The great missionary, pastor, missiologist and author, Roland Allan, once said, “Missionary zeal does not grow out of intellectual beliefs, nor our of theological arguments, but out of love.”
One can read and know intellectually that there are still millions that have not heard, and still millions without, food and clothing and shelter. One may know the Bible, memorize it’s sacred scriptues and resiting the texts with great passion. One might even know the great theologial arguments of our day and days gone by, and can skillfull argue the existance of God, the truth of the scriptures and the Great Commission. But, though all of these are good and honorable pursutes, in the absent of love, knowledge alone falls short when it come to the mission. In the absense of love, intellectual and theological recitations and arguments can sound like a clanging cymbil— the sound of a hammer banging on a sheet of brass. The sound is loud but the action is momentary. It is LOVE that compels us to action! God loved, therefore He sent His Son. We love therefore, we Pray, Give and we Go.
And so, may I ask you to love in a way that leads to action.