Lottie Moon was a changed woman, from the teenager who once told people her middle name was ‘devil.”  But her life in Christ also shows sanctification, for coming to China was racial superiority in her heart, she prepared for her next voyage to heaven consumed with seeing the Chinese come to Christ. In truth, she was a disciple of Christ that had left every thing in order to follow her Savior.  Like Jesus words in Mark 10:29-31, she embodied the call of discipleship, and she was rewarded handsomely for all that she left.

Consider Jesus words again, in light of Lottie’s life…

“Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel [Lottie had done all of those things], who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life.But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”

Lottie’s name lives on in missions history and in the Southern Baptist’s yearly Christmas offering which goes exclusively to fund missionaries all over the world.  Her life is filled with examples of God’s providence and favor, even as she endured many trying times.  Overall, she is an inspiration to missional living, one who gives us many lessons for following her faithful example.  Let us consider six of them.

1. She was a constant student.  She loved learning about her master and how to reach others with the message of Christ.  While she was predisposed towards learning even before her salvation; it is evident that salvation fueled her love for knowing more about her Savior.  In this way, she was a true disciple.
2. She accepted the tragedies of life as means of sanctification and guidance in her life.  It is easy to grow embittered by the things God’s brings into our life, but in Lottie we see how God turns the poisons of life into useful medicines to cure her of deadly heart diseases.
3. She constantly inquired into how she might best use her life for the service of her king.  She teaches us to not grow satisfied with this life, but to improve our lives with a greater zeal for Christian service.  At all times, we ought to be willing to leave everything behind and follow Christ.  Lottie did, and she challenges us to do the same.
4. She found her treasure in the unseen realities of life.  With such heavenly treasure in her heart, she exhausted her life for the sake of the Chinese and for the sake of the missionary endeavors of Southern Baptist.
5. In Lottie Moon, we see an example of a genuine follower of Christ.  She did not arrive in China as the perfect specimen of missionary service.  She was disgusted by the culture and the primitive conditions of the Chinese, and yet, in time God grew her to be Christ-like in her service.  She became a living sacrifice, one that we do well to consider and imitate the faithfulness of her life.
6. Finally, her life in comparison to Crawford Toy is striking modern-day parable.  Like the contrast between the rich young ruler and the children who sought Jesus presence, Toy and Moon reflect two kinds of people.  In Toy, we see someone who gained the whole world—he achieved academic success, he was Harvard professor beloved of students and acclaimed as a brilliant scholar—but who in the end forfeited his own soul.  He lost is luster for Christ and he died as a mere theist.   In Lottie Moon, however, we see someone who lost the whole world—she forsook her pedigree, received scorn for leaving US, suffered greatly, experienced innumerable hardships, and she died weighing less than 50 pounds—but gained an eternal reward in heaven.  She was or rather became the least, in order that Christ might be prized the most.  She left Toy, in order to pursue Christ and his church in China, and accordingly she is an example of someone who gladly counted her life as nothing compared with the exceeding joy of knowing and serving Jesus.

These are only a few of the lessons available from Lottie Moon. You can learn more about here life and ministry here. During this season of missions giving, may we consider Lottie’s life and imitate her faith.

Soli Deo Gloria, dss