affected by the country in
which they are living.
Of course we need people with a lifetime commitment
to serve the Lord overseas. But we shouldn’t force people
into such a commitment if they’re not ready for it, or if
their health won’t stand it, or those ‘lifetime’ missionaries
will be back home in a year or so anyway. Many of the
pioneer missionaries of the last century died within the
first few years of their overseas work, but we would hardly
write their work off as superficial.
I would like every young (and not-so-young)
Christian to consider the possibility, both for their own
spiritual growth and in obedience to Scripture, of two
years of cross-cultural communication on the spiritual
battlefronts around the world today. And let us not be
afraid that we’re going where we are not wanted. Church
leaders are coming to me almost daily, from every area of
the world where we are working, and asking, pleading for
more workers.
We should take note of the fact that the Mormons
have twenty or thirty thousand men on their short-term
overseas mission programme. They have made over a
hundred thousand converts in Britain alone. Is that
superficial? They let nationals take over the leadership of
122 The Revolution of Love

their groups and continue the teaching they have started,

and when the short-term missionaries return to America
they send another thirty thousand to take their place.
I believe the church of Jesus Christ should have at
least, at anyone time (as well as the long-term missionary
force), a hundred thousand men and women on a one-year
or two-year programme. They would not get in the way of
each other, or of the national church, if they were trained
in a few basic rules of the game; like submitting to the
national church leadership, working alongside people, not
lording it over them but learning from them, and making
sure that the leadership of any mission or missionary
project was transferred to the leadership of the national
church as quickly as possible.

The People
What is a missionary? Some people have a vision of a tall
white colonial figure in a pith helmet carrying a big black
Bible, marching through the jungle, attacking venomous
snakes with one blow of his machete and catching hordes
of cockroaches with his bare hands and dashing them to
the ground. Others imagine an elderly, humourless spinster
with a piano accordion teaching little black children to
sing ‘Jesus loves me’.
If this picture of a missionary was ever true (which I
doubt), it certainly isn’t true today. Modern missionaries
 New Generation—Unfinished Task 123

may be Bible teachers or evangelists or translators, or

they may be doctors or nurses or agriculturalists or
accountants or craft workers. Or they may be mechanics,
cooks, secretaries, bookkeepers, electronic engineers, or
people who are willing to go anywhere and do anything.
They must be prepared to go as learners and servants of
Jesus Christ and the national church, being what Patrick
Johnstone calls ‘self-effacing spiritual giants’ (see p 127).
If you don’t feel you’re a missionary type, take heart. I
don’t feel I’m one either. I sometimes think that I must have
been the most reluctant missionary in the whole world.
But the lady who prayed for me for three years prayed that
I would not only become a Christian but also a missionary,
so I didn’t really stand a chance. And, in fact, there is room
for every type of personality in mission work.
Many people are frightened by the idea that God
might want them to serve overseas, even for a year. Their
ideas of missionary work seem to be full of horrible insects
and eating all kinds of strange food and suffering in
extreme climates. But when they begin to understand the
depth of God’s love for them and move by faith, many of
them discover that they actually enjoy it when they get to
these countries.
The true missionary is not some kind of ascetic,
who is perpetually pining for his home comforts and his
McDonalds hamburgers. In any case, McDonalds are now
124 The Revolution of Love

getting there faster than we are! I have proved myself that

on the mission field, in Spain, Belgium, Holland, and then
India, in the midst of the battle there are many wonderful
and enjoyable aspects of missionary life. It is one of the
fullest, most challenging occupations anyone could ever
get into.
But don’t missionaries have to have a special call from
God? I don’t believe so. I think we’re far too inclined to
live by feelings rather than faith. A lot of ‘missionary calls’
are just that: feelings. Now God may at some point give
you an experience which may be a turning point in your
life. God is working in different people in different ways.
Some people have very emotional missionary calls. They
can tell you the moment and the hour they were called.
But many of you are never going to get that kind of
emotional call, so you might as well stop looking for it.
If you still feel you must have it, just write to me. I will
send one of my colleagues around to your house and we
will show you some slides and play you some inspiring
music all evening, and the next morning you will be ready
to go. I can assure you that you will probably not get very
far! Because those feelings are not going to last. Come the
first set of discouragements or the first two years with no
apparent results, that great emotional experience is going
to wear a bit thin, or maybe replaced by an equally strong
feeling that you ought to drop the whole idea!
 New Generation—Unfinished Task 125

It is my experience that many of the people who are

doing the greatest work in missions around the world have
never had a special call. Instead, they have realised that
Jesus’ command to witness to every nation applies to all
of us. They knew that they had some part to play in God’s
plan for the world, and they began to ask themselves what
it could be. And gradually, through reading the Bible,
listening to the advice of mature Christian friends and
talking to mission organisations, they discovered that they
themselves were needed overseas—maybe for a year, two
years, or even a lifetime.
The trouble with expecting a special ‘missionary call’
from God is that those who do not experience it tend to
assume that God does not want them to be involved with
missions. And those who do experience it sometimes tend
to see themselves as God’s gift to that country, rather than
as learners and strugglers, until they learn better. Maybe
when we all realise that we have our part to play, and that
those who send are at least as important as those who go,
we will be able to work together in partnership with each
other and with the national church.

God Can Use You

Now if you’re willing to play a part in God’s great plan for
this world, you must be ready to count the cost. Because
before God can use you to your full potential, you need to
126 The Revolution of Love

learn the basics of discipleship and commitment and the

revolution of love and all the other things we have talked
about in this book. That involves discipline; it involves
having your daily ‘quiet time’, and memorising Scripture,
and reading good Christian books and listening to good
Christian tapes. It involves being committed to your local
church. But it also involves leaving room for your own
personality to develop, as we discussed in the last chapter.
Superspiritual people do not survive under pressure.
If you spend two years overseas there’s a high chance
you’re never going to be the same once you come back.
You’ll have seen how God answers prayer, and how the
Holy Spirit changes lives, and you’ll have caught a glimpse
of what God is doing around the world. When people in
the church mention mission programmes and different
countries for prayer, they’ll be talking about real people and
friends that you have all over the world. You’ll have seen
the value of Bible study and memorisation, and praying
for the world, and surrendering everything to God and
depending on him for your everyday needs.
Of course living for God is a day-by-day walk, and
going on OM or any other programme doesn’t guarantee
that you’re going to walk with God all your life, in fact
it may mean that you become a greater target of Satan’s
strategies. So you must know how to withstand his
temptations.
 New Generation—Unfinished Task 127

Making your life available to God to use for his

purposes does not end with reading one book or going
to one conference or going on a training programme for
one year. When Jesus spoke about counting the cost of
discipleship, he emphasised the need for stick-ability,
telling the story of a man who began to build a tower and
did not have the money to finish it:
“Everyone who sees it will ridicule him, saying,
‘This fellow began to build and was not able to
finish.’ ” (Luke 14:29, 30)
Now if you are going to be able to finish God’s marathon
race, you will have to learn God’s pace for your life. God
does not want sprinters, who go incredibly fast but are
exhausted after a hundred metres, but marathon runners
who can go on and on. Many young people are impatient
to know God’s will for their life, when it may well be that
it is not God’s time for them to find out. There may be
things you have to learn and experiences you have to go
through before you are ready to hear God’s call.
The important thing is to go forward in obedience and
faith and not feel you have to force the pace, or you will
burn out before you have developed your full potential. It’s
not what you do in the next ten minutes that counts: that’s
important, but it’s what you do tomorrow and next week
and next year that really counts. Learn God’s pace for your
own life. Don’t try to run it at someone else’s pace.
128 The Revolution of Love

The Call: To Pray

If we really believe that God answers prayer, if we really
believe that God wants us to be involved in reconciling
the nations to himself, then praying for different
countries and the work of missions around the world
will become a natural part of our lives. Patrick Johnstone
says, ‘without prayer God’s plan for the world cannot
be achieved’ (see p 127).
I find it astonishing that whole churches do not seem
to have heard of the idea of interceding for the different
countries of the world. How can we gather Sunday after
Sunday in our churches, with some of the liveliest, largest
church movements in the world, and yet not pray for those
nations, those people groups, where the church doesn’t
exist at all?
I heard about a prayer meeting in an English city
recently where 15,000 people came. And yet we are
crying out for more workers to go and work with needy
churches overseas. Now if you can have a prayer meeting
with 15,000 people you should be able to send out 1,500
overseas workers within the next year or two or something
is wrong with the praying.
It is completely unscriptural to pray only for ourselves
and for our own country. We need the whole Word of
God. We’ve got churches that can praise the Lord and sing
choruses, they can have all kinds of wonderful fellowship
 New Generation—Unfinished Task 129

times, but if you call for an hour of intercession they look

at you as if you were some kind of dinosaur.
Often we simply do not have the time in our church
meetings for intercession. The space allotted to prayer is so
short; even in a prayer meeting we have so much singing
and ‘sharing’ that by the time we get ready to pray it is
almost time to go home.
How many churches devote a whole day or a whole
evening just to pray? Do we really believe God is listening?
Or is it simply that we have never learned how to pray?
As a teenager I started the habit of having half days with
God, then days with God; I often went into the hills or
the mountains just to pray. Now we need to be careful,
of course, that we’re not trying to clock up the hours or
the number of countries prayed for so that we can feel
‘spiritual’; that would be the height of hypocrisy.
My early attempts at getting alone with God weren’t
all success. I remember once going for a time of prayer
in Spain. I had decided that if the Lord Jesus could pray
through the night alone, I was going to pray through the
night alone. I’d been in nights of prayer with other people,
but there you get somebody else praying and it helps keep
you awake. So in great boldness I went outside the city
of Madrid for this night of prayer, and I’d also decided to
fast, so I brought a piece of bread with me that I thought
I would eat in the morning when I’d finished breaking
130 The Revolution of Love

through Satan’s strongholds and claiming Spain for Christ

(this was under Franco and we needed a lot of prayer, I
can tell you).
But it didn’t work. About two o’clock in the morning
I fell asleep out there by the river. Of course it’s very hot
in the day in Spain, but it got very cold at night and I
wasn’t dressed for it, having not really understood this.
So eventually I woke up, freezing cold, and decided I was
going to eat. I looked round for my bread, but it was gone.
To this day I don’t know what happened. I think perhaps
a wild animal came along, looked at me, didn’t see much
meat, and took the bread instead!
Don’t be discouraged because you fail in your prayer
life. Don’t be discouraged because your mind wanders.
Beware of becoming impatient with your spiritual growth
rate. Don’t feel you’re an extra evil person because in a
prayer meeting some amazing young woman or man walks
in and blows all your circuits.
Some people think that that kind of experience just
happens to the young carnal Christian, but I can tell you
from personal experience that it can happen to anybody. A
beautiful girl walked into a prayer meeting in Switzerland
a few years ago, and I could not think straight, let alone
pray. Eventually, though, the Lord helped me to bring my
mind under control in that prayer meeting and now I can’t
even remember what she looked like.
 New Generation—Unfinished Task 131

The Call: To Send

When God called the leaders of the church in Antioch
of Syria to send out the apostle Paul and Barnabas as
missionaries overseas (Acts 13:2, 3), he gave them an
important task. They laid their hands on Barnabas and
Paul and sent them off, but they were not forgotten. They
prayed for their missionaries, sent them all the financial
support they could spare, and, most importantly, they
continued to support Paul and Barnabas as part of their
church family. When the two missionaries returned after
several years, their eager reception shown by the Christians
in Antioch vividly demonstrated their love for each other
(Acts 14:26–28).
Was the role of the Christians who stayed in Antioch
less important, in spiritual terms, than that of their two
missionaries overseas? It may have been less dramatic,
less in the public eye. But their role was no less vital to
the work of the mission, because without their support
it is doubtful if it would have succeeded. If they had not
recognised their responsibilities, the whole of history
might have been different. Christians, even the apostle
Paul, are not meant to work in isolation, but as part of the
body of Christ.
Our aim as senders is simple; to accept responsibility
for those we send out and to love and support them as
members of our own spiritual family. That means loving
132 The Revolution of Love

them as we love ourselves; thinking when they need a letter,

when they need prayer, when they need warm clothes or
new shoes for their children; when they need a birthday
card or a little extra money for a special treat. When we
send missionaries out, whether or not we knew them
personally before they went out, we take on a partnership
with them in the work of God. It is up to us to keep our
side of the bargain.
Financial support is, of course; essential. Put simply, if
ten Christians give one-tenth of their income to missionary
work, they will probably be able to support one missionary.
But many church members simply cannot afford to give
one-tenth; others do not see the need. And missionaries
have families, and the work itself is expensive. So less and
less workers can be sent out.
It is not easy to be a dedicated sender in today’s
affluent society. When all around us are living only for
pleasure, it takes courage to be different and to persevere
in playing our part in God’s plan. And yet that part has
never been more essential.
In a world where millions are starving, where tens of
millions have no homes, where evangelists in India are
praying that they might have a bicycle (and some have been
praying for years), we Christians in the affluent society
have, I believe, failed to understand Christ’s demands
upon our lives. Luke 14:33 is very clear:
 New Generation—Unfinished Task 133

“In the same way, any of you who does not give
up everything he has cannot be my disciple.”
Those who support and love and pray are not ‘second-
class missionaries’; indeed, if there is going to be a
powerful missionary outflow, there must be a return to
the revolutionary standards of Jesus Christ and of the
New Testament church.
Maybe you feel that God wants you to be a sender
but you don’t know anyone who wants to be sent. Don’t
worry. Write to any mission society, particularly short-
term organisations like OM or the less ‘glamorous’ areas
like the home bases, and I guarantee you will find people
who are trying to obey God’s call to go out but are being
hindered by lack of support.
I believe that if you let God have his way in your life, if
you follow the Spirit of God day by day through difficulty,
through trials, and through discouragement, then you will
be part of God’s great plan to reach the nations; and to
build his kingdom around the world.

The Call: To Go
Are you willing to respond to God’s call to go? If God
began to show you that your part in his plan was to leave
your comfortable home and church and career for the
unknown, even if just for a few weeks or a year, would you
be willing to go?
Why are we afraid of God’s direction for our lives?
134 The Revolution of Love

When the government of Britain called for men to go into

the army for the Second World War and the Falklands
war, there were plenty of volunteers and people counted it
a privilege to be in the army.
People were not afraid in Iran in the recent Iran/Iraq
war, when hundreds and thousands of men and women
volunteered to be martyrs, and eleven-year-olds were sent
across the minefields to personally blow up the mines
with their feet. Their mothers danced at the funerals
because they had given another son to Allah, so great is
the fanaticism of modern-day Islam.
I wonder if there are some today who would be
willing to go out across the devil’s minefields, spiritually
speaking; maybe risk your future, or that lovely retirement
programme you’ve already been thinking about; maybe
risk even your life or your health, that one more nation
might hear the gospel, that one more unreached people
group might have a Christian witness, that one more soul
might be with God in eternity.
If we believe in the Word of God, the ministry of the
Lord Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit, let us commit
ourselves to reach the unreached, to take the gospel to every
nation and every people group and to every individual. Let
us commit ourselves to be his witness in these places, and
also through prayer and faith to see living churches born in
 New Generation—Unfinished Task 135

each one of these people groups that can multiply and reach
the rest of that people group with the Word of God.
If you go out even for only two years and disciple a
few nationals who know the language already and carry
on in that country for twenty or thirty years planting
churches, then you will know the joy of working together
with God.
Will anybody remember your name in some far-off
land twenty years from now? Will there be one Christian,
one church, that’s following Jesus because you obeyed,
because you were willing to make the sacrifice, because
you were willing to take God at his word? Maybe one
day, when you reach eternity, you will discover that one
of the people you told about the gospel or prayed for
became a believer. And he or she in turn obeyed God and
told the gospel to another person. And that person also
became a Christian and then brought to Jesus someone
who became a great evangelist, and brought thousands
of people to Jesus.
It’s the ricochet effect; the multiplication effect, the
teamwork principle, the domino effect with the Holy
Spirit pushing the dominoes. It’s one of the most exciting
principles you can ever get involved in. Will you do that?
Will you begin to take some steps of faith? Will you be
honest about where you really are spiritually, and learn
to repent of those things that are holding you back, so
136 The Revolution of Love

that as you pray with others you may begin to go forward

with God?
I challenge you to be a marathon runner for God
in this great task of world evangelism. And when you’re
knocked down, just get up, and get back in the race and
start running. When you fail, when you fall, get up! As
soon as you feel your hand touch the ground, get up! And
you’ll discover that some day, twenty or thirty years from
now, just like me, you’ll be still running the race; weary
sometimes, wounded sometimes, but still pressing on for
Jesus Christ. Let’s press on together for the kingdom of
God and world evangelism.
O Lord, as we come to you, we ask you to make
this great vision of reaching all people with the
gospel real to us. Lord, we believe by faith that it
can come to pass. We realise that we have a part
to play in your great plan for the world. We know
that the final decision is ours; that you will take us
so far, lovingly pushing and drawing us, but that
the ultimate step to be a doer instead of a hearer
must always be ours.
Help us to take it.
Amen.
 Bibliography

Love Covers. P. Billheimer. Christian Literature

Crusade, 1981.
The Calvary Road/Be Filled Now. R. Hession. Christian
Literature Crusade, 1988 (new combined edition).
Operation World. P. Johnstone. STL Books/WEC
Publications, 1986.
Audio-cassettes by Dr Francis Schaeffer.
A Living Reality (Life of George Mueller). R. Steer.
Hodder & Stoughton/STL Books, 1985.
The Set of the Sail. A.W. Tozer. STL Books/ Kingsway
Publications, 1986.
No Turning Back. George Verwer. Hodder &
Stoughton/STL Books, 1983.

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