A little while ago, Erik attended a huge missions conference in South Africa. In the video above, he shares some of his experiences listening to the internal wrestlings certain missionaries had. While some of these missionaries already serve in some of the most difficult areas of the world for the Gospel, they are continuing to wrestle with the idea & call of going somewhere even more difficult, for the glory of God. These are the things that Erik says “mess with him” – seeing people face these kinds of Kingdom questions, while he (and I) wrestle with some really insignificant questions every day. Things like politics, social media opinions, and whoever’s voice is making the most noise are the kinds of things that can take our eyes off of Jesus and our hearts off of His will. While this is often the case for us, it is always possible to reset, refocus, and put our eyes back where they belong – on Jesus and His will for our lives.
As Erik says, “If you belong to Jesus, the Great Commission belongs to you”. So, as we saw in today’s video, the question becomes, “what am I doing to engage the Great Commission?”
Another powerful motto that is used at the Stone Table is “marketplace skills are missionary skills”, a quote that points to the fact that we can indeed engage the Great Commission wherever we go – even in the marketplace.
For me, I’m building relationships with some friends of mine that don’t know Jesus. We connect primarily over Xbox (yes, believe it or not, that’s a realm for the Gospel to reach) and we play a few times a week at most. Each time we play, I go into the game praying for each person beforehand and preparing my heart to love them and bring the light of Jesus into the picture. Further, as the Great Commission doesn’t only say “go” (it also says, “make disciples” and “teach them”, which are much longer-term things to do), I am also spending quality time and energy investing into the younger students around me, encouraging them when I can and helping to redirect their opinions & thoughts to Jesus. These are two ways I get to engage the Great Commission every week.
What does that look like for you?
As Erik closed us out, he presented three questions for us to ask ourselves today.
- What in my life have I elevated over the glory of Jesus in the world?
- Where have I become enamored with human power & authority instead of trusting in the power & authority of Jesus?
- Where is the Gospel not known, and how can I be involved in changing that?
These powerful questions speak right into the heart of many of our cultural, social, and economic mindsets in the West, but also all around the globe. Take a moment to reflect on these questions and allow the Holy Spirit to shift some things in your heart, re-setting your mind, trust, and affections on Jesus Christ.
See the full video here
