Our Mission is Wherever We Are

All my life, I have been encouraged to love God and share His good news. It started, early on, when I saw the flannel board images of Bible characters while my Sunday School teacher shared the Gospel story. I was also taught little songs that emphasized the love God has for me. “Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so.” I was raised in an evangelical home and church. Evangelical, in the sense, that my family was zealous in their faith and love for God and His children. Early on I became a devoted follower of Jesus.

But I assure you, I wasn’t that girl who was outspoken about her faith like others who went door-to-door giving out Gospel tracts or standing on a street corner shouting “You must be born again!” I was even quiet when it came to letting others know I was a Christian, in part, because I was shy, and I lacked self-confidence. Yes, I took friends with me to church, and I did my best to be an example to them of what a good Christian looks and acts like. But I wasn’t outspoken about it.

Later on, I became a Bible teacher, but even in that sense, my teaching was confined to “within-the-four-walls-of-the-church”. A safe place. People expected that “talk and walk” there.

Before the internet, many of us who were Jesus followers were reclusive. Our faith was within our homes. Jesus “talk” was easy there. Prayers were welcomed there. We’d pray for a good grade on an upcoming test or for healing from an illness. You know the usual requests and petitions. It was faith that was between us four and no more – so to speak.

Who would have thought, way back then, that we would one day have the internet and social media that would open the doors for us to live out our faith online before countless numbers of people? We became evangelists and we were unleashed to spread the good news from behind a computer or a cell phone. I see you. You know who you are. You are the ones who post a scripture meme or photo or a quote by Mother Teresa or Billy Graham. You are the ones who share an answer to prayer and are the ones who ask for prayer.

So, when Jesus said in John 14:12, “And greater works than these (the works that He performed) will you do….”, He was foretelling about what we could accomplish in our times. Now, we can raise our voices louder. We never know whose life we might impact because of something we posted or said on social media. There is so much power in our words. When we change our words from complaining, blaming, or criticizing to faith-filled, loving, and caring words, we change our world. Change our words. Change our world.

There will always be a reason to keep us from genuinely loving. But we can decide to be different. We can respond in love when someone hurts us or when it’s difficult to love them. This is what can make those who follow Christ look different from the rest of the world. Love that knows no bounds. Love wrapped in grace. Love that can get over our own doubts, fears, and insecurities. Love that doesn’t have conditions or rights. Love that doesn’t demand its own way.

It’s the 1 Corinthians 13 way. May we not walk, talk, or scroll right past the opportunities that God has placed in our paths to let His love flow through us. Let us be billboards that make God famous. We are missionaries because we are on a mission. We have been sent. We were sent the second the first spark of life flickered in our mother’s womb to this earth and now to wherever we are today and to whoever crosses our paths, be it one-on-one or the world wide web!