Missions

Suggested Topic : Missions

I'm sure many people went on a "mission trip" this summer, or at least at some point in their life. If you've done that, you've probably experienced a "faith high" or "mission high" during and just after you returned home. And a couple months later...did it fade? Most likely it did. And you start the school year saying "Oh, look at what God did then and I can't wait until next year!" Just in that statement, we have disqualified the now. Let's back track though...

How does one define missions? Well, I firmly believe it is going out and sharing the good news of Jesus Christ with people around you. Whether it is through words, or just by living and loving. That is missions.

A "mission trip" should not be defined by a church group going outside of their hometown, and spending a week serving another community (in or out of country). Is that all? By no means!! Missions is so much more!! A summer mission trip, or service trip is a part of missions but it does not stop there. In fact, it shouldn't start there. Before you even leave your home to go on a "mission trip" you should already have been preparing your heart by serving in some way where you live. Missions is a lifestyle. Everyday, there should be a "now" moment where you live out and share what you believe.

I can't stop singing Josh Turner's "Would you go with me" when I think of missions:

"Would you go with me if we rolled down streets of fire?" Sounds a bit dangerous, but would you go if God called you to serve or live in a dangerous place?  

"Would you go with me if we were lost in fields of clover?" It's not always fun to be lost, but could you go and lose yourself in God's love and get lost in sharing all of that with others? 

"Would you go with me if we rode the clouds together?" Can you pack up all you have, and go across the world? 

"Would you accompany me to the edge of the sea?" Is it possible for you to stretch your borders and your comfort zones in order to reach out for the lost and broken? 

God is a perfect gentleman. He won't ever force you to do anything. But He is challenging you. Step out of what's comfortable. There are so many rewards for obedience in that! He is extending a welcome and an opportunity for adventure in the place where you are now! You don't have to be stuck waiting for the next big thing.  

I have realized that I don't deserve to go out into the world and travel to different countries if I can't even walk out my front door and serve my own community. So I want to accept the challenge. I want to go into my community and listen to where the Holy Spirit says go and then, without hesitation, go and obey. By doing that, I am preparing myself little by little to be willing enough to go when He asks me to do the big, scary, and dangerous expeditions. 

I firmly believe that practicing in the "now" is the first stepping stone in order to launch a person out into the world. 

So, would you go with God? 

--sea'sthoughts--