When was the last time you had someone invite you to do something and the scope of the project really intimidated you? As you comprehended the proposition, your head spun with the magnitude of the offer.
Maybe it was when:
- your free-spirited friend talked about going full-on Joanna Gaines on their home (demo and complete remodel) one week before their daughter’s wedding.
- your college friend talked of making their first million by their 25th birthday.
- your boss cast the vision to double revenue by the end of the second quarter.
All of those are big tasks that would make your head spin!
But let me lay out for you a few different scenarios that would scare off even the most ardent advisors. Things like:
- Let’s cover I-40 (from Carolina to California) in styrofoam packing peanuts!
- Let’s collect all the ants in South America!
- Let’s build a bridge from L.A. to Australia!
The sheer scope of these projects would intimidate almost anyone from starting them. How could any person (or even a group of people) accomplish such a monumental task? It is crazy to even imagine it.
I say all this today, because as I read some of Jesus’ last words before His ascension into heaven (found in Matthew 28:16-20), I see Him invite the disciples to a project with an immense scope:
Jesus was inviting the disciples to change the world.
By “change the world,” I do not mean “change it” like Michael Jackson sang about in the song “Man in the Mirror,” I am talking about inviting the ENTIRE WORLD to follow Jesus. That’s right, the scope of Jesus’ final command was GLOBAL.
That means that the followers of Christ are called to make more followers of Christ among people who:
- speak a different language than we do
- live inside different cultures than we do
- reside in different countries than we do
- express their identity in different ways than we do
AND
- many of them worship different gods
- have grown up with a competing world view to Christianity
- might even want to kill anyone who would suggest they believe something else.
Yeah. Jesus has invited us to join Him in taking the Gospel to the nations. Whatever your previous mind-blowing opportunity was, Jesus has invited you to be a part of something even more epic. Greater in scope than covering the highway in packing peanuts and (it goes without saying) much more consequential!
What does that look like? Is that really what Jesus even meant? What does it mean for me to live in Norman, Oklahoma and be “FOR” the nations? This Sunday at Wildwood Community Church, we are going to talk about it in part 3 of our “FOR” series. Hope to see you this Sunday in our 8:30, 9:45, or 11:00 worship services. See you there — and bring your friends!