By Tom A. Faulk

A Pioneering Spirit was written several years ago, around the time I started the Northeast Church Planting Conference in 2016. It has not been preached in a pulpit, presented in an article, or posted on social media until today. I have always been apprehensive regarding some material. At 70 years of age however, I feel that it is time to express my heart. Enjoy!

Text: Romans 15:17-20

What is a pioneering spirit? A pioneering spirit is a willingness to endure hardship in a journey to explore new places or new challenges. The Oregon Trail describes such a spirit as Americans pushed their way from the east to the west to homestead unexplored territory.

The Oregon Trail was roughly a 2,000-mile route from Independence, Missouri, to Oregon City, Oregon. The route was used by hundreds of thousands of American pioneers in the mid-1800s. The trail was arduous and snaked through Missouri, and present-day Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, Idaho and finally into Oregon. Early pioneers proved that Americans are willing to endure hardship, fight their way through difficulties, sickness, abnormality, and rugged terrain in their quest to homestead in a new land. It has been estimated that 300,000 people migrated along the trail.

Planning a five- to six-month trip across rugged terrain was no easy task and could take up to a year. Emigrants had to sell their homes, businesses and any possessions they couldn’t take with them. They also had to purchase hundreds of pounds of supplies that included food and ammunition. One of the most important items for survival on the trail was the covered wagon. It had to be sturdy enough to withstand the elements yet small and light enough for a team of oxen or mules to pull day after day.

One in ten who embarked on the trail did not survive. Most people died of disease such as dysentery, cholera, smallpox, or the flu. Some died in accidents caused by inexperience, exhaustion, and carelessness. It was not uncommon for people to be crushed beneath wagon wheels or accidentally shot to death. Many people drowned during perilous river crossings. As more and more settlers headed west, the Oregon Trail became a well-beaten path and an abandoned junkyard of surrendered possessions. It also became a graveyard for tens of thousands of pioneer men, women and children and countless livestock.

Over time, conditions along the Oregon Trail improved. Bridges and ferries were built to make water crossings safer. Settlements and additional supply posts appeared along the way which gave weary travelers a place to rest and regroup. With the completion of the first transcontinental railroad in Utah in 1869, westward wagon trains decreased significantly as settlers chose the faster and more reliable mode of transportation. By 1890, the railroads had all but eliminated the need to journey thousands of miles in a covered wagon. Settlers from the east were more than happy to hop a train and arrive in the West in one week instead of six months.

The pioneering spirit of the 1800’s is a part of the fiber that made America a great and growing nation! A pioneering spirit, in my opinion, is essential to the growth of the Gospel in America. We must, by faith, like the Apostle Paul, take our journey to areas of own country “not where Christ was named” (Ro 15:20-21) to preach the glorious Gospel and plant indigenous churches.

A pioneering spirit is essential to the growth of the Gospel in America.

A PIONEERING SPIRIT REQUIRES A COMMITMENT WITHOUT CONDITIONS.

We can soon find ourselves intrigued with those who bravely blazed a trail toward the old west to homestead in uncharted territory or respectfully we will find ourselves commending the faith of missionaries, who by faith, relocated to serve the Lord in the 10/40 Window, for example, to live under extreme and life threatening conditions, and to be separated from western civilization that once included family, friends, schools, housing, and modern conveniences, however, many, sadly, will have a difficult time surrendering to go anywhere without bargaining for perfect conditions.    

There are some today, though I’m not certain where it evolved, that have conditions and will unashamedly declare them, as if to say, if my conditions are not satisfied, I will not go. Some are seeking a position with a shopping list. Whatever happened to the day when decisions were based on prayer and fasting and the leading of the Holy Spirit. The will of God demands unconditional surrender. There are ministry leaders, and pastors for whom we should not work and ministries to avoid. Discretion is advised, however, we must exercise faith as they did in Hebrews 11.

J. Hudosn Taylor said, “I am no longer anxious about anything, as I realize the Lord is able to carry out His will, and His will is mine. It makes no matter where He places me, or how. That is rather for Him to consider than for me; for in the easiest positions He must give me His grace, and in the most difficult, His grace is sufficient.”

We will sooner quote missionaries, evangelists, and pastors of days gone by but refuse to live by the same faith by which they lived. Are we ignoring the pioneering spirit of the Book of Acts? We must surrender, regardless of the consequences, to what God has called us to do.

• Did the Apostle Paul negotiate a contractual agreement when he said in Acts 9:6, “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?” 
• Did Isaiah have any stipulations when he said, “Here am I; send me.”
• Elijah cast his mantle upon Elisha, and Elisha “left the oxen” in 1Kings 19:20.
• Peter and Andrew upon being called by the Lord, “left their nets, and followed him” according to Matthew 4:19-20.
• Did Jesus have conditions before agreeing to be made in the likeness of men? Php 2:7-8, “But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.”

Are we willing today to blaze a trail, or are we looking for a trial already blazed? Are you willing to pioneer or are you searching for a position that will satisfy your conditions of Christianity?

“If you have men who will only come if they know there is a good road, I don’t want them. I want men who will come if there is no road at all.”

David Livingstone

A PIONEERING SPIRIT REQUIRES A COMMITMENT WITHOUT A CEILING.

The saying, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going” is attributed both to Joseph P. Kennedy (1888-1969), father of the USA President John F. Kennedy and to Norwegian-born American football player and coach Knute Rockne (1888-1931).

Three times in Luke 14 it says “ye cannot be my disciples.” Strong language indeed. When does this truth apply? Notice the verses below.

• Lu 14:26, If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.
• Lu 14:27, And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.
• Lu 14:33, So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.
  
  To summarize, discipleship requires according to Luke 14.
• That you love God mostly (compare with Mt. 10:37).
• That you bear your own cross. The cross is symbolic of suffering, or partaking of the sufferings of Christ (1Pe 4:12-14). Unfortunately, this kind of Christianity can and will separate us from family. (Compare with Mt. 10:34-39; 1Pe. 2:19-24).
• That you make sacrifices which are not really sacrifices. It’s not a sacrifice to labor for the Lord, but a privilege. (Compare with Ro. 12:1-2; Php. 3:7-8)

We must count the cost to prepare accordingly but the cost should not have a ceiling, or a cap. The reputable hardness of New England for example, draws the line in the sand for some. The thought of being a bi-vocational pastor turns many away. I’m simply saying that nothing under heaven should dissuade you from surrendering to the divine will of God. Peter was told by the Lord in John 21 that he will lose his freedom and in time suffer a martyr’s death. He concludes with these words, “follow me.” Jesus did not give Peter a reason to turn back, but a reason to redeem what time he has to serve the Lord. Read carefully Jn 21:18-19, “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not. This spake he, signifying by what death he should glorify God. And when he had spoken this, he saith unto him, Follow me.”

“But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.”

Acts 20:24

In an article called Life and Death on Oregon Trail the author said, “The pioneers encountered their first hardship before they even left home, as leaving friends and family behind was difficult.” Henry Garrison described his uncle’s parting from Iowa: “When Grandmother learned the next morning that they were then on their way, she knelt down and prayed that God would guard and protect them on their perilous journey.” She would never see them again.

The article referred to their circumstances as “lethal circumstances.” The closing paragraph reads, “The Oregon Trail is this nation’s longest graveyard. Over a 25-year span, up to 65,000 deaths occurred along the trails. If evenly spaced along the length of the Oregon Trail, there would be a grave every 50 yards from Missouri to Oregon City.

While we prepare for full-time ministry, we must realize, accept, and prepare for a costly journey. A pioneering spirit, is a spirit that God blesses, a spirit essential to the spread of the Gospel in America. Realize that the trail upon which God has called you to blaze may not be flanked with flowers, and the road itself is often paved with hardship. Would I dare to draw a line in the sand, and go no further for God, when He went all the way to Calvary for me!

A PIONEERING SPIRIT REQUIRES A COMMITMENT WITHOUT COMPROMISE.

Because the journey to Oregon was arduous, pioneers were careful not to compromise the safety of their family or the journey itself. Pioneers or emigrants banded together into parties or companies for mutual assistance and protection. Parties usually consisted of relatives or persons from the same hometown. Organization was required to ensure a successful journey. The most successful groups had a written constitution, resolutions, or by-laws to which the emigrants could refer when necessary.

The first missionary trip was comprised of a team of 3 men including the recommendation of a sending church according to Acts 15:36-41, including the support of other churches, namely the church at Philippi. The first time Saul is called Paul is in Acts 13:13, and it is the first time that the missionary team of 3, soon to embark on their first trip into Asia Minor, is referred to as “Paul and his company.”

• Pioneering requires a call from God (Acts 13:1-3).
• Pioneering requires a constitution, the Word of God.
• Pioneering includes accountability (Acts 14:26).
• Pioneering includes support (Acts 13:1-3; 14:26)
• Pioneering includes assistance (Acts 13:13)
• Pioneering can include partnering with local churches (Php 4:10-19)
• Pioneering targets un-evangelized areas. (Acts 13-28; Romans 15:17-20)

In our quest to do the will of the Lord, may we endeavor not to compromise the purity of the Gospel, the integrity of Scripture, the journey to which we have been called, the safety of our family, others, or our own testimony by being careless.