Friendships & the Great Commission

Andrew Fuller was an 18th-century theologian, a prominent minister in England, and a founding member of the Baptist Missionary Society—an organization with major significance in the history of modern missions.

He was also a great friend. In fact, friendship played a central role in Fuller’s well-known fruitfulness in promoting missions and carrying out the Great Commission—a lesson we can learn from today. 

One of the ways friendship shaped Fuller was by sharpening his theological understanding of how to proclaim the gospel. Early in his ministry, Fuller had embraced a stream of teaching that actually discouraged evangelism. 

This teaching contended that offering the gospel to unbelievers was cruel because unbelievers were unable to respond apart from God’s intervention. It was a common teaching within Fuller’s denomination, and it led to scant efforts to evangelize.

But Fuller changed his mind. Faithful friends helped him see that the Bible teaches that God commands believers to share the gospel with the world. They pointed him to sound teaching on the subject, including the works of Jonathan Edwards.

In his own book, The Gospel Worthy of All Acceptation, Fuller wrote about what he had learned: that it was the duty of all people to believe the gospel and the duty of all believers to preach the good news to anyone who would hear it. 

His friends encouraged Fuller to publish the book, though Fuller was concerned about the backlash it might produce. But he moved forward, and the work actually helped unshackle his denomination from neglecting evangelism. It also helped drive many missionary efforts that followed.

It’s a reminder that our friends shape our thinking—and that we have a role in shaping our friends as well. Even recommending a good article or book can have a lasting impact we don’t expect. The Scriptures remind us: “Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.” (Proverbs 13:20).

Holding the Rope in Friendship

A friend who played a prominent role in Fuller’s life was William Carey. 

Carey was one of the first two missionaries sent out by the Baptist Missionary Society (BMS) that Fuller and his friends founded in 1792. The missionary society marked a major turning point in modern missions and sparked a huge effort to send more gospel workers into the harvest fields.

Fuller never went to the mission field himself, but Carey encouraged his friend that those who send missionaries have a critical role to play in making Jesus Christ known to all nations. Carey famously said: “Well, I will go down, if you will hold the rope.” 

Andrew Fuller held the rope for many years as secretary of the mission society, tirelessly working to raise support for missionaries and advocating for the mission in the face of fierce opposition. His friendship with Carey is an outstanding monument to the power of Christ-centered friendship and collaboration.

It’s also an encouragement to pursue gospel-centered friendships in our own day, especially in a world that’s becoming increasingly individualistic. 

We should ask God to help us cultivate deep, God-glorifying friendships with like-minded believers who help us think biblically, encourage us to persevere, and allow us to collaborate for the gospel and to make Jesus known.