The Weeping Church

This past week I was planning a trip to India. It looks like the best dates to go will be the end of July. Cindy Perry wrote, “That's middle of the monsoon rainy season, so be prepared for heat and 100% humidity.” My response, “missionaries need to suffer!”

Let’s be clear, I am NOT a better missionary if I sweat more during the trip. In fact, we see in Psalm 126 that the most important requirement for a missionary is not more sweat, it is more tears. Verse 5 says, “Those who sow in tears shall reap with joyful shouting.” We share the Good News of deliverance because we have shed tears over the suffering and rejection of this world.

Verse 6 says, “He who goes to and fro weeping, carrying his bag of seed, Shall indeed come again with a shout of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.” We cannot stop living and sharing the Good News because we know that God can give others hope and joy.

Where are our tears? Is serving simply a task that we must achieve as a Christian? It is good to shed tears for suffering in this world today. It is good to weep while we struggle to share the Good News. My prayer is that as we grow in our Global Missions ministry that our church will be known as a church that knows how to cry.