“It is tragic when believers have no vision, and fill in their years without shape or direction, following their own fancy, wandering this way or that according to circumstances, leaving no more mark upon the world than a falling leaf. Let the Word of God speak to their hearts! Let the winds of the Spirit fill their sails! They must leave their cozy anchorage in the bay, cast off the moorings that bind them to earthly interests, and sail off into the great waters. The Psalm says, ‘There go the ships’ (Psalm 104:26 KJV), vessels of divine destiny. May our lives be eternally meaningful in the name of Jesus.” – Reinhard Bonnke
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I found this wonderful quote on a childhood friend’s Facebook page (thank you, Tammy Weiser-Spedden!). Evangelist Reinhard Bonnke hits the nail on the head. This is exactly how we view our Christian walk these days. Many are content to warm a pew on Sundays and Wednesdays with no other thought of involvement in the church or mission work. Many people think evangelism is only for those “called to it,” and missionaries are seen as the ones “God chooses” to reach the world.
We beg to differ.
Evangelism is the responsibility of every believer. We are all called and chosen to be missionaries. When Jesus said, “Go,” He was talking to you, and He was talking to me. That is why our son Clayton went to New York with the church mission team this summer, and why he will go back next summer as a leader. This is the reason Logan wanted to serve others on his Birthday (praise report: more than 900 people were served at Trinity Baptist’s Fall Festival) instead of having a party that night. It is why all of our sons are involved in outreach activities such as serving in soup kitchens and after-school programs. It is why Rebecca and I jumped at the opportunity to serve as the 11th and 12th grade Sunday School teachers when we were asked by the youth pastor. It is why we created this blog that you are now reading! We need to go and keep going for God. We constantly need to make sure we are not too comfortable and settled in, because that type of thinking breeds apathy.
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TBC New York Mission Team, 2013.
As our pastor mentioned in his sermon on Sunday, some are satisfied to get “a sprinkle of Jesus” on Sunday and then go back to business as usual rest of the week with no thought of their fellow church members, let alone their community. They don’t want to get too involved in case it messes with their schedules. But God is a God of eternity, and His schedule is completely different from ours.
This is not bragging gone wild–it is about a shift in our priorities. This change did not come about because we believe our deeds will save us, or because we think God will love us more if we do more for Him, or because we want to impress anyone. This was the way the “many” from Matthew 7:21-23 thought. They trusted in their deeds to save them, and they were condemned. No, the change came about because believe with all our hearts that knowing Christ and making Him known is all that we truly care about. We agree with the Apostle Paul that, “Everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For His sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ. (Philippians 3:8)” As a result of selling out to our Savior, He has impressed upon our hearts that we need to step it up and do more to reach the lost–as well as doing more inside our local church. It has required sacrifice, but we are certain He is infinitely worth it. Our #1 goal is to do any and everything we possibly can to know Him and to make Him known. We don’t have much time left, brothers and sisters. Let’s sell out to Jesus and make these last days count for His glory!
“Since we are God’s co-workers, we urge you not to let God’s kindness be wasted on you.- 2 Corinthians 6:1
In Christ’s perfect love,
Dwight
The Parson
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
