More times than I care to admit, I’ve been called emotionless. While I don’t necessarily agree- I mean I cry every time I watch The Fox and The Hound- it’s true that I tend to be more head than heart. I like to think of myself as constant, rationale, more truth than grace, but that’s probably just me sugarcoating the truth that emotions actually make me uncomfortable.
But if there’s one thing that I can feel, that I get, that my heart understands, it’s God’s love for the world. Throughout the entire Bible, from Genesis to Revelations, there’s an underlying thread of all nations, all people, all tongues, knowing and worshipping the Lord. Revelation 7:9 says “After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands.” That is the future that God longs for. If he had it his way, if he didn’t love us enough to give us free will, that’s what would be happening. But he does love us, and he wants the love we have for him to be a choice, a decision we consciously make to follow him, and accept his redeeming love.
But God’s dream will come true. Someday people of every tribe and tongue will be in heaven worshipping the Lord. And it’s our responsibility to help make that happen. We are to go out and make disciples, whether that means being a missionary, or being a nurse, or being an engineer, or being a student. Our first calling is to be representatives of Christ, spreading the gospel wherever we may be in life.
As an American, I feel that I am born with a unique advantage in making God’s dream a reality. I have the right to an education, I have the right to live freely and openly as a Christian, I am among the wealthiest people in the world, I have the technology, the supplies, the freedom to get up and go. I have the capability of meeting the needs of others not only physically, but spiritually.
I understand God’s heart for the world. My heart breaks for people who have never even heard the name Jesus. My heart breaks for the people who are fed lies about Jesus. My heart breaks for people living in countries where being a Christian means you could be killed. My heart breaks for the complacent Christianity that is all too common in America. But my heart longs for the day when the great commission will be fulfilled. When the gospel will be in all nations. When Americans will realize the potential that is within us, will mobilize, will appreciate what we have been blessed with, and will finally do something.
My heart understands God’s dream.
