Uncommon Zeal

The Watchword of this blog is Jeremiah 6:16. It reads: 

"This is what the Lord says: “Stop at the crossroads and look around. Ask for the old, godly way, and walk in it. Travel its path, and you will find rest for your souls. But you reply, ‘No, that’s not the road we want!’"

The old Moravians account for some of the most inspiring, sacrificial and bodacious stories of Christian missions history - ever! They represent the godly path - the good way. It would be well for contemporary Moravians and all Christians to ponder at length Jeremiah 6:16 and c.f. with the 18th and early 19th century Moravians. 

One in sixty. That is how many Moravians, under the leadership of Count Zinzendorf, went as cross-cultural missionaries, planting mission stations in the Virgin Islands, Greenland, South America, North America, South Africa, and Labrador. 

Ponder that number of 1 in 60. The Episcopal Church has approximately 2.5 millions. To equal the ratio of the early Moravians the Episcopal Church would have to find approximately 42,000 missionaries in the pews. 

Where did the Count acquire the motivation, zeal, strength and persistence to lead the early Moravians into such fervid missionary work?

First, we note that in 1719 Zinzendorf was impacted by a painting of Christ enduring the crown of thorns. The inscription read, "All this I did for you, what are you doing for me?"  This seminal encounter moved Zinzendorf to choose not the life of a nobleman but rather that of a minister of the Gospel.

Second, Zinzendorf a man of Scripture and follower of Jesus did not believe in universalism nor would he understand those who claimed Jesus but were universalists.

Universalists subscribe formally or informally to a theological doctrine that all human beings will eventually be saved - with or without faith in Jesus Christ. The contemporary church is in many cases led, by universalists. Denominations that harbor universalists cannot and will not get beyond thinking of missions as social work. The Count and the early Moravians would have nothing of that. They went out to save souls, and meet human need, and nothing less.

Third, in 1727, during a communion service, the Holy Spirit moved powerfully on all that were present. Out of that holy communion service on August 13, 1727 advanced a prayer meeting. Their prayer was for the lost both near and far. The prayer gatherings met seven days a week - twenty-four hours a day. It continued without interruption for more than one hundred years. This was undeniably a primary force behind the great Moravian missions movements of the 18th century.

The two first Moravian missionaries, on October 8,1732, set sail from Copenhagen for the West Indies. On board were John Leonard Dober, a potter, and David Nitschman, a carpenter. The only way to reach the slaves of the West Indies with the Gospel was to become one of them. These two men set sail with the objective of selling themselves into slavery to reach the slaves if they must. This is zeal - New Testament zeal. 

Upon arriving at the shores of their destinations, some of the Moravian missionaries would unload their few belongings and then burn the ships. It was a refusal to look back. 

May their tribe increase in our day.