I get emails, texts, and messages all the time from people back in the states. They say things like,
“I’m so proud of you.”
“You’re doing such a good thing for the world!”
“I wish I could do something like you’re doing!”
“What you’re doing is so inspiring.”
Don’t get me wrong- I love receiving messages like this! They encourage me so much, and they make me feel extremely loved.
But what I want people to know is that the world doesn’t need the world race.
The world doesn’t need more people to sign up to go on a mission trip. The world needs people who love the Lord. The world needs people to live their lives in a way that changes lives.
Courage.
When you think of courage, you think of people doing things that you might be afraid to do. Some might say it’s courageous to sign up for the world race.
But let me tell you.
I believe that it is more courageous to live your life at home for Jesus.
It’s not hard to go to a foreign country and love the people that you meet. It’s not hard to pray and evangelize to people who don’t speak your language. It’s not hard to shine the light of Jesus where there is obvious darkness, poverty, and desolation slapping you in the face. It’s not hard to care for people who, in one month, you’ll probably never see again.
Let’s just all be real for a minute.
The real hard stuff. It’s the small stuff. The things that don’t seem big but are leaving massive marks on people’s eternities.
This is the real hard stuff- the stuff that takes real courage and dependence on Jesus.
It takes courage to love and care for your family well.
It takes courage to go to work every single day and be Jesus to your co-workers.
It takes courage to raise your children to love the Lord.
It takes courage to press into your home community and your home church.
It takes courage to pray and evangelize in the US.
It takes courage to love every person you come into contact with on a normal day with the love of Jesus.
It takes courage to sacrificially give to and serve the people all around you that are struggling.
It takes courage to believe and trust that these seemingly small things matter.
You see, the world doesn’t need you to go on a mission trip. It needs you to be a faithful follower of Jesus Christ. It needs you to bring Heaven to earth right where you are.
Stop wishing that you could go on a mission trip to another country and ask the Lord to show you how you can serve the least of these in your hometown.
Stop thinking about how you can change the world and ask the Lord to change your heart. Your family. Your workplace. Your hometown. Your own nation.
Stop scrolling through Facebook and Instagram wishing that you had a more exciting life- someone else’s life. Start being thankful for the one you have and use your life to set the captives free right where you live! I could think of nothing more exciting than seeing people’s chains broken in Jesus’ name.
People all over the world- Ghana, El Salvador, even my hometown of Owensboro, Kentucky- they’re thirsty. And you as a follower of Christ have access to a well of living water that never runs dry. Yes, you could go and you could share Jesus with people in a small town in Ghana, just like me. But the hard thing, the thing that would take real courage, would be to share the good news of the gospel to your neighbor. Your best friend. The man who drives the bus you ride every day. The lady who works at your bank.
People’s hearts are screaming out, “Will you love me?”
My heart breaks for the people in the United States who need the love that people have denied them. That we, as Christians, have denied them. They need the same love that I’m taking to the nations all across the world. They need the gospel. Everyone is so focused on changing the world, but nobody is seeing the hungry hearts in their own homes and backyards. Nobody wants to stay home and do the thing.
Staying home isn’t glamorous. Staying home isn’t adventurous. Staying home isn’t exciting.
But what if it is?
And we’re missing out on life, abundant life, by seeking the glamorous, adventurous, exciting things. Choosing them over the little things. The simple acts of genuine love and service.
I know who Jesus is because a girl on my high school track team took the time to pursue my heart. Took the time to care for me, disciple me, and love me. Stepped up and told me who Jesus was and how much He loved me. She was a faithful steward of the gospel.
Her actions weren’t glamorous and they weren’t “exciting.” She just shared the gospel with me. Extended grace and loved me like Jesus did.
But. Her simple act of love and faith changed my life. Rocked my world. Made me new.
There are people in your life right now. They don’t know Jesus and you know it.
What could be more important than telling someone about Jesus? Your job? Your money? Your popularity? Think long and hard about what keeps you from sharing the gospel with the people who need it. Those things. They are idols in your life.
The things you think are more important than the gospel- they keep you from experiencing the gospel. From experiencing freedom and grace and true love. And they keep you from sharing it.
I’m not writing this because I don’t want you to go on a mission trip. I’m not writing this because I’ve figured it all out- how to live a life that changes lives.
But I’m working on it. And I’m asking God for more and more every day. Asking Him to prepare my community at home for when I come back. Asking Him to prepare my heart and increase my faith so that I can share Jesus in Lexington, Kentucky just as easily as I have all around the world.
Do this, and you’ll change your community. You’ll change your family. You’ll change your culture. The church is needy for people who will be faithful in the small things. Who will be where their feet are. Who will love unconditionally and sacrificially right where they’re at.
Let’s be those people.
