# What this Particular Baptist missionary has learned from The Serampore Compact



## Pergamum (Nov 20, 2009)

*What this Particular Baptist missionary has learned from The Serampore Compact of 1805​*
No other concise document shows the heart of Carey and his missionary band like the _Serampore Compact of 1805_. This masterpiece of missiology outlines general governing principles and methodologies which guided the missionary band at Serampore. 

The full text of this historic document follows. I have left it unchanged, only bolding the headings for ease of reading. I do not want to comment needlessly on a document that would be difficult to improve upon. However, I do want to stress the main emphases of Carey, Marshman, and Ward. Therefore, so that their missiological principles are not lost, and so that we might benefit from their wisdom and model their actions in our own missionary endeavors, I have summarized their main themes at the end of this document.

My hope is that readers will see in the Serampore Compact an outline of solid missiological principles and that we would strive to be imitators of them, both in their principles and also in their zeal.





> *The Serampore Compact of 1805*
> 
> OUR AGREEMENT
> 
> ...















*Main emphases of the Serampore Compact of 1805, and comments regarding the text:*

Below, I concisely summarize the main themes of the Serampore Compact in order of appearance.


*Introduction: God’s sovereignty does not negate vigorous human action:*
In the introduction, the Serampore Compact affirms a firm belief in the absolute sovereignty of God in salvation. God gives the increase. All those ordained to eternal life will believe. And yet, we see that we are to have a vigorous doctrine of secondary causes. The same God who has ordained the ends, has also ordained the means. Our zeal and actions are included in the predestinating purposes of God, and we are to march forward in the good works which God has foreordained us to do (Ephesians 2:10). We are not to make an idol out of the means; but neither are we to be idle in the use of means. We are to strive to be soul-winners, praying that God will be pleased to grant Gospel success to our efforts.


*First: The infinite value of the human soul and the urgency of the task:*

What is the value of a single, never-dying human soul? And how awful is the loss of even one? Under the first heading, the Serampore Compact drives home the urgency of the task and the infinite value of the human soul. We must remember what is at stake in our endeavors. May our hearts bleed for poor idolaters!

*Second: The importance of knowing the people to whom we are ministering, and of studying local customs: *

Our task is to take the universal and unchanging Word of the God and apply it to variable and changing human cultures. To do this we must not only have a deep knowledge of the Word of God, but we must also study the people we are trying to bless. To speak the Gospel clearly, therefore, we must know the worldview, the modes of thinking, the propensities, antipathies, and tendencies of the people to whom we are ministering. We want to be able to gain a hearing for our God and to represent Him ably as the God of the whole world, who is concerned about all peoples, not merely a foreign import or local deity brought by those speaking a strange tongue. 

Because of this, missionaries must strive to learn the indigenous language, and even to be able to adopt local postures, forms, customs foods, dress and all things that do not compromise the Gospel.


*Thirdly: We must adorn the Gospel with our humble servant actions: *

We must be sensitive to the native conscience and strive to adorn our testimony with goodness, avoiding all things that needlessly offend, seeking always to unselfishly serve and bless others. If anyone be offended, let it be for the sake of the Cross alone, and not due to the cultural blindness or the social clumsiness of Christ’s Emissaries. Carey urges his readers even to do away with their English mannerisms which offend and to avoid cruelty to animals. Our conduct must be such that we are willing to bow and serve and be abased rather than offend anyone who needs the Gospel. We are not to dominate and oppress, but to serve and stoop.	


*Fourthly: We are to vigorously socialize, and be ever diligent to bless: *

We are to work while it is day, for the night comes when no man can work. We are to redeem the time because the days are evil. We are to grab up every opportunity to interact with people and strive always to be engaged in holy conversation, living purposely with a conscious and deliberate design to bless. This is to be our daily mode of activity. We cannot be fishers of men if we are not immersed in their crowds. 


*Fifthly: We are to preach Christ, and Him crucified:*

We are to keep the main thing the main thing. The Gospel is the power of God for salvation to all who believe. We are not to be content with things of secondary importance but are to always be engaged in that great center of our faith, the Lord Jesus Christ and His work.


*Sixthly: We are to treat the locals fairly, kindly, and as equals:*

We are to go out of our way to be kind and fair to all. We are to hear complaints, practice forbearance to all, and treat all men as our equals. We are to be patient, accessible, humble and free from needless anger. The world may colonize and lord it over others; but we are to be servants.



*Seventhly: The importance of discipleship that is patient, personal, deep and continual:*

The Great Commission is not merely about initial evangelism. It involves so much more. It must include the teaching of “all things.” There must be deep, personal and continual discipleship with the goal of having believers stand on their own two feet. This discipleship involves encouraging industry, hard work and self-sufficiency among the converts, all the more important in persecutory environments. This discipleship also, as much as possible, demands that new converts become good citizens and neighbors and that they respect and pray for civil magistrates.

Also note that Carey encourages the utilization of women in the missionary task. He praises their work and does not display any effort to minimize their roles. Women played vital roles in the New Testament, women meet a vital need on the field, and women may be the key to reaching untold numbers of those whom Western men cannot reach. While ecclesiastical authority is to be male, women, too, are important contributors to the spread of the Gospel and we should be mindful to develop them for service.


*Eighthly: The importance of cultivating indigenous leadership:*

We desire to pass the baton and cultivate local leadership. We long to see a church of indigenous believers, led by indigenous leaders, worshipping deeply and even seeking to reach others with the Gospel. Western workers are too few, and the work is too vast; we must not bypass those whom God is raising up. We must, instead, invest ourselves deeply into developing indigenous leaders who can then spread the Gospel among their kinsmen. It is only by means of native preachers that we can hope for the universal spread of the Gospel.

As we train locals, we need not try to change every facet of their culture. Transmitting the Gospel and effecting moral change is our main concern, not the changing of the names, the dress or the food of the people.


*Ninthly: The absolute necessity of translating the Scriptures into the vernacular:*


Translating the Word of God into the heart-language of a people is vital. The Bible in a people’s vernacular works miracles and all efforts should be made to translate and spread the Word of God as wide as possible. If education impedes the reading of the Scriptures, then education, too, is a worthy effort by which God may bring spiritual understanding to a people.

*Tenthly: The importance of prayer and personal devotion:*

For the success of the Message, we must take heed to the messengers, and cultivate personal devotion. Closeness with God, intimate prayer, a good-tempered disposition, and even discipline regarding one’s knowledge of the local language are all essential attributes of those who would labor for the Sake of the Name.

*Finally: We must be totally committed, and we must know our total dependency on God:*

Let us be wholly consecrated to the task and give our all for it. Let us sanctify ourselves for the task, stay away from a worldly spirit, bear hardness as good soldiers of Christ and be content in whatsoever state we find ourselves, clinging to the hope that, “multitudes of converted souls will have reason to bless God to all eternity for sending His Gospel into this country”.


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## Raj (Nov 20, 2009)

Thank you very much for this post. I'm copying it to my computer for reading it word to word.


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## jambo (Nov 20, 2009)

William Carey is one of my favourite characters from church history and one of the most inspiring. His determination to plod, his focus and huge success in translating the scriptures into the many languages of India is truly astonishing. When one considers the hardships and difficulties he had to overcome makes it all the more remarkable, not least the fire at the warehouse. Had Carey a computer he probably could not have achieved half as much!

I head up the missionary commitee in church and would like to print this off and your summarising comments with your permission.


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## LawrenceU (Nov 20, 2009)

Excellent stuff, Pergy. I've not read that in a while. One quote that grabbed me this time through was:


> He who raised the Scottish and brutalized Britons to sit in heavenly places in Christ Jesus; can raise these slaves of superstition, purify their hearts by faith, and make them worshippers of the one God in spirit and in truth.



We should keep that in mind regarding our modern day nemesis; the Mussulman.


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## Pergamum (Nov 20, 2009)

jambo said:


> William Carey is one of my favourite characters from church history and one of the most inspiring. His determination to plod, his focus and huge success in translating the scriptures into the many languages of India is truly astonishing. When one considers the hardships and difficulties he had to overcome makes it all the more remarkable, not least the fire at the warehouse. Had Carey a computer he probably could not have achieved half as much!
> 
> I head up the missionary commitee in church and would like to print this off and your summarising comments with your permission.



Sure. Correct any of my hillbilly typos though.


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