Foundations: Communicate His Word

What is your mission? Mission, what an intriguing word! As I sat contemplating this week’s lesson, my mind drifted to the Mission Impossible Series of movies. In MI2 the opening scene has agent Ethan Hunt doing some ridiculous rock climbing stunts, only to arrive at the top and receive a mission that will self-destruct in 5 seconds. There is something compelling about exciting about a start to a movie like that.

Deep within our hearts, we long to be challenged, we long to be a part of something bigger then ourselves. The MI movies, James Bond movies, and so many others capitalize on this very desire. For most, we will never be secret agents in the real world, and nothing in real life plays out like it does in the movie. But still, the longing for purpose, vision and a mission haunts us.

This does not surprise God, because He is the one who put that desire in our hearts. But God does not give us desires to frustrate us. Only in pursuing Christ will we find the deepest fulfillment to these desires, and God Himself has called us to a mission. It’s not a secret and it won’t self-destruct in 5 seconds, but it is a call to mission.

Much like the mission in Mission Impossible movies, the statement “this is your mission if you choose to accept it,” stands. But for the agent it was about a singular mission, for the Christian it is about a lifestyle change. If you choose to follow Christ, then you are on mission. If you are not on mission, then you are not a follower of Christ.

That’s a bold statement and a hard truth. So, let’s unpack it a little.

Let’s Get Clear On the Gospel

The last two weeks we unpacked Lakeside’s first two points of the mission statement: Love God and Care for People. Why love God? Why love God’s people? Because of the Good News of Jesus Christ.

God LOVES you. He desires for you to know Him, but sin separates us from God.

You see, we are all born into sin. From the very beginning when our parents ate of the forbidden fruit, sin entered the world. All of creation as we know it has been tainted by sin. We are sinners; therefore, we sin. Our hearts are desperately wicked and sick, there is nothing we can do to heal ourselves, or redeem ourselves.  We broke God’s Law. We deserve death.

But God, in an extravagant display of His love, sent His Son to fulfill the Law completely, to be a perfect sacrifice and payment for our sin. Even while we were sinning, God sent His Son to die for us. Jesus’ death was the satisfaction of God’s just wrath and is available to all who believe.

Jesus rose again from the dead and invites all to come to Him for forgiveness, justification and adoption. It is a free gift to all who believe and receive, but understand this, the free gift is a costly gift. It cost Jesus His life. It cost you your life too.

The Cost of Discipleship

To be a disciple of Christ simply means you are a follower of Christ. Deitrich Bonhoffer said, “When Christ calls a man, He bids him come and die.” What he was getting at is that Jesus did not call you to come to Him for a “get out of hell free” card. This is not some cosmic Monopoly game. Jesus calls you to come to Him to live on mission.

You cannot be a Christian and not be a disciple. You cannot be a Christian and not follow Christ. If you think you are a Christian but the commands of Scripture are not for you, then you are not a Christian at all. Jesus said, “if you love me you will obey my commandments.”

Are you a Christian? Are you obeying Christ’s commands? What’s holding you back?

The Mission

Ok, you’re still reading so that is a good thing. Too often we make light of the Gospel and don’t realize the seriousness of what Christ has done for us and what He calls us to. The first two parts of the mission is to Love Him and love His people as we talked about in the first two weeks. But tonight, we are talking about Communicating His Word to the world.

We have to tell people about Jesus if we are truly a Christian. Matthew 28:18-20 is commonly referred to as the Great Commission. Commission is an older term, but we see in it the word “mission.” It’s not the “great suggestion” but THE great cause of Christ. He wants His followers to go and tell others about the Gospel.

What don’t we see in the Great Commission?

We don’t see excuses:

·      I’m too young, when I get older I’ll tell others.

·      I’m too old, that is for the younger crowd.

·      I don’t know enough, when I learn more theology then I will share.

·      I’m not good with words

·      I might get made fun of

·      I don’t know any unbelievers

·      Write in your excuse ____________________________

What do we see in the Great Commission:

·      All authority and power have been given to Jesus

·      A command to “Go”

·      A command to “make disciples of all nations”

·      A command to “baptize”

·      A command to “teach them to obey”

·      A promise “I am with you.”

Consider this, Jesus spent 3 years with the disciples training them and preparing them. Then He died right in front of them. All hope was lost for them. Until He rose again from the dead!

They just saw the impossible happen, and now He calls them to an impossible mission. Go reach the world, every tribe, tongue and nation and teach them to obey me. Have you ever tried to get someone to obey? That’s a difficult task, if not impossible. Who is Jesus to demand this of us?

He tells them, “I am the one with all authority in heaven and in the earth. I am the boss.”

Do you have siblings? I am the youngest of four. Growing up, it was impossible to get my older siblings to do anything, why? Because I was the lowest in the chain of authority. But when dad told me to tell them to do something, they would obey when I said three little words, “but dad said…”

It was like magic. Why? Because dad was the authority in the house. They didn’t obey me because of my authority, they obeyed because I was the ambassador of my father.

Jesus is not calling us to go and make disciples on our own authority. He said go as His ambassadors, in His authority.

We go to “make disciples.” What does that mean? Simply put, making a disciple is helping someone become what you already are. Paul said it this way, “follow me as I follow Christ.”

As you seek to believe and obey Jesus, help others see Jesus as you do and obey Him as you do. Just like the “follow the leader” game, you just need to be one step ahead of those you lead. Any Christian can be a disciple maker. Just keep your eyes on Jesus and keep demonstrating the next step.

The mission is clear, go and tell others, but we are not alone. We are in His power.

There is a lost and dying world all around us. In our neighborhoods. In our schools. In our work places. Even in our homes. Are you following Christ? Are you living on mission?

If you want to be more effective on mission for Christ, consider this formula from Dare2Share: Pray, Pursue, Persuade.

Identify “not-yet-believers” in your life: those who don’t know Jesus. Commit to praying for 3 of those people. Pray, pray and pray some more. Ask God to provide opportunities to talk to and share with these people.

Pursue them means learning to “bring God up” in conversations. Listen to what they say and be ready to share the Good News with them. If you are praying for them, trust the Holy Spirit is working and creating the space to share with them. Their deepest longing in their heart is to know Jesus, they just don’t know it yet. It’s important that you don’t force it or just try to say everything at once. There may be a bit of a dance to this method. Test the waters and see if they are interested, engage the conversation, and trust the Holy Spirit to give you the right words.

After praying for them, and pursuing God conversations with them, seek to show them the beauty of the Gospel in your life, attitude and words. Don’t argue with them. Don’t try to show you know more. Don’t major on the minors. I like the phrase, “can I paint you a picture of the Big Story of God”? Most not-yet-believers don’t know the story of God, they only know what the media, movies and TV describe as Christians. Even those who grew up in churches don’t necessarily know the Gospel.

Will you commit to sharing Christ with someone? Let’s live on mission together!