IMB President challenges Seminary “to have a heart for missions”

posted on Nov 01, 2011 by D.J. Castilleja

The International’s Mission Board’s top executive challenged the Midwestern Seminary family “to have a heart for missions,” and also laid out the organization’s plan for reaching people around the world with the Gospel during a chapel service on Oct. 18.

Dr. Tom Elliff, the IMB’s president, shared with the capacity audience that it was a misconception that everyone in the world has access to the Gospel. “The truth is that about 1.7 billion people of our 6.9 billion world population will in all likelihood die without hearing the name of Jesus unless something happens,” Elliff said, emphasizing the importance of missions. “There are approximately 3,600 people groups among whom there are no entities with ‘boots on the ground’ to evangelize them and to disciple them with the view to create churches.”

According to the IMB’s website, a people group is the largest group of people through which the gospel can flow without encountering significant barriers of understanding and acceptance. Out of the 11,571 known people groups, 6,685 are defined as “unreached.” An unreached people group is where Evangelical Christians comprise less than 2 percent of the total population. Of these 6,000-plus unreached people groups, 3,607 are defined as “unengaged.” A people group is considered engaged when a church planting strategy, consistent with Evangelical faith and practice is underway.

In explaining the difficulties of reaching these unreached people groups, Elliff said, “It is a shame that we can literally see these people groups – they are on top of very high mountains that people are unwilling to scale, and they are in deep valleys where people are unwilling to travel. And many of them are in closed countries.”

As a result the IMB sees its purpose as a facilitator that sends missionaries out into the field from the SBC churches.  “The IMB doesn’t send missionaries – churches send missionaries,” he said. “The church has the capacity to seek God and to find out how to penetrate the darkness of this world with the Gospel of Christ. We don’t want you to partner with us – we want to partner with you.”

Transitioning to the main content of his message, Elliff asked, “Do you have a heart for missions?” He then explained the difference between having a “heart for missions” versus simply being “for missions.” By looking to Romans 1, he explained what he called the “I am” heartbeats of a heart that is for missions.

For the first heartbeat, the IMB leader referred to Romans 1:14 where Paul stated, “I am obligated.”  Elliff explained that “Paul had a profound personal debt that he could not get away from.” He exhorted students saying that the same indebtedness that Paul experienced throughout his life in Christ is the same indebtedness that we should all have.  “I am grateful to have God’s grace shared with me so now I must share it with others,” he said.

The second heartbeat Elliff noted was having an eager passion for the gospel. “The focus of Paul’s passion was preaching the Gospel,” he said. The prominent SBC leader encouraged students to be as Paul, who said, “I am not ashamed of the Gospel because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes.”

Elliff concluded his message with an invitation that challened faculty, staff and students to come to the front stage in a demonstration of commitment in “having a heart for missions.”

Following the chapel service, the IMB executive met with area church leaders in an informal gathering to discuss IMB strategy and answer questions.  One query posed by a pastor in attendance was “how missionaries would be selected in the future?” Among the priorities Elliff mentioned was the need for missionaries to believe and defend the Baptist Faith and Message, Southern Baptists' doctrinal statement.  He also said they must start raising their own support, going on to make it clear he meant "prayer support"--finding 100 people to spend one-hour weekly in prayer for them. Furthermore, the missionary must visit churches to share about what is taking place with IMB missions, he said. “Sending involves tight connection between the church and the missionary,” Elliff said.

“It is always an encouragement to have Tom Elliff on our campus to encourage and motivate our students about the importance of spreading the Gospel to the ends of the earth. He is highly respected as a leader among Southern Baptists, and it is a great honor to have him with us,” said Dr. Phil Roberts, Midwestern’s president. “Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary is committed to playing an instrumental role in the great things that the International Mission Board is doing for the kingdom. Training our students to serve the church with an emphasis on missions and evangelism is key to furthering the Great Commission and reaching the nations with the Gospel within our lifetime.”

Additionally, Elliff spoke of the Embrace Seminars that are meant to develop a greater understanding of the IMB’s role in reaching the 3,600 unreached people groups in the world for Christ.  Upcoming seminars will take place at Hillcrest Baptist Church in Cedar Hill, Texas, on Oct. 27, Applewood Baptist Church in Denver on Nov. 4, and Immanuel Baptist Church in Highland, Calif., on March 24, 2012.  To learn more about the IMB, go to imb.org.

To hear Elliff’s complete message, go to MBTS Audio Podcast and scroll to the entry on Oct. 18.

D.J. Castilleja is the Communications Assistant at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.