Matt Carter shares four reasons why we should be passionate about the nations.
He says, “Foreign missional engagement is excellent for our own personal sanctification…I’m going to be honest, if your successful as a Christian leader in this country, if you’re successful and lots of people come to Christ and get saved, if a bunch of people start coming to your church in the United States (and by the way that’s great, that’s kind of the point), then here’s what’s going to happen if you’re numerically successful as a Christian leader in the United States: People are going to applaud you for it. That’s just how we’re wired as Americans, maybe as people…People are going to reward you for it. People are going to know your name…
Whether you’re in a place where you’re willing to admit it, what I really believe is that there’s a lot of us in this room, that there’s a small percentage of our hearts maybe (maybe it’s really, really, really small), that’s motivated to do what we do as Christian leaders so that we will see the applaud and the approval of the people around us. Engaging in foreign missions is really good at combating the idolatry of our hearts. You know why…? Because when you engage in foreign missions nobody gets the glory, but Jesus!”