Monday - Sunday Missionaries

We're all familiar with the "Great Commission" Jesus gave His disciples, right? It's found in Matthew 28:18-20, and Jesus says:

All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.

There's a ton of great things to pull out of this passage that directly relate to our lives and how we follow Jesus. One is that the entire command is based upon and rests with Jesus' complete authority over all things (mentioned before and after the command to go and make disciples). Another is that making disciples is the goal, and part of that is teaching people to observe all of Jesus' commands and baptizing them. Those could be sermons and/or blog posts all on their own.

What really has been hitting me is that there isn't a time-clock attached to going and making disciples. When I'm worshiping with my church family on Sunday mornings, I get to pray with, for, and receive prayer from Christ's people and thus work to make disciples. On Monday mornings, when I go to work, I get to interact with my co-workers, showing them the grace and love of Jesus, and letting my good work shine so that they see my Father in heaven's glory (see Matt. 5:16). Every night, how I serve my community, how I rest with my family, how I play with my kid, how I date my wife......all of this is tied to making disciples. It never stops.

How can this be done? Wouldn't it be exhausting? Well, yeah, if the Gospel was something in addition to my life. What I want is for my life, moment by moment, to be lived trusting Jesus, the One who died to bring me completely before God and in His perfect love. If my life is not I who live, but Christ who lives in me (Gal. 2:20), then He should flow out of me into every area of life.

The problem comes when I buy the lie that my life should be about something else. When I dream the dreams I hear on the Point (local radio station), about having a good time, finding some kind of happiness (even if it's only for a night), about finding satisfaction in sex...then, yeah, living out Jesus' Gospel is exhausting. It's like I can't seek those things and obey Jesus at the same time. It's like I can't follow my dreams and Jesus' mission simultaneously. It's like Jesus will not be satisfied until I'm completely His....it's like He really is King of my life, like He really is the One true Goal and God of my life. Yeah, it's just like that.

Lord Jesus, take away from us our idols, those things we put in place of you, those things we seek for joy and life instead of, or in addition to, you. May You truly be the one living through us. May Your command to make disciples become sweet and beautiful to us as You make Your authority over all things more real in our lives. Thank You for the blessing to get to work on Your mission; send us out, Lord, and move in us and through us to Your glory.