Lessons from William Carey

William Carey's biography is one that completely changed my life. Carey was an ordinary man with an exceptional calling that caused him to persevere through the most adverse circumstances and outwork men of more ability and scholarship. Here is a summary of the four main points from the book that lit a new fire within me:

1. Carey believed in having a big vision for achieving great things for the glory and honor of God. His famous quote is, "Attempt great things for God and expect great things from God." Following Carey's example, we as Disciples of Jesus should be willing to take risks and pursue endeavors that many people may refer to as impossible.
   
   
2. Carey believed in consistently and diligently working to achieve his God given goals. In his journal he wrote that if there is anything true that people can write about me it is this, "I plod.  I am a plodder." What he meant by this is that he continues to press on even when adverse circumstances afflict him. We could learn a lot from Carey about getting back up when we have been knocked down.
   
   
3. Carey believed in being willing to make mistakes. He, along with his team, translated the Bible into forty languages. Many of these were sub par translations. He was aware of the inadequacies within himself and of the translations, but he determined that a sub par translation of the Word of God was better than no translation at all. He also concluded that the only way to get feed back of how to correct it was to get it in the hands of the people. Carey firmly believed, "the man who never makes a mistake never makes anything." We must be willing to put ourselves out there even if it means we will make some mistakes along the way. Many of the translations never would have been put to print if Carey had waited for the "perfect" one.
   
   
4. Carey believed it was his responsibility to evangelize the lost as well as reform the social evils of his day. Two corrupt practices were prevalent in India during Carey's missionary days there. One practice was referred to as "Infanticide" in which many infants were brutally murdered for not wanting to eat. It was concluded that these children had an evil spirit within them, thus justifying the murder. Another heinous act was "Sati."  According to Sati, widowers must be burned alive with their dead husbands. Carey put countless hours in seeking reform in these areas. The lesson learned here is that we, as followers of Jesus Christ and especially those called by God to preach the gospel, have a duty to strive for moral reform of the social evils of our day. The greatest social evil of our day is Abortion. I encourage everyone who is reading this to consider what they can do to get involved in attempts to bring an end to this horrific social evil.

Contributor / Eric Stewart
Eric Stewart is the Lead Pastor of ONElife Church in Flint, MI.