The closer we get to the heart of God, the more missionary we become. That is because the heartbeat of God is missions. If a church is not involved in missions, it cannot rightly be called a church; it is nothing more than a religious social club if it is not involved in spreading the Gospel around the world. God only had one Son, and He made Him a missionary, and therefore, all of us as His disciples are to be missionaries by witnessing and sharing our faith with those in our circle of influence. God may want you to be a missionary in Africa or to be a missionary on your job, in your neighborhood, or in your school.
Every Christian in the local church should win souls, and every Christian can win souls. But, we must be willing to be a witness. Knowing that we should is one thing, but doing it is another. Satan wants you to think it is harder than it is. Just witness. Just give a tract. Just invite someone to church. Just tell someone about the difference Christ has made in your life. Certain people will either spend eternity in Heaven or in Hell as a result of our obedience to Christ to witness. Don’t be intimidated by people of social status and don’t fail to witness to someone because they look different than you. Realize people are more receptive to the Gospel than Satan wants us to believe.
The church at Antioch in Acts 13 became the first church to send out missionaries. It has become a model of what a local church should be – passionately devoted to world missions. Every local church should follow the example of Antioch as they passionately pursue closure to the Great Commission. Jesus said in Matthew 9:37, "The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few." That means there is great potential in missions; there is a great big world of people who have never heard the Gospel and way of salvation.
The harvest was plenteous - that is the potential. But he also said, "The laborers are few." That is the problem. I imagine Paul and Barnabas were fasting and praying for laborers to go into the harvest field, and when no one else went, God called them to leave Antioch and go. When you begin to pray fervently for God to send laborers, He may send you. There are other problems associated with missions, such as global economy changes, governmental intervention, cults, health care, and language barriers. We should be interceding for our missionaries as they deal with these issues.
There is a great price to pay if we are going to fulfill the Great Commission. It costs a great deal to send the Gospel around the world. For some, it costs people leaving their friends and family and moving to another location. It costs many months of deputation, raising funds. It costs laypeople doing without some of life's luxuries, and in some cases, people truly making sacrifices to fund the spread of the Gospel. It may cost you getting out of your comfort zone to speak to someone about Christ or invite them to church. Whatever it may cost you, the cost doesn’t compare to the price Jesus paid when He gave His life on Calvary!
What could you do to either begin making an impact or increase your impact as a part of God’s plan for world evangelism?
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