Just GO!
Then the eleven disciples left for Galilee, going to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him—but some of them doubted!
Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:16-20
It's urgent! The past few days have been extremely violent in the city of Philadelphia--in fact, according to reports while homicides and shootings (especially) had been on the decline, in Philadelphia and many other cities they are now once again, on the rise. Families are being devastated by it, and our inner cities are ravaged by violence; and there is no sense to be made of the taking of human life--innocent or otherwise. It simply doesn't solve problems but opens a new can of worms to a multitude of other ones. While your enemy may be gone--you face criminal charges, or retaliation, or perhaps your family is now in danger, legal fee's, loss of income, separation from family, children growing up with incarcerated parents, eventually emotional guilt and a whole lot more--really is it worth that much--because it robs the offender (as well as the victim) and his family of their lives, too?
I keep hearing "guns don't kill people; people kill people". However, since we live in a society that chooses to solve its problems with violence, having guns so easily obtained is a big problem. Only those who haven't been touched by it will stick to that mantra. Go to enough inner city funerals--hear enough friends and family members mourn the loss of loved ones to the senseless killing and send your babies to school to have them killed by a deranged gunman, and I'm sure you would take pause. We are selfish and concerned only about our own rights, not about what is best for everyone--or even for my neighbor. What baffles me the most is that "Christians" scream the loudest, and longest about their right to bear arms, when although it may be lawful, clearly it is no longer expedient. Even having them to protect yourself and your property is an argument that doesn't hold water, since most violent deaths (even accidental ones) occur in the home. How many have had hindsight and wished they hadn't purchased that gun that they thought was "safe" because they had the proper permits and knew how to use it properly? Bad things happen to even, good people. We have to begin to think about more than what is best for me and mine, and begin to think like Jesus taught us to think...God first, neighbor second, and ourselves last [Matthew 22:37-40]. When we really have LOVE one to another, somehow our rights become less supreme, when matched against the needs of others.
It's all very comfortable and insulating, too. As Christians, we lock ourselves in our gun-protected, alarmed homes, surfacing only for work, church and careful entertainment--we aren't doing much mingling with non-Christians. In fact, we avoid them. We homeschool our children, so they won't ever be exposed to their sinful ways, instead of teaching them that they have a role to be light in darkness. Our kids should learning how to be light from the moment they are born--but, they need examples. In us, they see fear-filled people who talk about faith; but our faith is reserved for getting "things", rather than for God's intended purpose--how to live victoriously in a fallen world. Faith isn't to mold society to fit us, but to help us to "withstand in the evil day and having done all, to stand" [Ephesians 6:13]. It is going to be evil--it has to be, sin has taken hold of the world, and we should expect those who aren't redeemed to behave as sinners do. Why are we so surprised when they choose to sin? Sinners, sin--it is their vocation--they are slaves to sin--and, hard as we try to forget it, "and such were some of you ("Don’t you know that people who are unjust won’t inherit God’s kingdom? Don’t be deceived. Those who are sexually immoral, those who worship false gods, adulterers, both participants in same-sex intercourse, thieves, the greedy, drunks, abusive people, and swindlers won’t inherit God’s kingdom. That is what some of you used to be! But you were washed clean, you were made holy to God, and you were made right with God in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God." [1 Corinthians 6:9-11 CEB]
We have forgotten (or missed entirely) our purpose in the earth. It isn't to force sinners into our mold or to show them how sinful they are. "The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise." [Proverbs 11:30]. Jesus told us--and He showed us, how to win souls and evangelize the world. We choose other methods and they are failing, miserably. Somehow we have the idea that we need to tell them what they are doing wrong--Jesus didn't discuss sin until after He won them; that is spiritual instruction for disciples, not soul-winning technique. The Gospel--the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ wins souls--presented in love...not damnation; it is "GOOD NEWS". Some wise person said, "You can catch more flies with honey, than you can with vinegar". Secondly, we have to take the Gospel to them, not wait for them to come to us--to church, or even bring them to church. Many people will NEVER come. Jesus didn't commission us to bring, or to wait until they come to us (or to church). He said, "GO". And He showed us how to go, too. We don't go judging (I know we think we are to judge the world, but we aren't; we are to judge ourselves [Romans 5:12,13]). We go (in wisdom) looking for a common ground and being willing to share our substance, if need be. Remember Jesus with the woman at the well? The common ground was water--and it opened the door to share Life. Giving is one of the most powerful tools we can use to share Christ--certainly to those in need--James teaches us "If a brother or sister is without clothes and lacks daily food and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, keep warm, and eat well,” but you don’t give them what the body needs, what good is it? In the same way faith, if it doesn’t have works, is dead by itself." [James 2:15-17]. We are indeed faithless if we see need, and fail to address it when we have the ability--even if our ability is small. When we do it, it touches the heart of the receiver in such a magnanimous way that they become open to hearing the words of life. And, even if there is no need, just sharing and giving--kindness surprises people and opens them up to you. A conversation can begin with the offer of a stick of gum--it doesn't have to be a huge gesture every time. We could learn from the unchurched a valuable tool--"random acts of kindness". Being kind is powerful; in fact, way more powerful than being "king" (in God's eye). Too many of us are striving to be "king" and not expending any energy on being kind. Love is kind.
It is imperative that we stop being so cozy and comfortable in our churches. I don't know what it will take to wake us up out of our relaxed slumber--there is a world dying, and we are caught up in our new and innovative techniques for maximizing church growth and attracting people to our ministries. We are missing the simplicity of the Gospel, entirely. We don't need more Powerpoint presentations, catchy cliche's, or the most skilled music ministry--what we need is the anointing, and a return to the basics of Jesus Christ. We are all over the place--with everything except His principles, and the things that He said are first, and important. And don't worry about being perfect--or about being inadequate--the disciples were, too. See Matthew 28:16 (that's why I included that verse)??? Although they worshipped Him, they had some doubts--not all of them were certain that this thing would work. It didn't stop Jesus in commissioning them; He didn't even pause to pray for an increase in their faith. It was almost as if He ignored it--why??? I think God loves it when we aren't so sure (especially of ourselves and our ability) because then He gets the credit. When we have it altogether ourselves and are so sure of our ability, we can take credit and boast. It's when our knees are banging and clanging together, and we are sweating buckets that everyone knows it had to be God--and we will know it, too (because we know the fear and trepidation we experienced); and the only boasting will be in the awesome power of God to perform what He said, in spite of us, not because of us.
It is past time for us to "GO". Don't worry about them coming, just "GO", the Harvest is in His Hand.
Love One Another.
Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:16-20
It's urgent! The past few days have been extremely violent in the city of Philadelphia--in fact, according to reports while homicides and shootings (especially) had been on the decline, in Philadelphia and many other cities they are now once again, on the rise. Families are being devastated by it, and our inner cities are ravaged by violence; and there is no sense to be made of the taking of human life--innocent or otherwise. It simply doesn't solve problems but opens a new can of worms to a multitude of other ones. While your enemy may be gone--you face criminal charges, or retaliation, or perhaps your family is now in danger, legal fee's, loss of income, separation from family, children growing up with incarcerated parents, eventually emotional guilt and a whole lot more--really is it worth that much--because it robs the offender (as well as the victim) and his family of their lives, too?
I keep hearing "guns don't kill people; people kill people". However, since we live in a society that chooses to solve its problems with violence, having guns so easily obtained is a big problem. Only those who haven't been touched by it will stick to that mantra. Go to enough inner city funerals--hear enough friends and family members mourn the loss of loved ones to the senseless killing and send your babies to school to have them killed by a deranged gunman, and I'm sure you would take pause. We are selfish and concerned only about our own rights, not about what is best for everyone--or even for my neighbor. What baffles me the most is that "Christians" scream the loudest, and longest about their right to bear arms, when although it may be lawful, clearly it is no longer expedient. Even having them to protect yourself and your property is an argument that doesn't hold water, since most violent deaths (even accidental ones) occur in the home. How many have had hindsight and wished they hadn't purchased that gun that they thought was "safe" because they had the proper permits and knew how to use it properly? Bad things happen to even, good people. We have to begin to think about more than what is best for me and mine, and begin to think like Jesus taught us to think...God first, neighbor second, and ourselves last [Matthew 22:37-40]. When we really have LOVE one to another, somehow our rights become less supreme, when matched against the needs of others.
It's all very comfortable and insulating, too. As Christians, we lock ourselves in our gun-protected, alarmed homes, surfacing only for work, church and careful entertainment--we aren't doing much mingling with non-Christians. In fact, we avoid them. We homeschool our children, so they won't ever be exposed to their sinful ways, instead of teaching them that they have a role to be light in darkness. Our kids should learning how to be light from the moment they are born--but, they need examples. In us, they see fear-filled people who talk about faith; but our faith is reserved for getting "things", rather than for God's intended purpose--how to live victoriously in a fallen world. Faith isn't to mold society to fit us, but to help us to "withstand in the evil day and having done all, to stand" [Ephesians 6:13]. It is going to be evil--it has to be, sin has taken hold of the world, and we should expect those who aren't redeemed to behave as sinners do. Why are we so surprised when they choose to sin? Sinners, sin--it is their vocation--they are slaves to sin--and, hard as we try to forget it, "and such were some of you ("Don’t you know that people who are unjust won’t inherit God’s kingdom? Don’t be deceived. Those who are sexually immoral, those who worship false gods, adulterers, both participants in same-sex intercourse, thieves, the greedy, drunks, abusive people, and swindlers won’t inherit God’s kingdom. That is what some of you used to be! But you were washed clean, you were made holy to God, and you were made right with God in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God." [1 Corinthians 6:9-11 CEB]
We have forgotten (or missed entirely) our purpose in the earth. It isn't to force sinners into our mold or to show them how sinful they are. "The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise." [Proverbs 11:30]. Jesus told us--and He showed us, how to win souls and evangelize the world. We choose other methods and they are failing, miserably. Somehow we have the idea that we need to tell them what they are doing wrong--Jesus didn't discuss sin until after He won them; that is spiritual instruction for disciples, not soul-winning technique. The Gospel--the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ wins souls--presented in love...not damnation; it is "GOOD NEWS". Some wise person said, "You can catch more flies with honey, than you can with vinegar". Secondly, we have to take the Gospel to them, not wait for them to come to us--to church, or even bring them to church. Many people will NEVER come. Jesus didn't commission us to bring, or to wait until they come to us (or to church). He said, "GO". And He showed us how to go, too. We don't go judging (I know we think we are to judge the world, but we aren't; we are to judge ourselves [Romans 5:12,13]). We go (in wisdom) looking for a common ground and being willing to share our substance, if need be. Remember Jesus with the woman at the well? The common ground was water--and it opened the door to share Life. Giving is one of the most powerful tools we can use to share Christ--certainly to those in need--James teaches us "If a brother or sister is without clothes and lacks daily food and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, keep warm, and eat well,” but you don’t give them what the body needs, what good is it? In the same way faith, if it doesn’t have works, is dead by itself." [James 2:15-17]. We are indeed faithless if we see need, and fail to address it when we have the ability--even if our ability is small. When we do it, it touches the heart of the receiver in such a magnanimous way that they become open to hearing the words of life. And, even if there is no need, just sharing and giving--kindness surprises people and opens them up to you. A conversation can begin with the offer of a stick of gum--it doesn't have to be a huge gesture every time. We could learn from the unchurched a valuable tool--"random acts of kindness". Being kind is powerful; in fact, way more powerful than being "king" (in God's eye). Too many of us are striving to be "king" and not expending any energy on being kind. Love is kind.
It is imperative that we stop being so cozy and comfortable in our churches. I don't know what it will take to wake us up out of our relaxed slumber--there is a world dying, and we are caught up in our new and innovative techniques for maximizing church growth and attracting people to our ministries. We are missing the simplicity of the Gospel, entirely. We don't need more Powerpoint presentations, catchy cliche's, or the most skilled music ministry--what we need is the anointing, and a return to the basics of Jesus Christ. We are all over the place--with everything except His principles, and the things that He said are first, and important. And don't worry about being perfect--or about being inadequate--the disciples were, too. See Matthew 28:16 (that's why I included that verse)??? Although they worshipped Him, they had some doubts--not all of them were certain that this thing would work. It didn't stop Jesus in commissioning them; He didn't even pause to pray for an increase in their faith. It was almost as if He ignored it--why??? I think God loves it when we aren't so sure (especially of ourselves and our ability) because then He gets the credit. When we have it altogether ourselves and are so sure of our ability, we can take credit and boast. It's when our knees are banging and clanging together, and we are sweating buckets that everyone knows it had to be God--and we will know it, too (because we know the fear and trepidation we experienced); and the only boasting will be in the awesome power of God to perform what He said, in spite of us, not because of us.
It is past time for us to "GO". Don't worry about them coming, just "GO", the Harvest is in His Hand.
Love One Another.
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