Cambodia was full of transitions and growth. Team changes happened. My team now consists of the 3 other squad leaders. We’ve been at debrief the past week getting to know all our new teams. The race will look a little bit different for me than I originally expected. I was raised up as squad leader for our squad which means that when the squad leaders leave at the end of the month, myself and the 3 others raised up will take their places. So I’ll be more focused on pouring into my squadmates and building up the church rather than a particular ministry.
We are now in Vietnam, which happens to be a communist country. Which means we have to be very careful of what we say. We can’t use the m word (missionary). In India, I remember someone asking us if we were Matthew 28 people.
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.
I love hearing someone talk about what it means to be Matthew 28 people. There are so many meanings behind the name Christian. Sadly, a lot of people think they’re a Christian, but aren’t. Some people also think very lowly of Christians because we speak one thing with our words and then do another thing with our actions. In fact, Brennan Manning once said, “The greatest single cause for atheism is Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips and deny him with their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world finds unbelievable.”
I don’t want to be in either of those groups. I don’t want any of us to.
I’ve been meditating on James 4:4.
You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us?”
I’ve been focusing on what that looks like.
Would I follow God no matter the cost? Do I care more about what God wants than what this world wants? Can I run the race set out for me without caring about what the world focuses on?
It’s scary to me living a life for the rest of my life like I’ve been living for the last 4 months. But that seems to be what God is calling me to. I’ve been reading a book by John Bevere called Driven by Eternity. It’s put into perspective for me that what we do and the reasons why we do them matter to God. Yes He loves us no matter what, but our rewards in heaven really do depend on what we do with what He has given us here on this Earth. I don’t want to be like the servant who took his talent from his master and buried it. I want to be the servant who uses the talent and builds with it.
“But grace was given to each one of according to the measure of Christ’s gift.” Ephesians 4:7 He gives us the grace to carry it out. He doesn’t take us someplace and leave us. If He calls you to a village in the middle of no where to speak Jesus to people, He will give you the grace, the ability to carry it out. If you are betrayed by everyone you know and love, He will give you the grace to walk through it.
Matthew 20 says that many are called but few are chosen. We are all called to use the gifts we’ve been given. But few are chosen because few are willing to forsake their own desires, securities, and relationships. Few are willing to forsake the things of this world. Who do we love more, God or worldly things and comfort?
We’re living for eternity.
I promise that every unselfish thought and every act of generosity will become a pillar of eternal beauty in the life to come.
Are we each living out as Matthew 28 people?
