Have you seen the memes that say “You had one job…,” but the person managed to fail at it? Some of the funnier ones include a crooked yellow line painted down the center of the highway, bananas in the produce section labeled as squash, and a “right turn only” sign with an arrow to the left.
I wonder if God is as amused with us. He gave us one job, the Great Commission, and too often we fail at it.
The Great Commission
Jesus said, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20 NIV
“Whatever we do, we must not treat the Great Commission like it’s the Great Suggestion.” Charles Swindoll
“There is no higher calling or greater privilege known to man than being involved in helping fulfill the Great Commission.” Bill Bright
“The Great Commission to go into all the world is not only geographical, but must include every field, profession, discipline, sport, etc.” Rick Joyner
“Committed to My Calling” was the second sermon I heard preached by Pastor JP Miller. He divided our callings into three: our Christian calling (love God, love people), our church calling (serve God, serve people), and our career calling (honor God, honor people).
The first two callings, our Christian and church ones, are easy to fulfill if we limit them to Sunday mornings for a couple of hours. As for our career calling and the other six days of the week, we try keeping them separate when we make it about money and making an impression. Pastor JP said, “Your purpose is not your position. Your whole calling, including your career calling, is about God.”
He said when God wants to reach people, He dresses up a person as a surgeon, promotes them to CEO, or calls them into a career like teaching or real estate, but their purpose is the same – to honor God, honor people.
When God called me to write blog posts and a book, my perspective about my work was very different than it is now. My writing today isn’t about an up-and-coming topic that sells to a publisher, but about God and my only purpose, the only purpose any of us have – love God, love people and serve God, serve people and honor God, honor people.
CAIN’s song “The Commission” beautifully expresses what Jesus wants us to do in our world, which may be about missionary work in Africa, but, for most of us, it’s about reaching out to the people we see daily.
I don’t want to end up like the grocery store clerk who mislabeled bananas – a failure with a funny meme on Facebook. I want to hear “well done” from Jesus about the one job He gave me to do.
Thanks for stopping by and joining our conversation.
In This Together,
Kim
Me too!
Thank you Kim for sharing what I’ve desperately wanted to understand ♥️
Keep them coming !
I’m hanging on to everyone of them as they get better and clearer 🙏
Connie
Connie, I’m learning so much from the church I’m attending now. I’m like you, I wanted to understand, but I had no idea who to ask or where to go for help.
I love sharing the journey. I hope you know how much your comments mean to me.
I love you! ❤️
I discussed this with our daughter a few weeks ago when she was visiting and again last night with Tanda, my wife. It seems if we accepted the Great Commission as disciples we would be totally dedicated to reaching the lost. The issue in our discussion was about when “ARP” Always Request Permission applied and when not …to share Jesus with others without being disrespectful to them or their current state of belief or unbelief without being judgmental, or noisy nosey.
My thought was to live the life of Christ and Christian love as examples and then our words, mirror our lives in inviting them to accept Jesus would be received. Great topics of conversation Kim
I love that you brought up this topic on here, Joel. I’ve never been one to walk up and just start telling someone about Jesus for the very reason you said … it comes across as too pushy and in their business.
I believe the second point you brought up is the way to go – Jesus by example. People get that. Plus, I’d rather someone tell me what Jesus has done for them instead of what He can do for me. I’m much more receptive to inspirational stories about how He’s changed others’ lives. I can figure out the rest with Him.
It is a great discussion. Thanks for the food for thought! I really appreciate you and your family being a part of this. ❤️