Go Forth!

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 28:18-20

The first time I remember hearing this passage, it terrified me! Why? Because I was led to think, by the pastor, that I was expected to drop everything and head off into the wilds of some forgotten place to share the Gospel with people whose language I could not speak, and any effort less than that meant I was not a "true believer."

I also felt very ashamed because I didn't sense God calling me to venture forth into the unknown. As a result of hearing this type of teaching for YEARS, I had lost my identity in Christ. Was I truly not a Christian because I didn't believe God was leading me to other lands? After many, many years of guilt and shame, I finally spoke with someone I truly respected about the issue.

The first question this person asked was, "So the pastor said true believers are supposed to leave everything and go off amongst the wilds of the world to share the Gospel regardless whether God has called you to do that or not?" I admitted that was the message I got. The next question stunned me, "Then why was the pastor in the pulpit instead in the middle of the swamps of Central America or the snake infested jungles of Africa?"

DING DING DING!!!!

We talked many times over the course of several days, and what I got out of our discussions made sense in a way nothing else had: As we are going about our daily lives, we are to sow the seeds of the Gospel everywhere we go. At the grocer, at the office, at the DMV, at the library, at the coffee shop (:D), wherever we find ourselves IS our mission field!

Where's your mission field today?