What happens if we don’t GO?

And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. Mark 16:15

Every missions journey comes with many reflections on the fulfillment of the Great Commission. This year’s preparation for Go-North Missions came with many faith crises and deep reflections.
One of such reflections occurred when the FHI Missions Team members were crossing the Dambai river in the Oti Region in Ghana with a ferry. As we waited for the second badge of the team to cross the river, I asked myself a question: what happens if we don’t GO?
I started to ponder on the consequences of our refusal to obey the great commandment.

For the past four years, FHI’s missionaries have been going to Wulensi in the Northern Region of Ghana to reach out to the unreached Nanumba people group. The Nanumba people group is one of the 19 unreached people group in Ghana and the 6701 unreached people group in the world. We have been going but what happens if we refuse to Go!

During my reflection and discussion with other brethren on the missions field, we settled on these three consequences of disobedience to go to the Unreached People.

Mere Creature -Unsaved people become mere creatures when we refuse to go to the missions field. They become living beings without the life of God residing in them. They just exist without any purpose. They live in accordance to the sinful nature.
If we do not GO with the life changing Gospel, many people will not experience the reality of being new creatures in Christ. They will still live to please the sinful nature of the old man. Their souls will not be saved and their minds will not be transformed. Their spirits will be dead. At the end, such people will just exist without any meaningful life to the society.

Many will Perish– Many lives will be destroyed if we refuse to go to the missions field. They will not get the opportunity to hear the Gospel and believe in Jesus Christ. If they don’t hear the gospel, they will not believe and if they don’t believe they will perish. A lot of people will be going to hell because of our disobedience. Many lives are being ruined by sin, suffering and sorrow because no missionary has been sent to them. Go-ing is rescuing the perishing. If we do not want anyone to perish then we ought to Go!

More Sin, Suffering and Sorrow – Sin keeps on increasing, suffering is seen everywhere and sorrow has filled the hearts of many people because we have refused to go to the missions field. The only antidote for sin, suffering and sorrow in the world is the transforming Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. If we refuse to go, what happens is that more variety of sin and wickedness emerges which causes more sorrow and suffering. The world will continue to experience more sin, suffering and sorrow because of the disobedience of Christians to go.

There are many negative things that will happen if we don’t GO with the Gospel to the unreached, neglected and forgotten people of the world. The disobedience of God’s children to the Great Commission always has several and severe consequences to the world. People will continue to live as mere creatures and many will perish. Our world will keep on increasing in sin, suffering and sorrow. We can change the story if we decide to go or support others to go to the missions field.

The next time you get the opportunity to go or support others to go and you fail to do so, kindly remember that the above are the negative consequences that happen when you and I refuse to go or support others to go.
May the Lord help us all to obey the great commandment.

Author by: Samuel Kofi Asiamah (FHI Executive Director)