Can you really make a difference? Let’s talk about it on Deeper Waters.
If you live in America, it’s not difficult to realize our country is in a place Christians aren’t too happy with. Immorality is all around us and not only being accepted, but in fact celebrated. Financially, we’re on the verge of collapse. We cannot trust our own government in many cases. Anything that implies Christianity with it is seen with great suspicion and as a threat.
In our own personal lives, we can look at the world and find concern. In an age where we don’t want to offend people, we often end up doing far more of it. We put on a face and say things we don’t really mean or believe just to avoid offending someone, only to hurt them later when the truth comes out. Families break apart regularly. I have said repeatedly that the biggest party to blame in the marriage debate is the church. We have not honored marriage properly. Divorce is rampant. Children born out of wedlock are more and more common.
We can see this as a dark if not the darkest hour. What do we do?
How about doing what our marching orders were from the beginning?
When Christ left, He gave us the Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20. We are to go out into all the world and make disciples. Why? Because Jesus already has all authority. So let’s ask the questions then.
“Is Jesus in charge?”
“How can you think Jesus is in charge?! Do you not remember what you wrote just above about all the evil in the world? If Jesus is in charge, why is the world like this?”
I was not aware that people being evil had some power to knock Jesus off of His throne.
Jesus’s apostles ended up transforming the Roman Empire in the long run. Israel wanted to expel the pagans. Christianity sought to win them over. His apostles went out into a world that we could say was even darker. At least we have some background of Christianity here. They did not even have that. Furthermore, they didn’t even have the great technology today to get around and spread the message.
Paul wants to send a message to Corinth. What does he do? He writes it out by hand. Peter decides to head back to Jerusalem. What does he do? Well he can take a ship in some places or he can walk or at the best, ride a horse. It’ll still take several days. There’s no sending an email to them. There’s no making a phone call. There’s no flying a plane or driving a car.
They did so much with so little. We do so little with so much.
“Don’t you see the way Christians are treated today?!”
Yeah. We in America truly suffer. All the early church had to do put up with was being cast out of the marketplace, being thrown to lions, being hunt down regularly, and being lit on fire for Nero’s festivities. I’m not saying what we have here is good, but let’s not act like we’re really undergoing persecution. We’re nowhere near it yet.
So if Jesus is in charge, then what are we to do? Make disciples.
“I can’t talk to people!”
Maybe you can’t. I’d say I can relate to Paul in some ways. Paul said he was timid face to face but bold when away, that is, writing. Now I do love public speaking, but writing is the real joy. The way most people think of doing evangelism is nothing I could do. The thought of going up and speaking to a complete stranger is not in my blood. So what? I do what I can.
Maybe you can’t handle public speaking. That’s okay. I and others can. Maybe you’re not a writer. That’s okay. Others are. What can you do? Maybe you can support those of us who are with prayer, financial support, and even encouraging words.(Trust me on this readers. I hear this regularly from people in the field of ministry. It means so much when your work is appreciated.)
Maybe you can’t go out on to the front lines and fight. That’s okay. You can support those who do. David made sure the men who stayed with the supplies had just as much reward as those who went out to battle. For instance, I tell my own wife she has no idea what a huge support it is that she is standing by my side and affirming me in what I do. (Wives. If your husbands is in ministry, never underestimate how much he leans on you, even if he won’t admit it.)
Whatever you can do, do it.
“But God can’t use me.”
This isn’t a statement about you. It’s a statement about God. The problem is not your “self-image.” The problem is your theology. Your God is weak. Don’t ipso facto say God can’t use you. That’s for Him to decide. You do what He has already told you to do. Anything else is disobedience to Scripture.
And what are you doing when you do what He told you?
You are saving the world from the power of evil. You are bringing the message of light. Note that I am not saying any kind of force is to be used. Not at all. Those who choose Jesus must do so freely. Marrying Christianity with the government will only hamper evangelism.
Yet if you are sick of the world the way it is, then do exactly what Jesus said to do that worked so long ago. Do the Great Commission. We have more numbers than the early church did. We have more means than the early church did. In many ways, we have more evidence than they did. We even have a NT that the apostles did not have.
All we seem to lack is the will.
If we have so much more, imagine what we can do, if only we are willing!
In Christ,
Nick Peters
Support Deeper Waters on Patreon!
