The call? to GO

In His commission to the church, Jesus said "GO..." Have you went?

I truly believe that there is a great misconception within the body of Christ concerning missions. We tend to speak of callings when we ought to focus on obedience. Isaiah heard a call - "Whom shall I send..." But he also heard a plea - "Who will go..." Isaiah's response: "SEND ME!"

Jerry Ranking (To the Ends of the Earth) said, "God has brought us into a relationship with Him, but the only justification for our existence as the church, as the people of God, is to facilitate building the Kingdom of God through evangelism, discipleship, and missions." Dear friends, we will never accomplish these goals if all we do is sit around and wait for a calling.

Why does God have to call us when He has already told us?

The point is that there is a difference between being "called" to be a missionary and going on mission. Being an "in the field" missionary does require a calling. Trust me - if you are going to uproot your family and spend your life sharing the Gospel with those in need, you better be called. However, God can use each and every one of us who are willing to go into the mission field of the world to share Jesus. That is why we focus so much on short-term missions at PBC. Everyone (if you can get away from work) can take a week and share the Gospel with those who have never heard. The requirement isn't "calling"; the requirement is OBEDIENCE.

The only thing the disciples were told to wait upon was the coming of the Holy Spirit. Once He came, Jesus said that they would receive power and then they would be His witnesses. What are we waiting for? Have we not been empowered by the Holy Spirit? Have we not been commissioned? If the church is to ever fulfill Jesus' mandate it must come through volunteers who have a heart for the Kingdom of God.

The truth is that there aren't enough missionaries on the field to reach a lost and dying world. There are still people groups waiting to hear of the 1st coming of Jesus. Our churches must stop focusing so much on His second coming (waiting for it to happen) and get busy sharing about Jesus coming to die for the sins of humanity. Oswald J Smith said it best, "We focus so much on the 2nd coming; Half the world has never heard of the 1st."

Let's GO!