Reggie Weems

Sunday morning I mentioned the new biography of William Carey (1761-1843), “I can plod.”  Carey is the father of modern missions.  His unswerving ability to remain stedfast in India (1793-until his death) at a single project is what made him singularly successful amongst early missionaries. 

He worte to his nephew, “Eustace, if after my removal anyone should think it worth his while to write my life, I will give you a criterion by which you may judge its correctness.  If he gives me credit for being a plodder, he will describe me justly.”  Anything beyond this will be too much.  I can pld.  I can persever in any pursuit.  To this I own everything.” 

Yet Carey was also fully aware of his own limitations.  He wrote to fellow Baptist Missionary Society friend, and the man who, “held the ropes” for him, Andrew Fuller, that, “I have hitherto had much experience of the daily supports of a gracious God, but am conscious that if those supports were intermitted but for a little time, my sinful dispositions would predominate.  At present, I am kept, but am not one of those who are strong and do exploits.” 

In this, Carey’s humility far underestimated his work.  His famed message “EXPECT GREAT THINGS FROM GOD. ATTEMPT GREAT THINGS FOR GOD”  (May 30, 1792) and the ensuing Enquiry Into the Obligations of the Christians to Use Means for the Conversion of the Heathen, launched the Baptist Missionary Society (October 2, 1972) and the modern world-wide missions movement.  Before he died, he translated the Bible into Bengali, Sanskrit and forty other languages.  At least four colleges are named after him, one of them, William and Carey in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, where my cousin teaches nursing.    

Yet before he died, he wrote to another Baptist friend, Dr. John Ryland, “Should you outlive me and have any influence to prevent it, I must earnestly request that no epithets of praise may ever accompany my name, such as ‘the faithful servant of God’ etc.  All such expressions would convey a falsehood.  May I but be accepted at last, I am sure all teh glory must be given to divine grace from first to last.  To me belongeth shame and confusion of face.”  

Faithful to that sentiment, on his deathbed he said to a missionary friend, “Dr. Duff! You have been speaking about Dr. Carey; when I am gone, say nothing about Dr. Carey — speak about Dr. Carey’s God.”      

William Carey did more than plod but was happy to be a plodder for Jesus!  Let us plod along!           

This entry was posted on Monday, June 30th, 2008 at 3:09 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.