Bill Jones article in the Action Paper this month was so good I decided to put it here so I could review it later…Thanks Pastor!
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16 NLT). This is the Christmas story from Jesus’ lips. If you loved everyone, how would you try to save them from catastrophe? If your mission is to get as many people to heaven and keep as many people as possible from hell, what would you do?
I would pull together the best minds to plan a large scale information blitz to be sure that all persons heard the gospel. I would plan concerts all over the world, and I would find the best preachers in the world to present the Gospel message. I would create websites and blogs and inundate Facebook and MySpace with the wonderful message of the Gospel of Christ. In America I would flood billboard space with the message of Christ’s love, his death on the cross for all persons, and his glorious resurrection; promising eternal life. I would organize conventions and create foundations. But after reading the book Radical by David Platt (Multnomah, 2010), I am pretty sure that is not what Jesus would do.
Jesus thinks so differently! He came with the mission described above to save the world. And he spent all his time wandering the streets of Palestine with a few men. ” (Platt, David, Radical, Multnomah, Colorado Springs, CO. 2010, p. 88.) He was initiating a revolution, but his revolution would not revolve around masses or multitudes. Instead it revolved around a few men.” He was going to change the world, his worldwide plan of transformation revolved around just a few people.
Look with me at John 17 as Jesus prays his priestly prayer at the end of his ministry. One might think when Jesus spoke in that prayer of “completing the work” (vs. 4) the Father had sent him to do, he would talk about his miracles. He hushed the wind and waves…he healed the blind and deaf…he fed the masses with fish and bread…he walked on water…for heaven’s sake, he raised the dead. Instead, he says:
- I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. (vs. 6)
- I gave them the words you gave me. (vs. 8 )
- They knew with certainty that I came from you. (vs. 8 )
- All glory has come to me through them. (vs. 10)
- While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe. (vs. 12). (NIV. John 17. 1984.)
These disciples were his plan. He lived for them. “These eleven guys were the small group responsible for carrying on everything Jesus had begun.” (Op.Cit. Platt, p. 89.)
In this age of mega-(you name it), Jesus’ plan has not changed. He called each of us to personally take on the challenge of making disciples one by one. History tells us that D.L. Moody was won to Christ by a shoe salesman who believed it was his job to make disciples. You never know when you might be the next “shoe salesperson” to win the next great preacher, evangelist, or missionary to Christ. We dare not hide behind the smokescreen that we are not gifted as evangelists. The Great Commission is for all of us to be witnesses in our Judea, Samaria, and the outermost parts of the earth. This Christmas and New Year please make a commitment to boldly love your neighbor, your friend, your co-worker enough to tell them that Jesus wants them in heaven. That is why he came, born of a virgin, lying in a manger.
Merry Christmas,
Pastor Bill