Think back to the first time you remember someone talking to you about God. Maybe you just always grew up hearing about Him. Maybe as a kid at your house you went to church whether you wanted to or not. In my house growing up, we were at church every time the doors were open. My parents and grandparents were instrumental in teaching me about God. They were my biggest influences early in life. That may have been how you heard about God. Maybe you heard the story of Jesus later in life. Maybe you were a teenager or a young adult. If that is the case, think about the person that introduced you to Christ.
Maybe you were an older adult. There are a lot of people that become Christians later in life. I had a great grandpa that was in his 60’s when he was baptized. If that is the case for you, think about how you heard about Christ. Who was the one that got you interested in what God has done for you? Maybe you were one that grew up going to church and being raised in a Christian home, but you strayed away for awhile. You went your own path for a little bit. What brought you back? I’ve talked about before that Kristin, my wife now of 15 years, was a big influence on me. She helped me when I had gone my own way for awhile. Who or what was the biggest factor in bringing you back to Christ? Perhaps that is you right now. Maybe you have wandered away and haven’t been able to get back on the right track. This could be the time to make that happen.
Whatever your case is, someone at some point told you about God. It may have been your parents, a friend, another family member, or anyone else in your life at that time. Everyone’s situation is different. But someone told you about God at some point. Think about that person, or multiple people if that’s the case. Think about what they mean to you. Think about how they shared something with you that changed not only your physical and spiritual life on Earth, but your eternal life as well. What an awesome gift they gave you!
Have you ever been that for someone else? Have you ever shared the Good News with someone else? Maybe you have with multiple people. You might have seen an opportunity to do it but just didn’t have the courage. That happens a lot. It takes boldness to talk to someone about God. You don’t know how they will react. You aren’t sure what their response will be. Maybe it is a friend of yours and you are afraid they will get mad or think different of you. You think it might change your relationship as friends. But we are called to do this. We are commanded by God in Matthew 28 to “go and make disciples of all nations.” The Gospel is the best news we can give someone. We just have to look for opportunities to do this and have the courage to step out of our comfort zone and do it. The more we do it, the easier it becomes for us to discuss the story of Jesus with others.
Several years ago our church had an idea called 200 by 2020. The purpose of this was to involve 200 people in mission work around the world by 2020. We accomplished that as we have had over 200 involved in missions by the start of this year. Now there is a new initiative called “Across the Street, Around the World.” The purpose of this is to continue to spread the good news of Christ to people around the world and in our own communities as well. There are a lot of things that go into missions. It is not only the people that go on the mission trips, but the people that help in other ways as well. There are people that might not be able to go, but they can give financially. There are many ways that people can help with this effort.
There are people that are full time missionaries and people that go on mission trips with groups. But here is something that for years I didn’t think about when it came to mission work. Just because you don’t go on a mission trip around the world doesn’t mean you can’t be a missionary. You can do it right here where you live. You can do it where you work. You can do it where you shop. There are so many ways to do that. For years I looked at what I did for a living as just a job. I looked at myself as a teacher and a coach. My job was first to go teach in the classroom, then to go coach ballgames. I have said in here before that I am not always a deep thinker. Although I’m getting better at this, for a long time I just saw what was on the surface. I saw myself as a teacher and a coach. The year I took off that I discussed in an earlier post changed the way I look at my job. I really don’t look at it as a just a job anymore. Sure, I have duties to fulfill every day. But now I also look at what I do as my mission field. I have the privilege of impacting 500 kids and 75 adults every day when I walk into work. That doesn’t mean I preach to them every day. But, the way I treat them, interact with them, or work with them is important to me. That is a responsibility I take seriously. I have good and bad days just like anyone else. I have days when I’m not the best at it, but I try to be. I try to conduct myself in a way that everyone else I come in contact with knows I’m a Christian by how I act. I want to have a positive and uplifting impact on everyone I come in contact with. There are times when, as the principal, I have to discipline students. But I hope when that is all over they still know I love them and would do anything for them, and I think they do. It’s the same way with baseball. There are times when I might be chewing on a player pretty good. Ten minutes later we may be joking around in the dugout. When it’s over, they still know that I love them and the only reason I do that is to make them better at not only baseball, but life.
Everyone has an opportunity to be a missionary for Christ. Everyone has people they can influence. Everyone has something they can do to influence people in a positive way. We do things that influence people without even knowing it. But, the more aware of it we are the better we will be at it. We are not all preachers in the formal sense, but we all have gifts as Christians that we can use to bring others to Christ. Our preacher Aaron talked about this very thing Sunday morning. He said he wondered if the people he saw in Walmart or anywhere else he goes knows that he is a Christian by how he treats people there. Will the people he sees in restaurants know that he is a Christian by how he acts in there? My question for all of us is will people know that we are Christians because of the way we conduct ourselves. Will people at work see Christ in us? Will people in public see Christ in us? Will our family members or our children see Christ in us? The fact is if we answered no to any of these, then we might need to re-evaluate how we do things. We might need to make adjustments. Actions speak louder than words sometimes. Our actions will tell them a lot about us. Will they see Christ in us?
This is something that is an ever evolving part of our lives. We are never done growing as Christians. I know that I have a lot of growing left to do. I hope that I can still find a lot of souls to bring to Christ. My prayer for everyone is that we all make it a point to be encouraging to others. Not only people that are not Christians, but to other Christians as well. We can always lift someone up. We can always be that positive influence on other people. That is what a missionary does. We can be a missionary across the street. I bet we would be amazed how many people right here among us have never heard the good news of Jesus. If we look I bet we could all find some. That should be our mission. That should be what we work for. This is a command from God and one that we all have the ability and talent to follow through with. We just have to be mindful of it. I challenge everyone this week to think about how we can be a missionary to people. Think about your life and where you can be this for other people. Think about your daily life and how you can spread the good news and look for opportunities to do just that. In the process, we must not forget to work hard at getting better ourselves every day. I pray that we all have the courage to be missionaries in our daily lives and show people what Christ’s love is all about. After all, that is the greatest and longest lasting gift we can give anyone, and someone once gave that gift to us!