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Interpreting the Mandate

How do we catch the heartbeat of His mandate? How do we interpret His mandate? Rev James Singh, itinerant minister, teaches.

Modernization creates tensions in our cultural framework where it constantly changes how we approach evangelism. As an itinerant minister, I have found that the engagement techniques differ in different cultural settings, often making evangelizing more of a methodological stint than a pursuit from the heart. I shall not attempt to give techniques, but a biblical principle that I found to be most effective and lasting is essentially summed up in the word ‘burden’. There was a man, 400 years before Jesus Christ, who exhibited that kind of a proclivity, and that man was Nehemiah.

The Mandate of Evangelism Starts with a Burden

In Nehemiah 1:3, the remnants who survived the exile returned and were in great distress because the walls of Jerusalem were broken down and the gates had been burned with fire. And in verse 4, the Bible says that when Nehemiah heard this news, he was broken, and he wept and wept, prayed, and fasted.

But what broke Nehemiah’s heart? It was when he heard about the condition of the walls of Jerusalem that something profound welled up in his heart; and he said within himself, “Lord, something needs to be done. Something needs to change.” And if you read the entire chapter of Nehemiah 1, you will see how he handled the burden that he felt in his soul.

Nehemiah brought his burden before the Lord in prayer; and his life was never the same again because of that burden. Read Nehemiah 1:5-10 and discover the intensity of his prayer. In Nehemiah 2:4-7, his prayer became action when he went to Jerusalem with the king’s blessing to rebuild the broken wall and gates of Jerusalem.

Dear friends, we cannot effectively live out the mandate that God has given us – the Assemblies of God (AG) – if we do not have a burden in our hearts. The burden in our hearts must compel us to reach the lost. That burden must become a focal point from which all evangelism flows; and it should never be bypassed. Why? Because rote adherence to the mandate without the felt burden (i.e., knowing and feeling the heartbeat of God) runs the serious risk of becoming a drudgery; and before you know it, evangelism becomes ‘burdensome’ and a problem that needs solutions.

The Burden Needs to be Followed with Action

Having that burden is not enough. We need to take action! This pandemic has certainly brought its fair share of challenges; and it is now, more than ever, that the mandate of God’s commission needs to be actualized. Jesus says to us in John 4:35, “I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.” However, continuing to fixate on our own survival has made us indifferent and desensitized to reaching the very people who need the gospel – those who are walking into an eternity without Jesus.

Consumed by the burden he felt, Nehemiah took action. He was willing to leave the safety and comfort of the palace for a place of ruins, to supervise and rebuild the broken wall. Are we ready to step out of our comfort zone and apply God’s wisdom to reach out to the lost souls?

The Mandate Comes into Fruition

In closing, I would like to share with you a story that I have read in several biographies, and which has impacted my heart. This is a story of how one man with a burden, who takes action, can make a difference for generations that will come after. Allow me to paraphrase this story for you.

Henry Martyn was a man with lumps on the back of his hands. He was not a very good-looking man and therefore was self-conscious. One day a young woman paid him a little attention, and it grew into a romance. Her name was Lydia. Henry Martyn and Lydia became very close, probably heading towards marriage.

One day as he was sitting in a meeting, he began to sense a burden for India; and the promptings got deeper and stronger as the days went by. One day, he approached Lydia and said to her, “Lydia, God is calling me to go to India.” And she replied, “Henry, I do not have a calling to go to India.” As the days went by, he begged and pleaded with Lydia, but she said, “Henry, if you go to India, our relationship ends. I’m not going to marry you.”

Then one night, he went on his knees and prayed, “God, please tell me, is it going to be India or Lydia?” And he very quickly realized that it was the wrong question. He then corrected himself and began to pray, “Lord, is it You or Lydia?”

He went to Lydia and said, “I must make my choice – it’s going to be God or you.” She said, “Well then, you better choose God.” He arrived in Calcutta, India in 1805, exclaiming, “Now, let me burn out for God!” He was eventually kicked out of India, suffered from tuberculosis, crossed the Persian desert in intense heat, and he died when he was 31 years of age.

But do you know what he gave to the world before he died at the age of 31? He translated the New Testament from English into Hindustani and Persian and revised an existing Arabic translation. Three different versions of the New Testament was written by a man who had a burden for a nation that was not his. It started with a burden, and he proceeded to take action. Only then, can we see the fruits. Only then, can God’s mandate for us be fulfilled.

I want to give you a challenge. Would you ask God to put a burden for souls in your heart? Are you willing to step out in faith to take action for God? Fellow brothers and sisters in the Singapore AG, let’s rise up and make God’s mandate our mission!

Rev James Jagjeet Singh, is the overseer of Eagle’s Nest Church and an itinerant Evangelist under the Assemblies of God, Singapore. In this dual office, he carries a prophetic anointing and the fire of the Holy Spirit wherever he goes. His passion is to see revival come upon the churches. He graduated from Assemblies of God Bible College with a Bachelor of Theology. He is married to Rosie and together they have two children, Josiah and Sarabeth.