God Call

So many times I have heard people say that they have not gone on missions, because they have not heard a call from God. What do they expect this call to be? Do they expect a bright light from heaven and God speaking in an audible voice that they should go live in a hut in Africa? Or do they expect an angel to appear? Or do they expect a voice in their head?

I believe that God has already called us. All too often, we think in terms that are completely opposite of the scripture teaching us to “go and make disciples of all nations.” We have a very “me-centered” Christianity, which could be considered no Christianity at all (but that’s for another post). For instance, as soon as someone asks us to go on a mission trip our initial response is to pray about whether or not we should go. I submit that our response should be to pray about whether we should stay or not. Why would God not want you to go and share His gospel message with those who have not heard!? If you need a call that is extra-Biblical, then how about that friend that just asked you to go?

Or take for instance the church. You have joined a church, and as a member you are to submit to your under-shepherd (pastor). It is Biblical for you to trust your pastor who is accountable to God to lead the church. If your pastor after much prayer decides to form a strategic partnership with a church-planting team of missionaries in India and he plans a mission trip there to work with the missionaries to tell people about Jesus, normally what takes place is that he places a sign up sheet in the church foyer and waits to see who signs up to go. I submit that if the pastor is following God in this, then everyone who is a member of the church is automatically on the sign up sheet to go to India. It is now everyone’s job to pray and ask God if they should mark their name off the list.

I hope you see the difference! The God Call is there simply waiting for us to respond. It does not waver. It does not change.

My prayer for this blog is to raise questions, to spark debate, and to make us all think. I am convinced that most Christians are good-intentioned but uninformed about God’s call, God’s will, and God’s heart. If we would only get a glimpse of these things, our lives would never be the same again. This is what happened to me, and I hope that more people would hear the Call and respond with utter abandon.