What is Your Mission?

Do you realize that God has a special calling on your life?  He does!  You may not have sensed God leading you to become a missionary or a preacher, but you still have a calling!  And it is a mission that you must not evade.

God had a mission for Jeremiah. Would it be fun?  No!  Would he become famous?  Yes, but not for the reasons most people want to become famous.  God commanded Jeremiah to go to his home country, Israel, and demand they repent and return to God.  Jeremiah knew it would make a lot of people angry. So, he made excuses to God for why he wasn’t the right man for the job.

"Ah, Sovereign LORD," I said, "I do not know how to speak; I am only a child." But the LORD said to me, "Do not say, 'I am only a child.' You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you," declares the LORD. Then the LORD reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, "Now, I have put my words in your mouth.” (Jeremiah 1:6-9)

Even though Jeremiah was making excuses as to why he couldn’t serve the Lord, God didn’t give up on Him.  He encouraged him by saying, “I am with you and will rescue you.”  It’s natural for Christians today to do the same thing.  We come up with clever excuses why we can’t follow the mission the Lord has given us to go to the ends of the earth and spread the gospel.  We say to ourselves and God, “I don’t know enough about the Bible. What will they think of me?  I might lose my job! Let somebody else do it."

Fear can motivate or it can hinder.  God immediately saw the fear in Jeremiah’s heart and said, “Do not be afraid of them.”  The Bible teaches that, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” (Proverbs 9:10)  And, “Fear of man will prove to be a snare...” (Proverbs 29:25)  Allow faith to overcome your fears, be obedient to God, and He will not let you down.

He has your back!

Has the Lord reached out His hand and touched your mouth?  Without Him doing this, you are powerless to accomplish the mission set before you.  How can we realistically have Him put His words in our mouth?  Study your Bible and hide His Word in your heart!  Take time to have Him talk to you through Bible study and prayer.  As His Spirit dwells in your heart, His Words will reach your mouth and fear will fade.

If you are a follower of Jesus Christ, God has given you a mission in this world.  You’re not here to just take up space; you’re not here to just work toward your own personal goals.  God never calls us to do something for Him that He doesn’t enable us to do, if we are willing to take the time and do the work.  Please, take the time to get to know God.  As your relationship with Him grows, you will move forward to more difficult missions.  Your purpose on earth is to share God’s love to a lost and dying world.

Your mission, if you should choose to accept it, is waiting for you!  Open your ears and your heart to the Lord, and be excited about your new future serving Him in truth and spirit!

Be a Missionary for God!

“From one man he made every nation of men that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.” (Acts 17:26-27)

We have been placed in this culture, to live in this time, as missionaries to fulfill God's purpose, just as Jesus did.  In Acts 17 we read that God has literally put you into this specific place and time, and that you live to be His representative!  His ambassador! His missionary!

Paul talks about this amazing role we have been given as representatives of God, ambassadors of Jesus, “We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.” (2 Corinthians 5:20)

Paul says it’s as though God himself were making His appeal to others through us.  It’s through you that Jesus wants to spread the gospel and call people to saving faith!

So, are you living in a way that allows God’s call to ring clearly through your life to others?  In Mark 10:45 Jesus says, “…the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”  To be a leader, to be a minister, to be an ambassador of Jesus means to be a servant.  To willingly serve and give your life for others.

To be a Missionary for God, you have to humble yourself.  You have to sacrifice, and willingly serve and love others, doing whatever it takes to spread the gospel. 

That’s being a Missionary for God!

On Mission in an Uncertain World

Most of us understand that today's missionaries should strive to be like the Apostle Paul.  Clear on the message, willing to suffer, focused and resolute.  Follow along with me a bit if you will as we take a fresh look at Paul's Roman adventure.

Following his important victory in Ephesus with the burning of the magic books, Paul set his sights on new destinations.  “Paul decided to go to Jerusalem ... after I have been there, he said, I must visit Rome also.” (Acts 19:21)

This first mention of Rome represents a vision that had formed in Paul's mind; a vision which, is confirmed by God.  That confirmation comes in Acts 23.  After arriving in Jerusalem, the apostle is arrested and brought before the Jewish Sanhedrin.  The Lord assures Paul, “...As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome.” (Acts 23:11b)  The mission to Rome clearly has God's stamp of approval.

At this stage of the story, Paul reminds me of many missionaries.  They cherish a vision of what they are certain God wants them to do; a new people group to reach, a new area to enter with the gospel, an innovative means to make a difference among the nations.

Many of these new missionaries have also formed a picture of how the vision will become reality. Paul likely would have expected to roam freely about the great city as God either opened new doors for him or moved him on to the next destination.

The next few chapters of Acts recount for us Paul's meandering and highly eventful journey from Jerusalem to Rome—as a prisoner.  As we draw near the final curtain on the book of Acts, we find the great apostle unable to move about Rome at all, but living there in his own rented home, under house arrest.  It doesn't seem to be the glorious climax he may have envisioned.

How “human” it would have been for Paul to allow frustration or anxiety to get the upper hand.  I could easily see myself turning visitors away with an excuse full of self-pity, “I'm just too stressed and preoccupied today, could you please come back another time?”  But not Paul, according to Acts 28:30 he, “welcomed all who came to see him.”  Nor did he see in these visitors, an opportunity to talk about his own predicament.  Instead, he preached the kingdom of God, just as he had done in all the other cities and, “taught about the Lord Jesus Christ.” (Acts 28:31)

So Paul's God-given vision to bring the gospel to Rome did in fact become reality!  The form that reality took was far different than he likely expected.  The point however is this, Paul was flexible. He adapted.  He found a way to see this new reality as God's creative way of keeping a promise.

Moreover, the powerful little word all in Acts 28:30 suggests that Paul fully embraced his situation. No half-hardheartedness here; no one was turned away.  Every seeker was entertained. I suspect that Paul saw his house arrest as a blessing in disguise, a situation to be fully exploited for the sake of the gospel.

I find this attitude strangely predictive of Jim Elliot's exhortation, “Wherever you are, be all there; live to the hilt every situation you believe to be the will of God for you.”  Ironically, Jim Elliot's life and death actually become a 20th century illustration of how God sometimes takes his servants on a different route to a promised destination.  The vision of Elliot and his four missionary companions to see the gospel brought to the savage Auca Indians of Ecuador was in fact realized.  And God's way of reaching this reality involved the murder of all five men first.

Missionaries who make a mark in our unpredictable world will be those who learn best how to follow the sovereign, all-wise Christ through unexpected twists and turns instead of becoming frustrated and disillusioned.  Let's pray and look for that kind of missionary prospect.  Let's design training programs that prepare that kind of overseas worker.  And when we pray for the missionaries we've already sent out and supported, let's add to our prayers for safety, strength and souls, one more request: a prayer for flexibility.

A last encouraging note from the text, Acts 28:31 describes Paul's captive ministry as being “without hindrance.”  What a contrast to previous ministry forays where typically he was chased from town to town by those who opposed the gospel!  Where did Paul ever before have the luxury of preaching the gospel “without hindrance?” 

Perhaps the lesson is this, for those visionaries who fully embrace God's sovereignty and wisdom as Paul did, who allow God the freedom to reformat their plans, the result is often better than they could ever have dreamed.