A lot of people having been asking me, “Why the World Race?”
And after some reflection on this question, my answer to this is “why not?”
Since I was 13 years old, I have felt a call to missions. After a week-long mission trip to Honduras, I felt a familiarity and passion for overseas missions that was unmatched by anything else in my life, and to this day, nothing else compares to the heart I believe God has given me for His nations.
God loves the nations. He longs to draw the nations to Himself, and He can do it without me. He doesn’t need me to do the work, and He doesn’t need me to leave my home in the United States for 11 months to backpack across 3 continents.
The beauty of it is this; He doesn’t need me. He chooses to use me.
So, for the sake of vulnerability, let me just say this;
I am terrified. Sometimes, I randomly look up from my planning and thinking and dreaming for the Race and say to myself; “what the heck have I gotten myself into?” And I don’t think that that’s a question that will go away anytime soon. And I think that’s okay.
But that’s the beauty of the Gospel. God doesn’t need us. He never did. We are utterly undeserving and unworthy of His love and His saving grace. We live in a world that is fallen from grace, and this is completely by our own doing. Our inescapable sinful natures caused the fall of mankind; the fall away from walking in perfect communion with God. And yet, in our depravity and our wickedness, God continues to be utterly perfect, just, holy, and glorious. Though we were completely undeserving, He promised us a way out of our fallenness. He sent Jesus Christ, the Son of Man, to be the ultimate sacrifice and to build the bridge between our wickedness and God. He took our place. He took the wrath that we deserved. God came to earth to humble Himself and to take on Hell for us, so that we would not be damned to an eternity separated from Him. He took the punishment that we deserved. So while we live in a fallen world, unable to fully walk with God in perfect communion, unable to pull ourselves out of the hole we’ve dug ourselves into or to earn our own salvation, the penalty for our sin has been broken. Salvation is a free gift. The punishment for our sin has been pardoned. The emptiness and destruction of our sinful lives no longer has power over us.
So, He didn’t need us. He doesn’t. But in His love and perfection and glory, He chose us anyway.
As His chosen race, we are called to love. We are called to be faithful and seek Him with our whole heart. As believers, we have the unimaginable, amazing opportunity to play a role in His story. We get to be a part of something much, much bigger than ourselves.
How could I not go where He is leading? How could I not play my role in the greatest story ever told? There are people who have never heard this Story. Satan is ever prowling around, searching for someone to devour. His entire existence is devoted to drawing people away from Jesus Christ, and lying to us about who God is and how He sees us. I get to go and help fight the lies that Satan tells mankind. I get to share the Gospel and introduce people to the greatest story ever told. I get to play a literal part in the Great Commission given in the book of Matthew.
JESUS is the TRUE TREASURE. And if He is my treasure, if He is the one I love, the lover of my soul, my pardon from damnation, my Rock, my Redeemer, my Savior, and my Bridegroom, then I will gladly take up my cross and follow Him. I will gladly invite Nepali villagers or Ethiopian children into the greatest story ever told. As believers, our life should be devoted to showing others that Jesus is the one true treasure to have. He is the only One that can save us from ourselves. The world will never satisfy; it will never fill us up.
So yeah, there’s fear. A lot of fear. Plenty of doubt. But I would rather give my life away and spend the rest of my life uncomfortable and loving Jesus than spending a lifetime with everything I want and in complete comfort, but facing eternal separation from Him. And I want the nations to have this hope, too.
So, why the World Race?
I’ll say it again; why not?
“To the ends of the Earth..”
