Going with the Gospel

This Sunday Night I will give a charge to a local volunteer group going on mission to the highlands of Peru. This is their second trip to this particular place. The group is composed of more than 50! I tried to persuade them to divide their teams and go 4 times in the year. They love one another's company too much for that, I'm afraid. So they have chosen to go once a year, descending upon the small villages of the Quechua peoples where they will work.

I will share 4 adverbs modifying the word "go" with them. It is a description of the Great Commission, as found in Mt. 28:19, 20; and in Acts 1:8.

I will challenge them to go obediently. This is for the entire church's consumption. The Great Commission is not just for some; it's for all of us.

I will tell the group to go expectantly. We have received the power of the Holy Spirit. We must expect him to go with us--even to be there before us--as we share.

I will teach the group to go courageously. In Acts 4 the disciples prayed for the presence of God to enable them to share the word with boldness. When political and religious figures oppose the preachers, fear can set in. They must be courageous in their witness, even if they face opposition.

And I will teach the church to go concurrently. To answer those who say, "Aren't there enough lost people around us, so that we don't need to go over "there?" I will say to them that we must go beyond our walls locally and internationally as we can. There is not a linear, systematic logic to Acts 1:8. It does not say we should be witnesses in "Jerusalem, THEN Judea, THEN Samaria, THEN the uttermost parts of the world." The conjunction is "AND." It conveys a concurrent action.

Most of all I will tell them to go.

And I will tell it to you now: go. Preach the gospel. Just go.

Don't Sit Around Talking About It, Just Do It!

Southern Baptists formed a new task force. They are tasked with figuring out what's going with SBs and the Great Commission.

I have a piece of advice for SBs. Don't sit around talking about the Great Commission. Just do it! Don't talk about all your churches that baptized no one. Go out yourself and win more, if you can. Don't talk about the efficiency of your state conventions (which are not technically "yours," but partner groups), just go out and win some more to Jesus.

When your task force meets in Atlanta and in Arkansas in the coming months, forego the meetings; go out into the highways and hedges and compel more to come in to the great banquet.

Do what Dr. Paige did in Texas earlier this year: find a group of struggling churches and hold a weekend meeting with those good folks. Modeling a little bit of the Great Commission might be shot in the arm for some of them.

Too simplistic? Maybe. Maybe not. I am not convinced that our collective personal evangelism amounts to much. We have, albeit unwillingly so, yielded to the cultures that surround our cities and communities. If you listen carefully, many will tell you in so many words that you cannot effectively share your faith on a personal level anymore.

Evangelists; oh, professional evangelists, I call you to spend your days out with pastors (or alone, if they are too "busy" to go win the lost), doing what you can to preach; don't just wait for night to fall, and for the lights to come on so you can stand center stage and preach your polished messages.

Why are SBs having such a time with the Great Commission? Could it just be that we are so busy looking at form that we have forgotten that the very gospel itself is the power of God unto salvation?

Southern Baptists: JUST DO IT!