“One of the first, and most important of those duties which are incumbent upon us, is fervent and united prayer. However the influence of the Holy Spirit may be set at nought, and run down by many, it will be found upon trial, that all means which we can use, without it, will be ineffectual. If a temple is raised for God in the heathen world, it will not be by might, nor by power, nor by the authority of the magistrate, or the eloquence of the orator; but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of Hosts.”
The theology of missions, or missiology, of William Carey captures two essential things in Christianity: orthodoxy (right belief) and orthopraxy (right action). Carey taught that nothing could be advanced for the gospel through human powers, only God the Holy Spirit could reach the lost. This is the divine monergism (God’s work) of the broad Augustinian and Biblical Tradition Carey was a part of. Carey notes that all the gimmicks, all the “means” in the world of reaching sinners is useless without the Holy Spirit. The American revivalist Charles Finney was once said to have blasphemously claimed that he was such a skilled preacher, that he could start a revival even without the Holy Spirit. This was not at all Carey’s theology.
However, he does not end with a bare affirmation of God’s work in salvation. Carey realized the mysterious way in which the gospel not only calls us to salvation, but also to service. In this, he was incredibly practical, and thus he wrote:
“Many can do nothing but pray, and prayer is perhaps the only thing in which Christians of all denominations can cordially, and unreservedly unite; but in this we may all be one, and in this the strictest unanimity ought to prevail. Were the whole body thus animated by one soul, with what pleasure would Christians attend on all the duties of religion, and with what delight would their ministers attend on all the business of their calling. We must not be contented however with praying, without exerting ourselves in the use of means for the obtaining of those things we pray for. Were the children of light, but as wise in their generation as the children of this world, they would stretch every nerve to gain so glorious a prize, nor ever imagine that it was to be obtained in any other way.”
Carey sought to employ the whole church of Christ in this work, even those who were so divided that all they could do was pray. This was the next step of involvement. Faith in God’s promises led to prayer, and this faith and prayer led to more united mission.
Furthermore, Carey finally urged people to do everything they could do advance the Kingdom of Christ, by preaching and by prayer. They would do this, not in fear of these souls being lost, but trusting that even their own actions and efforts, had been planned by God for the working of his redemption. Rather than trust in the Holy Spirit’s converting power leading to laziness, he believed it would lead people to confidence and action, knowing that those who labour in the Lord, do not labour in vain (1 Cor. 15:58).
With such a mission statement and plan set out, Carey hoped to travel to India, but arriving at the Isle of Wight he was delayed, since the East India Company did not want missionaries in the British colony (missionaries had a tradition of disrupting colonial rule, by working to protect the natives against exploitative white settlers). Nonetheless, Carey prayed and knew that God was faithful, and trusting in his promises, continued to hope and plan for his voyage. Eventually a Danish ship’s captain agreed to take him (Lutherans like the Danish were among the first missionaries supported by England to preach in India). With that, he was off into the unknown, never to return…