This story takes place in II Samuel, chapter eighteen
At a safe location away from the fighting, King David anxiously awaited word from Joab, his general, concerning the battle. He wanted to hear that the rebellion had been put down and also that the rebel leader, his son Absalom, had been spared. A watchman announced that a runner was approaching. He would have the message the king wanted. Then the watchman reported a second runner who had passed up the first. Furthermore, this second runner looked like Ahimaaz—well known for his speed. David was encouraged, knowing Ahimaaz to be a good man; surely he would bring good news.
Within minutes the young runner was standing before the king, telling what he knew. However, he was only able to give a partial message and was unable to tell the king what he wanted to know. We are told in verse thirty, “And the king said unto him, Turn aside, and stand here. And he turned aside, and stood still.” What a disappointment for David! He must have wondered why Joab had sent an unprepared messenger. For his part, Joab knew that young Ahimaaz had many good qualities but lacked preparation for the task. He told him in verse twenty-two, “Wherefore wilt thou run, my son, seeing that thou hast no tidings ready?” But Ahimaaz continued to plead with Joab, “Let me now run, and bear the king tidings . . .” and finally Joab relented and said, “Run.”
Missionaries today are also intent on carrying a message and have many of the same good qualities as Ahimaaz. The first of Ahimaaz’ many good qualities is that he was the son of the priest, Zadok. This shows us that he was surely well trained in the law as he would be a priest, too, when he became of age. A missionary should be sent with a good working knowledge of God’s Word. We quickly see that Ahimaaz was eager, and even willing, to risk his life to run with the message. After all, there were still many enemy soldiers who would gladly kill him. The mission field is oftentimes a dangerous place physically, emotionally, and spiritually; any missionary is a hero for his willingness to go there. Ahimaaz, just as the missionary, was very persistent. He begged Joab three times for permission to run with the message. We like to see a missionary who is persistent, determined to get to the field. He is telling the church, “I can do it if you will just give me a chance [i.e. support].”
What an embarrassment it must have been for Ahimaaz, having failed in his mission, to be told to stand aside! Joab had certainly done him a disfavor by sending him without proper preparation. May I say as kindly as possible that many of our Baptist missionaries today are being sent without adequate training. Unlike Ahimaaz, they have the complete message, but they are often unable to deliver that message to the hearts of those who desperately need it. This is simply because they are unable to learn the heart language and culture of the people. They are sent without the proper skills to learn new tongues. They know the doctrine of Christ, but they don’t know how to put it into the language and thinking of another race of people. When at home, they impressed the churches with their oratory; now on the field, they are frustrated because they cannot deliver the message. They, like Ahimaaz, were too impatient, having no time for such boring subjects as Phonetics, Phonemics, Morphology, Syntax, Ethnology, Bible translation principles, and so forth. After all, the people are dying without Christ, and speed is of utmost importance! We are less concerned about speed and more concerned about preparation when it comes to our soldiers, doctors, teachers, mechanics, and just about every other profession. For some strange reason, however, speed seems to be more important than preparation when it comes to our missionaries who carry the soul-saving gospel of Christ.
Disappointed with Ahimaaz’ message, David awaited the first runner, Cushi. He was not at all impressive, as was Ahimaaz. Cushi showed no passion or determination; he simply ran at Joab’s bidding. And he didn’t run all that fast either. Slowly but surely he arrived and gave the complete message to the king. He, unlike Ahimaaz, was sent prepared.
Oh, if there were a Cushi to go to every place where the message is needed, it would be a good thing! Oh, that we had enough well-prepared missionaries to carry the good news, then those still awaiting it would not be disappointed!
I conclude that speed is good, but preparation is vastly more important. Furthermore, when it comes to communication in a new tongue, linguistic preparation actually produces speed along with the added blessings of fluency and accuracy.