Every now and then, we are blessed to have a conversation that changes the way we think — leading to unforeseen changes down the road. For me, one such conversation happened when I was in college.
My roommate, Brad, and I were talking about the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20) and what it meant for us and for the church as a whole. I’m not sure who came up with this great insight (so I’ll give the credit to Brad), but here it is:
God never commanded the world to go to church; he did, however, command the church to go to the world.
Granted, scholars and others had known this for centuries. But to two eighteen or nineteen year-olds, this was ground-breaking, earth-shattering news. We didn’t know it back then, but this was a call to be missional in how we lived and approached ministry.
For Brad, this led him to serving in inner-city Memphis, then Long Island, and finally in Nigeria.
For me, it set in motion two decades of trying to help people find their way back to God in the most effective ways possible.
It’s unfortunate that too many churches wait for the world to come to them. There is no specific prayer for specific people who need Jesus. There is no intentional plan for how to penetrate their neighborhoods with the good news. When a guest does show up, it throws off their entire Sunday.
What about you and the church you’re a part of? Are you taking the gospel to the world? Or, are you waiting for the world to discover you?