Here's my answer to Josh's latest tough question.
There’s no doubt that the Lord Almighty is a sending God. He sent Moses, He sent Jonah, He sent Paul, He sent Philip, He sent His son to die a sacrificial death for us and He sent His spirit into the world. The words of Jesus in Acts 1 are vital:
"But when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, you will receive power and will tell people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Acts 1:8
If we are genuine followers of Jesus then we’ll be prepared to be witnesses to Jesus in our own locality, in the country we live, in neighbouring areas and anywhere in the world. Throughout the centuries one sign of a life dedicated to serving Jesus has been a willingness to commit to spreading the gospel amongst unreached people in far away places. Nowadays, mission is much more seen as a couple of weeks in the summer, rather than a life given over. Short-term missions can be life transforming for those who go on them and for those they come into contact with, but sometimes we can compartmentalise mission and evangelism into a two-week trip and forget about it for the remainder of the year. The fact is that even in the Western world many unreached people live on our doorstep.
Perhaps the modern day tendency to be pre-occupied with ourselves and with our consumer lifestyles has dampened the urgency for mission, but with world travel being as easy and accessible as it is we should be living in a generation of limitless mission opportunities.
However, we’ll only take advantage of those opportunities if we have the same passion for lost people as Jesus had:
A vast crowd was there as he stepped from the boat, and he had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he taught them many things. Mark 6:34
If we aren’t concerned that people face a lost eternity without Jesus then our passion for evangelism and mission will always be luke-warm.
My friend Vinod from India always says: “There are many lost souls in India, please come and save many souls in the name of Jesus.”
There is a growing trend in churches around the world that I am very excited about – and it’s the concept of working trans-locally. They make an impact in their own locality and they help make an impact in another local situation which could be thousands of mile away.
Take Ignite, the ministry I’m involved with, for example. We have a significant impact in Cardiff and Wales, but we also partner with other Christians in specific places around the world long-term. Our friendship with Gateway ministry in Rajahmundry, India is one such trans-local relationship. Ignite will never be a massive, world-wide ministry but we can have significant Kingdom impact in a few places. However, I passionately want to see revival come to Wales where I live.
Another thing I’ve learnt is that through long-term child sponsorship agencies such as COMPASSION you can have an impact on the mission field without ever leaving home. A small monthly amount can help transform the life of a child. As a family, we’ve been sponsoring children for 16 years and currently sponsor three including Claudy who I met in Haiti 4 years ago.
Responding to God’s call to go and share the message of Jesus is still of the most urgency:
For “Anyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them?
And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent? That is what the Scriptures mean when they say, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” Romans 10.13-15
A common misconception is that to be a missionary you have to go abroad, but as a famous evangelist once said:
“A missionary isn’t someone who crosses the sea, a missionary is someone who sees the cross.”
If you genuinely understand the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross you'll be as concerned about the people down your street as you are about unreached people the other side of the world.
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