Have you ever heard of the Moravian missionary movement? The legacy of the Moravians’ missions movement is magnificent and inspiring. Led by Count Nicolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf, the Moravians became missionary senders 60 years before the modern missions movement began with William Carey and more than one hundred fifty years before the faith missions movement found its stride with Hudson Taylor. Colin Grant writes that four things characterized the Moravian missionary movement: (1) Spontaneous obedience; (2) Passion for Christ; (3) Courage in the face of danger; and (4) Tenacity of purpose.[1]
First, spontaneous obedience was the immediate reaction which the Moravians had to the call to reach the world with the Gospel. Instead of excuses and hesitation, the Moravians embraced God’s plan for the world and joyously threw themselves into action.
Second, their passion for Christ was to know him more (cf. Phil 3:7-10) and to make him known. Christ had changed their lives and it was their passion for Christ that fueled their missionary endeavors.
Third, their courage in the face of danger was a hallmark of their missionary enterprise. They did not shy away from difficult assignments. In one stunning example of their dedication, some Moravian missionaries even sold themselves into slavery because it was the only way to gain access to the slaves on Caribbean plantations. There was no ‘short-term’ mission trip for the Moravians, it was all or nothing.
Fourth, their tenacity of purpose kept their goal of spreading the Gospel primary. Rather than get distracted with building systems, or schools, or clinics, or whatever, their all-consuming desire was to make Christ know wherever they might go. It was wonderfully simple. They let nothing stop them from accomplishing their purpose.
However, there is one thing that Colin Grant omits from his article on the Moravians. For some reason, Colin Grant ignored the most important facet of the Moravian movement: prayer. The Moravians upheld their missionaries in prayer 24 hours per day, 7 days a week, and continued that practice for more than 100 years![2] Without a doubt, it is this commitment to align themselves with the heart of God through prayer that drove their passion for missions for so long. Sadly, this commitment to prayer is exactly what the modern church is missing. Prayer for the lost and for the unreached is mostly (if not entirely) absent from our models of ‘doing church’ these days. Much attention is given to worship styles, to the crafting of our messages, and to creating the proper atmosphere in church in order to create a memorable experience, but very little thought is given to how we might align our hearts with God in order to intercede for the lost in this world.
In fact, when I consider the modern church in contrast with the Moravians, we today are woefully inadequate in so many ways. Our spontaneous obedience is lacking, our passion for Christ is fragmented, our courage is intimidated, and our tenacity of purpose is distracted. I can hardly compare positively the 21st-century church and the Moravians. We are still in the minor leagues. We have a long way to go even to begin to compare ourselves with those spiritual giants of three hundred years ago.
Maybe we can start, like the Moravians, by aligning ourselves in prayer with God and His heart for the unreached and the lost. But when we do that, we ought to get ready for revival—because it will come!
[1] Colin Grant, “Europe’s Moravians: A Pioneer Missionary Church,” Evangelical Missions Quarterly 12 no 4 (October 1976): 219-224.
[2] Ruth Tucker, From Jerusalem to Irian Jaya: A Biographical History of Christian Missions, 2nd ed. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2004), 101.
