If you had a great story to tell, wouldn’t you be excited to share it with others?
If you discovered a great secret that would be helpful to others wouldn’t you want others to know it? If you went on an amazing vacation and stayed at an incredible resort, would you not post the fun you had on social media?
If you answered yes to the above, what if you had found the ultimate life hack–the best way to enjoy your relationships, your work, have a peace about you, and live life to the fullest? Would you not wish to impart your newly discovered wisdom with others?
Hopefully, that is what we would do. If we’re doing all things in love, and having the best interest of others in mind, then sharing our faith and our journey’s “travel tips” is the way we need to be, encouraging one another in our collective life journey. It’s not just a cool thing to do, but a command from Christ to obey. It’s our mission and it’s called the Great Commission. Here it’s presented in context:
“Then Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.’” (Matt 28-18-20)
Using Business lingo to review the scripture above, our Heavenly Father remains Chairman of the Board, but He has placed His Son as CEO of the universe. All authority in heaven and on earth are His. He’s the Boss! And He has given us an order–a mission to complete. To be better aligned grammatically with the original Greek phrasing, it might be better stated, “Therefore, as you are going, make disciples…”. The emphasis is not on the going, but of making disciples.
That is our mission.
In order to make a disciple, you must first be one–preferably a mature one. This is why this discipline is given next to last. It’s a “We must first remove the log from our own eye, before we remove the splinter from our neighbor’s eye” kind of thing. It’s not like we must be perfect, but it is an act of coaching and mentoring, so some skill and experience is involved. If we have established our purpose of glorifying God within our lives and have refined our abilities to see the world from a Kingdom of God perspective to make wise decisions and if we are speaking the truth in love to our neighbors, then we can be successful in making disciples. As we purify our hearts and surrender our will to God, this should become our PASSION.
Think about it. If we are loving others, then what better way to love them than to share the Good News and assist them on their life journey. It’s the best form of love you can share.
In the business world this approach aligns with Servant Leadership. Servant Leadership stresses training, mentoring, and empowering your peers and subordinates to be the best they can be. In essence it takes the company Org chart and turns it upside down where the CEO is at the bottom. His job is not to be served, but to serve. If it’s a publicly traded company, he answers to the stockholders who, in essence, is his (or her) ultimate customers. Using this inverted organizational model, he is to mentor and empower his lieutenants to be their best who then do the same with their Directors onto the managers and finally the workers who are at the top as they are typically the ones doing the work of building the product or providing the service. You lead through example by serving others.
Similarly, the “Best Practices” in personnel development in the business world is to help your employees chart their career. You sit down with Suzie or Sam and say, “Where to you want to be in three or five years? You’re a business analyst, do you want to move into project management, go the more technical lead route, or do you think you have talents more suited for sales and business development?” Then, depending upon their answer and the needs of the company (think win-win), you share with them the skills to develop and experience to gain so that they can achieve their goal.
Why don’t churches do that with their congregation? Why don’t we sit down with our members and help them discover their spiritual gifts and assist them in their spiritual development to better glorify God? Would that not enhance unity and improve the health and vitality of the church?
Jesus taught this and He spent three years mentoring His disciples so that they could carry forward what He instructed them to do and how to live. He led by example as He practiced what He preached. We mentioned in the last blog that He came to serve and graphically illustrated that point by performing the lowliest of functions by washing His disciples feet. He explained that if you wanted to be the greatest in God’s economy, you must act like the least and be servant of all.
We also mentioned in the last blog what Paul stated in Romans about being a living sacrifice. Let’s review again the next verse. “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is–His good, pleasing and perfect will.” (Rom 12:2).
We live in this world, but we are not of this world. We renew our minds and meditate on God’s Word and put it into action. We try to see the world as God sees the world. As we purify our hearts, we will see God in action and find His will for our lives. Then we can assist others to discover His will for their lives. It becomes a replicating process. It grows and strengthens the Church. It enhances the life of every believer.
And it glorifies God.
This is our mission and let’s make it our Passion! We are ambassadors for Christ to offer His salvation to a lost world–a world full of zombies who are dead in their sins, and most of them don’t know it. We are God’s chosen workers to bring the light and hope of eternal life and to lead the lost to the correct life path–to lead them to The Way.
Think about it. What greater honor can you have and what greater act can you perform here on earth than to be a chosen vessel–God’s chosen instrument to impart His gift of eternal life to another? That’s love! That’s truth! That’s a blessed life!
