our assignment

"My life is worth nothing unless I use it for doing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus...

     ...the work of telling others the Good News about God's wonderful kindness & love."

Acts 21:24



This was spoken by Paul, the apostle, right before he left for Jerusalem where he would finally be arrested & spend years in prison.

I think Paul speaks to the universality of a calling we all have - to share w/ those around us about "God's wonderful kindness & love."

Iow, the way Jesus made for us to connect to God.


I have heard this verse used to get people to "go to deepest, darkest Africa" (or wherever) as missionaries.

And I suppose for some that would be God's desired expression of their servanthood.

The thing is, we all are to be "missionaries", no matter where we are or what we're doing.

In short, we are to live our lives loving God & loving people.

And that can be in Blairsville, Bogota, Bombay, or Beijing.

That can be as a missionary, a nurse, a retail worker, a HVAC installer, a teacher, a retired person, or whatever.


Because it's not what we do as a job or where we live that are the operative constraints.


No matter where we are, or where we're working, each of us has the same mandate - to share the scandal of grace we can experience connecting to God because of Jesus.


And before anyone thinks otherwise, think about the people who have had the most influence on you & me to become Christ followers...

Weren't they for the most part just ordinary people who loved God & love people?

And do we think that those who were the greatest influencers in our lives have a clue they were?

Probably not, unless we've told them.


We run into people all around us all day, every day, that need us to let God channel His love through us to them.

This is NOT Bible banging, hardcore witnessing.

This is the natural sharing with people through normal conversation & contact the love of Jesus.

It's like if we go to a good movie, or eat at a great restaurant, & find a really effect way to get cat yark off the carpet...

We naturally tell others about it - it's not something we decide to do - it's just something that naturally flows because of our experience with it.

It's something we want to share with anyone because it's meant something to us, & we know it can mean something to the person we're talking to...

     ...or at least we hope it would.


That's the kind of sharing I'm talking about should be our aim in sharing what we've experienced as a Christ follower.


(Is any of this making any sense?)


Anyway, think about this.

Let what you've experienced as a Christ follower just come out - don't filter it.

And ask God to somehow channel the love He has for all of us through us to the people we have contact with each day.



And one more thing...

Before any of us say we can't do this, think about this...


     ...what if the people who influenced us the most to follow Jesus had been afraid to, or didn't think they do a good job of it, or any number of neurotic reasons, & hadn't connected with us about Him?


yeah...