Posted in Christian Missions, Encouragements and Exhortations, God’s Work in Cameroon, Motivation for Missions

Minority People Groups will Rule the World

   August 29, 2015

“Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the Kingdom of God.” – Luke 6:20-26

We have at times been asked (and wondered ourselves) why we would choose to work with a minority people group when we could work with those who would be more likely to have a world-wide impact. The thinking is that if a Bakoum person comes to know Christ, he may be instrumental for the Kingdom among those who are in his village, but he will likely never travel nor write anything that could influence the masses. Conversely, if those who speak languages of wider communication come to Christ their impact for the Kingdom could be global. Why then invest our lives in a people group that will likely have very little influence? Our response is…

God has Chosen the Poor to be Rich in Faith

James 2:5 asks, “has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him?”

Jesus said in the beatitudes that his Kingdom belongs to the poor. So does that mean that all the people in our village are automatically guaranteed a place in Heaven because they are poor? Absolutely not, being poor is not what justifies. But it does mean they are more likely to be chosen by God, granted faith, and justified before the Father through faith. It is neither the rich nor the influential that God has chosen to be heirs of the kingdom but rather the destitute.

Jesus also presented the other side of the same coin in Luke 18:24 when he said “How difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” Although not impossible with God, it is very difficult for the wealthy to be a part of God’s kingdom. Think of how difficult it is in developed countries to persuade people that God exists and he has spoken to us through the Bible. This is simply not the case here. That there is a Creator God who has the right to tell us what to do and not to do is a presupposition that is not challenged in the least. Why? Because God has them the grace to accept this simple truth. The poor may not have a voice in the kingdoms of the world today, but the Lord has chosen themto believe and will later give them his kingdom.

Not only that, but the Lord also raises up the poor for the purposes of shaming the wise.
God uses the Poor to Shame the Strong

Very few in God’s Kingdom are considered wise according to the world, not many rulers of the world fear him, there are few of “royal blood” called by God. Instead the Lord has chosen to grant faith to those of whom the powerful scoff. In the words of Paul in 1 Corinthians 1:26-29:

“For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.”
The Lord has chosen to save many of the oppressed in the world today in order that they might rise up and shame their oppressors. This is illustrated well in the story of the Rich Man and Lazarus. As the story goes, there was a rich man who lived a life of wealth and indulgence. He often passed the poor beggars outside of his door and coldly refused to share even the crumbs from his table with them. One such man was named Lazarus who was so poor and destitute that even the dogs came and licked his sores. Both of these men died and Lazarus (who God had chosen to be rich in faith) went to Heaven while the rich man went to Hell. In his agony the rich man longed for Lazarus to just give him a drop of water, but he was denied this privilege. The nameless rich man was brought to shame whereas the dirty and despised poor man outside his door was given the kingdom. The rich man’s wealth could not bring him to God, nor did his political clout win him the privilege of God hearing his case. He was brought to nothing.
I imagine this was also the case with many of the Africans who were enslaved and brought to America to work for the rich. Many of these slaves were granted faith and are now in Heaven safe and happy. Perhaps the Lord permits some of their unbelieving slave owners in Hell look up to see them full and laughing while they languish in their misery. They are eternally shamed, eternally weak, eternally powerless.
The shaming of the world’s players is thus another reason why the Lord has chosen to grant faith to the nobodies.

So, from a human perspective, going to a minority people group is less than strategic. From a biblical perspective there is a world of hope that the Lord will grant our neighbors faith and use them to shame, for example, the scoffing college professors. Presently our neighbors are intoxicated with America as the greatest power in the world. Little do they know that they are the privileged ones to whom God will perhaps grant faith. They are among those who are the up-and-coming world powers that will rule and reign on the earth with King Jesus. Sometimes they look at the “whites” in the world and covet their power, but really it should be the other way around.
 —
 “Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread, but those who were hungry have ceased to hunger. He raises up the poor from the dust; he lifts the needy from the ash heap to make them sit with princes and inherit a seat of honor.” – 1 Samuel 2:5,8
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Author: Stacey Hare

Stacey is a servant of Jesus Christ as well as a wife, mom, linguist, and Bible translator among the Kwakum people of Cameroon.

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