Eternity In Their Hearts

Eternity In Their Hearts (Revised), by Don Richardson

The premise of this book is as follows: Christian missionaries show up in some remote corner of the world, trying to figure out how to tell the natives that God loved them so much that He sent his Son to die for them. They greet the missionaries, saying that yes, they know the great God already but did not know what his plan was to redeem mankind. Or better yet, that the great God told them the missionaries were coming and they had been waiting anxiously for the words the missionaries wanted to tell them.

Apparently, this has happened many times throughout the world, and throughout history. The author also takes the reader through the Bible and explains how and why God is able to speak to "pagan" people, even without a missionary presence. (The answer? God speaks to people when their hearts are ready, not when a Christian decides to listen up and follow God to a remote corner of the world.)

The bottom line that hit home for me is that some Christians are incredibly stuck up, to think that God needs us to go and preach the good news. In truth, He wants us to go. We will be blessed by the fruits of our labors and our obedience to Him. But He doesn't need us to go. If we refuse, there will be another way for Him to speak to people who need to hear the good news, but we will have lost the opportunity to play a key role in it.

Thats all I really have to say about it. Its quite a fascinating book, especially from a historical standpoint.