Give Yourself Without Reserve to the Cause

Dan Jarvis writes about the commitments of "the Father of Modern Missions":

William Carey, along with his colleagues and their families, entered into the Serampore Covenant in 1805. It sheds light on the kind of commitment, heart, and sacrifice required to lay the groundwork for revival. These statements were reviewed three times a year:*

1. Set an infinite value on men's souls.

2. Acquaint ourselves with the snares which hold the minds of the people.

3. Abstain from whatever deepens India's prejudice gainst the gospel.

4. Watch for every chance of doing the people good.

5. Preach "Christ crucified" as the grand means of conversions.

6. Esteem and treat Indians always as our equals.

7. Guard and build up "the hosts that may be gathered."

8. Cultivate their spiritual gifts, ever pressing upon them their missionary obligation, since Indians only can win India for Christ.

9. Labor unceasingly in biblical translation.

10. Be instant in the nurture of personal religion.

11. Give ourselves without reserve to the Cause, "not counting even the clothes we wear our own."

*Abridged; full text available in the 1884 edition of A Short History of Christian Missions, by George Smith, page 163; archived at Google Books.