Day 28, September 5, 2011
My wife and I are young adult ministers at a church plant in
our town. As we grow in our
ministry at the church, we contemplate the idea of calling. Our church plant has decided to train
up each of its new members with the belief that every member of the church
should have or be a part of a ministry.
In thinking about this concept, my wife and I have had a lot of
discussion about what it means to be called to ministry. Are only select people called or are we
all called. Is a calling a special
assignment given to you by God or can it be a general way of life and ministry
expected of us all. So in thinking
about how callings affect our life I wrote the following piece.
What is a calling?
Most people think of a calling as something that a minister, pastor, or
missionary receives. In fact our
society for the most part perpetuate the idea that there is the called and then
the rest of us. There are many
examples in the Bible that people could use to back up the idea of a calling
being of a specific and special nature.
Look at Abraham, Paul, the 12 Disciples, Moses, and so many more. Each one fulfilled a special calling on
their life from God.
What I want to talk about tonight though is the view of a
calling to each and every one of us.
When you look at the passage we know today as the Great Commission you
can begin to see what I mean. In
Matthew 28:18-20 it says, “And
Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been
given to me. Go therefore and make
disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the
Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I
have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’” In this passage Jesus makes it clear
that the disciples are to go out and make more disciples for Jesus. If we look at this example in the
fullness of what Jesus intended we can began to see the brilliance of Jesus’
plan for this world.
Jesus took 12 men and spent three and a half years pouring
His heart and soul into them. He
was preparing them for the moment of the Great Commission. When He told them to go out to all the
nations and make disciples they should’ve instantly understood the magnitude of
what he was asking. I was reading
a book once that posited the idea of each of us just raising up five disciples
and perpetuating them to do the same.
If we figure the same amount of time that Jesus poured into the
disciples one person using this model would be able to evangelize the whole
world in just 45 years. Please do
not read that last sentence lightly or just disregard it as an impossible
concept. I mean really truly dwell
on those figures.
Around the time of Jesus there were only about 800,000 to
1.4 million people on the planet.
If the disciples had only ministered to and discipled 5 people each and
admonished those five to do the same and on and on then the whole world would
have been reached for Jesus in less than 30 years. Can you imagine the implications of this? The population of the planet today is
5,000 times larger than what it was in Jesus time. If you don’t believe that it is possible for Christianity to
spread like wildfire, just look at the example of Paul. He changed the gentile world for Christ
in his own lifetime. This is not
to say that he didn’t have help but he did preach Christ boldly and raised up
men to do likewise and look at all that was accomplished through his example.
It is so easy to believe that a calling is for the few, the
special, the elite but the reality is that all of us as Christ followers are
called to live as Paul. Jesus
demanded nothing less than our all.
He declared that each one of us is to make disciples of all nations, to
baptize them, and teach them about Jesus.
This command or calling was delivered as a never-ending command. We were to be taught to do this by
those who discipled us in Christ as we are to teach those we discipline in
Christ. I don’t know about you but
I think that many Christians today missed the importance of what Jesus was
trying to tell the 12 disciples to do.
Christianity is not to be a safe and comfy get out of Hell
religion. There are very few
people in the Bible that lived comfortable and laid back lives for Jesus. To follow Jesus meant the possibility
of death and certainly demanded commitment and passionate beliefs. We have forgotten the importance and
the implications of being a Christian today. Western culture has slowly and completely deflated the
importance and immediacy of the Gospel message. We have been lulled into a trance of believing that
everything is okay and that the world isn’t that bad. Wake up dear children of God. Remember who you are.
Remember why Jesus had to come and what he chose to die for. Until the day that Jesus comes back for
those who have accepted Him as Lord and Savior of their lives, we are to spend
every moment trying to proclaim and minister to those around us the good
news.
We live in a world today that is slowly and silently
squelching our freedom of religion and free speech. Businesses are now including religious harassment as a way
of being fired. The media is
bombarding us with eastern religious beliefs and the idea that we can all get
along and live happily together because there is no devil, no hell, and no
judgment. We have been taught to
apologize for the possible offensive nature of the gospel and have even come to
the point of apologizing for inconveniencing anyone on the celebration of
Christian holidays. It is time we
stand up for truth again. It is
time we proclaim it at all cost even in America. It is time that we wake up and come alive beloved. Jesus desires us to live passionate
sold out lives for Him like Paul.
Will you stand up and proudly live and proclaim Jesus today? Accept your calling today to live,
proclaim, and teach Christ, yes, even to the end of the earth.
Blessings,
Greg
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