10/23/2023
What is our mission? What has God asked us to do before all else? Is it to feed the bodies of hungry people, or to feed their souls? Is it to clothe the naked with soft wool, or to clothe them in the white robes of Salvation? Is it to quench the thirst of dehydrated mouths, or to give them living water to satisfy the spirit? Jesus sent His disciples into the world to deliver the gospel, and so He sends us today... His desire is that we deliver the message!
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.”
2 Corinthians 5:17-19 ESV
I once listened as a missionary told of serving young people in a faraway place. He talked about giving them a home in which to live, clothes, food, an education, and then in a tone of pride he spoke of all the things those kids had accomplished in the world. Doctors, teachers, engineers, but after all of the accolades, he closed with a quick “and they found Jesus.”
I think of Paul when I hear such accounts from modern missionaries as they travel from church to church seeking funding. I am disappointed in their focus if it is not aimed at the redemption of souls, and it pains me that their strategy is based otherwise. If they are to be successful in gaining favor from the churches they visit then delivering the gospel should be their mission focus. Paul spoke of his mission in unequivocal terms when he said:
“For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!”
1 Corinthians 9:16 ESV
Paul recognized his need to preach the gospel as the driving impetus of his mission. Nothing else mattered if this was not done... “Woe to me if I do not” he said.
Our greatest accomplishment, our joy, and most valuable treasure is not in this world, but in heaven. If this is true, then tell that story... tell of delivering the gospel... tell of saving souls, and the rest can be spoken of afterward.
“"Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
Matthew 6:19-21 ESV
This is missionary month and week at my church, and we get to hear from missionaries that our church contributes to during the year. When I listen I certainly want to hear things like how safe and nourished children are in a mission orphanage or sponsored foster home, but first and foremost I want to hear about how well fed in faith, and how well dressed in the Word they are. All the rest will follow if they have become disciples to Jesus, and their souls rest in the hands of God.
I was friends, and worked for Dr. Frist Sr., a man who founded Hospital Corporation of America, the company I work for. He had a saying that went like this... “Good people beget good people.” It sounds rather biblical doesn’t it? Probably because it is a paraphrase of scripture as it speaks of us as children of God...
“If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him.”
1 John 2:29 ESV
When we are born of God we are like Him, and He is good. When we lead souls to a rebirth in Christ then they too will become good. They will be righteous. That is our mission. The mission of my company is to heal people’s bodies and minds, but the mission of the Christian is to heal them in spirit, and soul... we are well equipped by God to do both, but do we?
Prayer:
Father, I thank you for allowing me to teach the gospel of Jesus Christ to those who have never heard it before, or who need to understand it better. I thank you for allowing me to reach souls around the world from the warmth of my prayer chair where I write your morning Word as you dictate it. It amazes me Father when I hear of the breadth, width, and depth your Word travels in the world, and it humbles me to be a part of it. To think that you use my shaking finger on the face of an iPhone to deliver your message each morning astonishes me. Lord you called Moses who couldn’t speak very well to free the Israelites from Egypt, and today, in lesser manner, you use the tremoring finger of a man in Nashville Tennessee to reach around the world. How unlikely the call, and how unworthy those you select. Let there be no doubt Holy Father that all good things come from you. Let the gospel of Jesus flow from me, even as it did Paul, and let your Word, and gifts, make it so. Let nothing come before your will, and no mission before the gospel of Jesus. Praised be your name by all of creation!
“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.”
James 1:17 ESV
Rich Forbes