The conversation starts like this…
What gives you the right to try and change another culture? Don’t you think they’re happy as they are? I mean, seriously, isn’t it wrong to meddle with their ancient traditions? Besides, they’ve been living like that for thousands of years. Don’t you think we should be learning from them instead?
Obviously, this is a sensitive topic. Only a few people are bold enough to ask me the question point blank; but, I imagine that many others wonder about it. I want you all to know where I stand, because if this question doesn’t get answered, then I truly don’t have a reason to teach people about Jesus, particularly worldwide.
My Foundation
I believe with all of my hear, mind, and soul that there is a God! My existence isn’t a coincidence, nor is it an accident. I believe that He is good, loving, merciful, and just (as a side-note: this is not the case in most other religions worldwide – reflect on the power of that statement, my God is good, extremely good). He wants a relationship with us, a real relationship, like the kind you would have with your parents, or your best friend. He once chose to speak to his people through prophets, but when Jesus died he promised that the Holy Spirit would speak to us directly. God’s Truth is recorded in the Bible. It was written by over 40 authors during a period of 1600 years. For a few more interesting facts check out this link. There are many reason why I believe all of this to be true, but I don’t want to lose focus, so my take away here is simply that I believe in the God of the Bible, and I believe that the Bible is the infallible word of God.
What does Jesus ask of his disciples?
Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Mathew 28:18-20
After Jesus died and was raised from the dead, He appeared to his disciples and gave them this task. It is God’s plan to spread the good news about himself through his followers. Sometimes this seems strange to me when I think that God could just as easily show himself to the world. I’m not alone. In John 14:22 Judas, one of his disciples, asks “Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?” Jesus’ response is really interesting (this is an invitation to read John 14 for yourself).
I will travel the world and teach people about Jesus because God asks us to do his work. I will enter other cultures and boldly teach about him under His own authority, because it is His will. He didn’t ask me to convert people; he asked me for disciples. He doesn’t want me to do it on my own, because I can’t. He alone does the work in the hearts of others. I am simply an ambassador of His Love and message. When I teach about Jesus, I’m not going to be making people my “projects”. No, they are simply the object of my Love, because, as my college pastor once beautiful stated it “To be human is to be the object of God’s love”.
On the Subject of Traditions
It would be a mistake for me to say that I am bringing Jesus to the nations, because I am not. Jesus is already working throughout the entire world. He is already preparing people to hear his message. One of the coolest examples of this is a story called the “Peace Child”. I’ll let those who experienced it tell it in their own words.
I am not going to people as a means of political conquest. This is not a crusade. This is not about destroying other people’s cultures. God is already revealing himself to others. I want to be a part of that story.
The Nations
Going abroad does not make me more righteous as a person. I’m not earning Jesus points and God doesn’t love me any more, or any less for going. However, he has placed that passion in my heart. Access to the good news about Jesus is not equal around the world. There are many places where the name is Jesus has never been spoken. There are places were speaking about Jesus means persecution, and possibly death. I will be going to both of these places. I want to share a few verses that resonate with me. I feel confirmed in my desires to go by these verses.
After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves.
Luke 10:1-3
How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”
Romans 10:14-15
It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else’s foundation. Rather, as it is written:
“Those who were not told about him will see,
and those who have not heard will understand.”
Romans 15:20-21
-Thank you Keith Vandegrft for your inspiration on this subject.
