Jesus, God’s First Missionary

13 12 2017

jesusgodsfirstmissionaryJesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”
John 20:21 CSB

For the most part, followers of Jesus do a good job of trying to understand the true meaning of Christmas. Pastors preach great sermons on the purpose of Jesus’ coming. Choirs sing carols that focus on the incarnation. Every home has a miniature manger scene, and we all read the Luke 2 account of the birth of Jesus before opening presents.

Something is missing, though.

Jesus did not just come to redeem me or my family back to God. He was sent by the Father to redeem every people group.

If I am a follower of Jesus, certainly, I need to be grateful for the Father sending Him to me, but Christmas is now no longer about me! It now serves as an example that I am to be about the business of redeeming those who are lost.

The Father sent Jesus. Now, in the same way, Jesus is sending us. Jesus was and is our atoning sacrifice. His blood covers my sin so that I now stand before God in righteousness. But Jesus was also God’s first missionary in a long line that extends to you and me.

Once we confess with our mouths that Jesus is Lord and believe in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead, we are saved (Romans 10:9). We are not then immediately translated to heaven, but physically still remain on earth. The reason we are left is that God in His incredible grace allows us to be His plan to reach the rest of the world.

Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that Christmas is a love-fest on you and your immediate family. Yes, it should remind us of God’s grace and mercy and blessing, but more importantly it should spur us on to sharing the good news of Jesus with those who need to hear it.

5 Ways That You Can Be A Missionary This Christmas…

  1. Consider giving to your church’s world missions offering. Our church takes up the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering every December. 100% of the funds collected go straight to the more than 4,000 missionaries serving on the field with the International Mission Board.
  2. Make plates of Christmas goodies or cookies and take them to your neighbors. Place the treats on a dish that needs to be returned. Ask your neighbor how you can pray for them through the Christmas season and invite them to church. When they return the dish to you, follow up on the prayer request.
  3. Just determine in your mind that you are going to intentionally engage people in spiritual conversations over the course of the next few weeks.
  4. Take time to pray for missionaries that you know serving overseas and who will not be able to be with their families on Christmas Day. On December 25th, take a moment and send them an email, letting them know that you are thinking of them. Holidays are especially difficult for our missionaries.
  5. Find someone in your area who is fostering children in their home and offer to help with Christmas gifts, a meal, or finances.

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Everyone Sent

4 02 2014

everyonesentAs You sent Me into the world,
I also have sent them into the world.
John 17:18

In this passage of scripture, Jesus is praying for His disciples. If we have called Jesus our Lord, then we are now His disciples. Therefore Jesus is praying for those who now follow Him. He is telling God the Father that just as God sent Him into the world, He is sending you and me. If you are a believer, you are sent into the world. If this is not perfectly clear, Jesus later clarifies in Acts 1:8 that your sending into the world involves sharing the gospel not just in your neighborhood, but also over the whole earth. Jesus leaves no room for any other options. You cannot choose to just attend church, sing some songs, do some good deeds, and claim to be a follower of Christ. If you are a true follower, you will be sent into the world to share the love of God and the message of the cross.

In a book written by Francis Dubose entitled God Who Sends, he says, “Every Christian is called (1) ‘out of,’ (2) ‘into,’ (3) ‘in order that.'” Most believers have no problem with the first two. We love that we are called out of our sin, out of an eternity without God, out of broken relationships, out of condemnation and judgement. We love that we have been called into a love relationship with Jesus, into a fellowship of other believers, into a future hope of glory. Where most believers stumble is believing that we have also all been called in order that the world might hear the gospel, in order that God might be glorified through our lives, in order that others might experience the grace of God.

Many people today love going to coffee shops where they have the ability to customize their individual drink by choosing from a long list of different options. I enjoy a coffee shop in town called Sweet Bay where I always get a double short almond roca. The danger is that many so-called Christians treat Christianity like their favorite local coffee shop, and if they do not want to choose missions… so be it. I like to try all of the different coffee drinks, but sometimes, like when I am out camping, I just like some good old-fashioned campfire coffee straight black and steaming. Jesus is telling us plainly in John 17:18 that the only available choice for our life as His follower is the bold, lay-it-all-on-the-altar, God-glorifying leap into the uttermost parts of the world in order that others might hear the gospel and have a chance to respond.


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Proximity

23 01 2014

proximity

There is an old story told of a farmer who had gone inside his house just prior to sunset to avoid a large storm that was brewing in the vicinity. As he was preparing for dinner, he looked out his window and saw a tiny sparrow perched on the electric line that ran down from his house. He knew that if that bird stayed there as the storm hit, it would be killed. He felt sorry for the bird and got an idea. He went out to the barn and opened the door. His thinking was that the sparrow would see the open door, fly into the barn, and find safety from the coming storm. But, the bird just sat there too scared to move. Next the farmer started up an old kerosene lantern and placed it inside the barn. Maybe the bird will see the light and fly in, but, again, the bird just sat on his perch. The man then ran inside and found some bread. He put pieces under the electric wire in a line that led to the door of the barn, but every time the little bird got close to the door, he flew back to his perch. Slowly, the man shook his head and said to himself, “I wish that I could become a sparrow and fly to the little bird and tell him of the danger so that he would be safe from the storm.”

What we could never do, God did through the person of Jesus in that miraculous event that we call the Incarnation. In a sense, God became a sparrow to save all the other birds from certain death. Through, Jesus, God drew close to us and invites us to an abundant, eternal life. Now Jesus calls us to do the same. In John 20:21 he says, “As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” We are called in this commission statement to do as Jesus did and draw close to men and women who need to hear the life-saving gospel. In order to get this message to people that need to hear it, we must first be in close proximity to them. It is easy to think of this in terms of international missions. If you wanted to share the gospel with an unreached people group in a particular country, you would need to fly there. In the case of local missions, the simplicity of the concept of proximity sometimes eludes the best of Christians. Locally, we have our churches along with our fellowships and activities that we do with other believers. We have Bible studies during the week. We have our Christian bookstores. We have our Christian schools. There is certainly nothing wrong with any of this, except when we completely surround ourselves with such a solid wall of Christian “stuff” that we can not get out or others can not get in to us. To fulfill the command of Jesus to make disciples, we must first place ourselves in close proximity to those who have not accepted Jesus.

To place yourself in close proximity to others that need to hear the gospel locally, is not difficult; it just takes intentionality. We will not naturally do this. Our natural way is to find the path of least resistance, so instead of inviting friends over to watch the game with you, you curl up in your recliner by yourself. Instead of putting the headphones on during your workout at the gym, take them off and engage in conversations. Instead of hiking by yourself, join a hiking club. There are a thousand different ways that we can put ourselves in places that might give us the opportunity to share the gospel. Obviously, there is more to seeing people saved, than just being close, but this is a start.

This concept of proximity can be explored further in a great book by Brad Brisco & Lance Ford called Missional Essentials: A Guide for Experiencing God’s Mission in Your Life.


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Open Hands

20 01 2014

openhands1 May God be gracious to us and bless us;
look on us with favor
2 so that Your way may be known on earth,
Your salvation among all nations.
Psalm 67:1-2

Most Christians live in verse one of this passage and never go on to verse two. Want proof? Just attend a prayer meeting and notice what the majority of the prayers are. Look at any prayer list. The majority of prayers are for my second cousin’s twisted ankle or my grandmother’s friend’s head cold. Health concerns can and should be prayed for, but when they make up the bulk of our praying, I believe it shows a verse one-only attitude toward Christianity. Most Christians in the circles that I run vehemently oppose the health and wealth gospel, yet together we live it everyday. We pray verse one, but never move on to verse two. Everyone wants God’s blessing, but few want the responsibility that comes with those blessings.

I once heard a lady share her testimony that she really needed a new $300 rug to put in the foyer of her home. She just had to have it, because it would complete the look in that room. She didn’t have the money for it, but surprisingly, she got an unexpected check in the mail from the IRS. She determined that God had seen her need and answered her unspoken prayer and provided for that rug. This is verse one-only theology. It is a theology that says that we can pick and choose which verses we want to use and leave out the ones that make us uncomfortable. You and I might not be as open as the rug lady, but to some extent most of us live in verse one and never move to verse two. Scripture tells us to look at our fruit as proof. We have more than enough stuff, but how many people have come to Christ because of our testimonies? We are rich by worldly standards, but how many use that wealth to reach the nations? We are well educated, but how many use that education to think of creative ways to get the gospel to closed countries? We have unprecedented ways to communicate, but how many use social media to bring God glory (and I’m not talking about sharing trite Christian sayings)?

The blessings that God gives to us are not for us to keep in a clinched fist. They are to be placed in open hands ready to distribute to the nations for the glory of God. God does not get the most glory when we hold tightly to our blessings, but when we use those blessings to help bring about reconciliation between lost man and God. All too often, God blesses man to bless the nations, but instead, man keeps the blessings and receives the glory himself as if he manufactured the blessings through his own hard work.

One thing that I would like to point out in this passage that really stood out to me is that in verse two, the word “way” is singular. God blesses us so that His way would be known. There are not multiple pathways to God as many are preaching today. There is only the Way, and that only Way to God is Jesus. Through His grace and mercy, God has chosen to use you and me as his ambassadors to reach a lost world. There is no other plan that we know of! God could, if He wanted, send angels to witness, but for whatever reason He has made us the only way to get the good news to the nations. He blesses us to give us the ability and authority to accomplish His mandate.

We need to regularly evaluate our life. Use this opportunity to ask yourself if your blessings are being held selfishly or in open hands. Look at what God has blessed you with in verse one, and determine how you can use those more effectively to fulfill verse two.


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Photography for Jesus?

13 12 2012

photography

 

I love photography. It’s my hobby. I sell a few prints here and there, but I certainly don’t do enough to make any money. As an amateur photographer, I follow and emulate the work of many different photographers. The photographer that I probably follow more closely than anyone else is Scott Kelby. If you are into photography and have not heard that name before, then you are missing out. I have recommended his books to lots of people and check his blog almost daily.

Scott Kelby has, literally, millions of followers all over the world on his blog, Twitter account, Facebook account, and Google+ account. Recently, he announced that he had just published a new book. This is not a book about photography. It is called “It’s a Jesus Thing.” It’s an evangelistic book for those that might be curious about the Christian faith and who Jesus is. Now, I have not read it, and so I can certainly not tell you that it is or is not theologically correct. Kelby did enlist help from his pastor and others in writing this book, so I am assuming that it is fine, and I plan on purchasing one once they get more in stock from being sold out. The point that I want to make in this article is that Scott Kelby is using his platform as an extremely popular photographer to tell people about Jesus. In his introductory video, he claimed that he is terrible at personal, one-on-one evangelism, and I think that most people would say that they fit into that category, but he was driven to get the saving message of Jesus to a lost world. He did what he could, and this is what God has called each of us to do.

We have to constantly ask ourselves how we can creatively get this message out to people. If we believe that it is the most important message ever and that it is the purpose of our lives to get it out to people who have not heard, then we must be passionate about getting it out to anyone and everyone in anyway that we can. You have a following as well. It might not be as extensive as Scott Kelby’s, but it is no less important for the sake of the gospel. You have people that you work with. You have people that you share hobbies with. You have followers on Twitter. You have friends on Facebook. The problem is not that you don’t know any people that need to hear this message – the problem is how are you going to get this message out to your followers in a way that they will respond.

I would encourage you to purchase one of Scott Kelby’s book to check it out. Even if you never use it or read it, all of the proceeds for the sale of the book go to support Springs of Hope Orphanage in Kenya.


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Easter and Missions

4 04 2012

Most Western Christians have a very egocentric view of the cross and the resurrection. The pronouns “me” and “I” are heavily used when talking about what Jesus did. This is one of the reasons why many people will claim to be Christians but never share their faith outside of their immediate families. We all know that Christ died for the whole world, but our actions show that we only care about number 1 and our kids. In John Zumwalt’s fantastic book, A Passion for the Heart of God, he talks about how we are taught to place our name in John 3:16 in place of the word “world,” so that it might read, “For God so loved Scott…” He goes on to explain that the problem is that we leave our name there!  After we become a believer, our name should move to a different spot reading, “For God so loved the world that He gave Scott…”

During the Easter season there is much talk about eternal life and Heaven, and rightly so! In Heaven we will be able to do some amazing things, but there is one thing that we will not be able to do after we get there. We will not be provided the opportunity to go back and share the gospel with others. After we become a believer, our main purpose is to be a witness, or God should have just translated us right to Heaven as soon as we accepted Him. I realize that fellowship, prayer, Bible study, attending church, etc. are all integral activities that should be apart of our lives, but these are all activities that we will do for all eternity. The only activity that we have been called to and will one day cease is missions.

The resurrection of Jesus and the hope of eternity should compel us, as believers, to share the Good News with everyone. Jesus did not die for just me. He died for the forgotten Native American on the Reservation. He died for the young Muslim man that hates Americans. He died for the Indian woman that worships multiple gods. He died for everyone, and if we cannot understand this by proving it with obedience and action, then we are believing only a partial gospel or no gospel at all. It might be good news to you, but what about those that have not heard?

We talk about salvation as being a process, and we use fancy terms for it. We say that when we first accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we have been saved. This is salvation and is considered the starting line. We then move into the process of sanctification, and finally, when we physically die, we enter into the stage of glorification. Sanctification is simply the process of becoming more like Jesus and doing what He, as our Lord, commands us. The problem is that many people have made it to the starting line, plopped down in a Bible study class, and have not moved since. In light of who Jesus is and what He has done for us, this should be offensive to us. Our sanctification process should include us scraping and clawing and fighting for every soul on the planet. Jesus deserves this at the very least for the salvation of our own soul for He scraped, clawed, fought, bled, and died on our behalf.

My challenge for you this Easter is to not think in terms of your personal satisfaction for having been blessed, but to remember the masses of people that have not once heard the Good News and how you can, in turn, bless them.


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