Believers love to hear stories of prophets and missionaries who answer God’s call to carry his message to lost souls. One of the more inspiring examples is that of Isaiah, when the Lord pondered, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” To which Isaiah boldly replied, “Here I am! Send me” (Isaiah 6:8). This moment is so inspiring that we even have a classic hymn memorializing his response as a call to evangelistic action, Here Am I, Send Me! Have you ever paid attention, though, to the mission Isaiah was being sent to execute?

And he said, “Go, and say to this people: ‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’ Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and blind their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.” (Isaiah 6:9-10)

It is strange that his mission is not as chipper and hopeful as our hymnals encourage us to be. Instead of the expected calls to repentance and peace in YHWH, Isaiah’s task was to preach so that their ears would be heavy and eyes blind. He was to let them know that God’s patience had run out and imminent judgment was upon them. Yet, despite this how did Isaiah respond? He still preached. He knew that many of the people would ignore the warnings of God. But he still preached. He knew the result would be bad for them and he would be troubled because of those consequences. But he still preached.

What we find, then, is that Isaiah’s motivation was about the message from God, not the results.

In a performance-driven world, it is natural to look at the mission of Jesus and ask, “What’s the rate of return on our efforts? Am I going to get the desired results from investing myself in God’s mission?” Unfortunately, too many of us avoid getting fully involved in the mission of the God’s kingdom because we cannot know that the results will be favorable. Which leads one to wonder, “Are we motivated by results or by the message?”

Results can make us feel good and accomplished. They can give us a measure of whether or not our resources are being wisely utilized. None of this is bad in itself. However, being driven primarily by results can lead to weak loyalty. “What have you done for me lately?”

Conversely, being motivated by the message allows us to not worry near as much about the results, but focus on the One who sent us. When people ignore what we say, we still preach. When we know the consequences will be bad, we still preach. When that preaching falls on the ready heart and fruit is born from our labors, we still preach. We do this because our motivation is the message and the One who gave it. Whatever may happen…Glory Be to God!

Today, the call still goes out, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?”  Will your response be for love of results? Or for love of the message?

Cory Waddell