Living a Mission
Emphasis Life
This past weekend, I experienced my first “Mission Emphasis”
weekend at FBC, and it was great! The
fellowship at the ski lodge Friday night was so ruggedly sweet. The messages Saturday night and Sunday
morning were challenging, and all the talk about what missions First Baptist
participates in was eye opening! God has
used this Mission Emphasis weekend, to place within me a new drive to partner
with Him in His mission: reconciling men, women and children to Himself.
So now we are faced with a question. How do we most effectively partner with God
to carry out the “Great Commission”?
What is our model to follow? How
do we make the most of our lives, and do the most good for God?
It would seem reasonable to look to how the most successful
businesses of our day succeed, and how they reach the top the fastest. Or maybe, what management or, advertizing
technique reaches the masses most effectively to get the most “bang for your
buck.”
Well, as we see often in Scripture, God has a different plan
then what we would think the most efficient.
The biblical model for effective ministry comes from none other than
Jesus. If we want to know, or see a
model to follow of what the most effective evangelism and discipleship model
looks like, we should look to none other than Jesus, God in the Flesh.
How did The Master
Teacher go about the task of world evangelism?
Jesus was and is the greatest teacher and wisest evangelist who ever
lived. When we search the Gospels, we unearth some wonderfully eye-opening
conclusions of how Jesus began the task of spreading the good news to the
entire world. We learn that while Jesus
intended for his message of salvation to reach the masses and be communicated
to the nations, he did not intend to do this all by himself. Rather, in the years of his ministry, Jesus
invested significantly in the lives of twelve men. This method of evangelism focuses on people
and relies on the practice of multiplication.
Jesus allowed twelve men to travel with him, live with him, and learn
from him in an intimate setting. He
allowed them to become so familiar with his words and actions that they could
imitate Him in his absence.
In addition to mentoring and
discipling twelve men, Jesus seemed to take special interest in three. Jesus developed unique relationships with
Peter, James, and John. These three men
seemed to receive a greater measure of Jesus’ time and attention, and they came
to know him in a more personal way.
While Jesus did tend to and teach
the masses, He often taught in parables.
The lessons in the teachings often seemed to the disciples to be hidden
or secret at first. In the course of
their travels, however, Jesus would often explain to the disciples the meaning
of His parables. Jesus acknowledged that
the masses were fickle. One day the
masses would praise Him and shout, “Hosanna,” and a week later they would call
out, “Crucify him!” The ones who
intimately knew Him, however, would be able to attest to His righteousness and
faithfulness for generations to come.
Jesus was a purposeful teacher
and disciple maker. He did not waste
time trying to please the masses, or even the twelve. He went about his ministry with the purpose
of glorifying and obeying His Father at any cost. His focus was on accomplishing the work of
salvation and allowing that message to spread to the entire world. He realized that the best messengers of the
Gospel would be those who knew and loved Him well.
As Jesus focused on a small group
of men, He asked them to count the cost.
He taught them to live holy lives and to submit to the Father. He taught them these things by his own life’s
example. He lived an open, vulnerable
life before them and allowed his own actions to be his primary teaching
tool. In a culmination of all his
teaching, he gave His own life in submission to the Father’s will because of
His great love. He also promised that
their lives in ministry would not be easy; they would face many hardships, but
the Comforter would be with them to guide them in all truth. Last, He commanded them to do the very thing
that He had been doing: go and make disciples.
I think the lessons
from Christ’s life are extremely relevant to all life and ministry. There is no teaching tool more effective than
one’s own life. The goal is to imitate
Christ, to know him intimately and follow him without compromise. Then others will see the love of Christ in
action and desire to imitate Him as well.
The challenge now is to take the model of Jesus’ life and to
apply it to our lives in wherever occupation God has placed us - in the oil
fields, in the classroom, in the machine shops, at church, in our homes, and in
our interaction with friends and family.
How can we take Christ’s model and live it out? Pray about it. Ask God to show you the ones he’s placed in
your “disciple” circle. Who sees you day
in and day out? Who are the witnesses of
your life? Are you living that life to
reflect Christ’s love and His glory?
That’s how we “make disciples of all nations.” Now let’s press on with all our heart, soul,
mind, and strength!
~Trev
