Acts 20:22-24 (NIV)
22 "And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem,
not knowing what will happen to me there. 23 I only know that in
every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me. 24
However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the
race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me--the task of testifying
to the gospel of God's grace.
Several years ago a movie entitled, Mission
Impossible, hit the screens. The opening scene usually had Tom Cruse obtaining
some recording of the IMF agency giving him his next mission. In the recording
he would be told exactly what the mission was and the dangers that it would
entail. The beginning part of the recording was, "Your mission should you
decide to accept it . . .the concluding part of the recording said, "As
usual if any of your IM force are caught, or killed the secretary will disavow
any knowledge of your actions."
There was never a mission the IM Force did
not accept. It was assumed that being part of the IM Force automatically meant
you would accept any mission assigned regardless of the danger.
This IM force would be made up of the best
intelligence experts in the world. They would be chosen for their high tech
skills, ability to speak multiple languages, their ability to think on the fly,
outside the box, etc. They would give themselves to the success of the mission
knowing that their names would never be recognized for anything they would ever
accomplish, it was the thrill of the mission that held them.
Every time I watched this movie I found
myself wanting to be part of something that would be that engaging, that
thrilling, that demanding. I would take a look at the church and see her
passionless ministries where people just went through the motions of doing
church but no real thrill, no real joy, no real passion. Then I would read the
book of Acts and discover that Paul escaped one city by being let down in a
basket over the wall at night. In another place he was hidden away, still
another he stood before hostile audiences not knowing what would happen. This
resonated with my desire for, on the edge of your seat kind of life. You cannot
read Acts and see a passionless, dull worship service ever being part of the
routine. It really was dangerous to be part of the New Testament church, you
just never knew what was going to happen from one day to the next, but there
was one thing you did know, God was going to show up and do something really
powerful.
I submit we have lost many of the next
generation precisely because we have tried to build a "safe" church.
I submit God has made us to live lives of total abandonment to the cause of
Christ. We are made for something that will captivate our every waking moment.
We are made to live with a passion that the world knows little of.
I submit to you that the church ought to be
the most dangerous place to belong. We are called on to engage the worst enemy
of humanity, who is bent on our destruction. He is set against us on every
possible level and he will never rest until he has us for good. We are called
to be engaged in the battle of the ages for the souls of men and women all over
the globe. We must have mission strategies designed by the Spirit of God and we
must engage the Church of Christ to train and send mission agents into the
entire world to rescue those behind enemy lines. We are to raise up mission
agents who care not for their own reputation but care for the mission of the
gospel and are willing to stake their entire lives on the fact that this gospel
is the most important thing in the world.
When one of the greatest minds in history was
captured by the grace of God he at once was compelled to live the rest of his
life for the sake of the gospel. His every breath was about the gospel. Where
ever he travelled the gospel was always his topic of conversation. Where ever
he slept he talked about Christ, even if it was in a prison cell.
Paul knew he was running a race, he knew he
had a limited time to make as much of an impact for the gospel as he could with
the years he had on this earth. He also knew that his life was going to be
filled with incredible obstacles and gut wrenching opposition. There would be
times he would be in prison or floating on a piece of driftwood in the
Mediterranean, but all of this would not stop him from proclaiming the gospel
of Christ.
Today let me encourage you to consider Paul's
purpose in life and to make it your own. "I count my life worth nothing if
only I may finish the race and complete the task of testifying to the Gospel of
God's grace.
Now where to start in this race? Let me
suggest you begin with your family and those closest to you. Begin today to
pray that God will give you an opportunity to share your faith with your
family. Perhaps you just need to call them up on the phone and speak to them
very honestly about your concern for their soul.
Take the next few days to pray for each
member of your family and friends who do not possess a relationship with
Christ. Ask God for boldness and then step through the door he opens.
Hear God met you today with these words,
"Good morning ____________, your mission should you decide to accept it is
to take the Gospel into the most difficult places in the world. You are to
invade the enemy's territory and rescue those held in bondage to sin. The
forces arrayed against you are more formidable than you can possibly imagine.
This mission, should you decide to accept it will cost you your very life. It
will take every ounce of strength and courage you can muster and then some.
There will be times when the pressure on you
will drive you to the edge of complete and utter exhaustion. You will face
periods of isolation and abandonment by those closest to you, you will be
called all sorts of names and many will not even understand why you are doing
what you are doing. Be assured of this that your labors will not go unnoticed
by the Father. He will acknowledge your labors for Him and you will be richly
rewarded as you follow Him into the hard and the difficult places for the
Gospel.
Accepting His Mission,
Pastor Phil