God could have assigned the task of sharing the gospel, and all types of evangelism to the angels in heaven. He could have used entirely different methods of accomplishing this task, but in His infinite love, He chose to share the parts of the task with us, so that we can work together with Him, with Jesus, and with the angels and share in the joy, the blessing, and the spiritual growth that comes through unselfish service.
We are able to sympathize with Jesus by facing many of the same rejections that He faced. Every time we sacrifice our will for the sake of others, it strengthens our feeling of ownership in God’s kingdom and it draws us closer to Jesus. Jesus “was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, so that by His poverty He could make you rich.” (2 Corinthians 8:9). By fulfilling our divine purpose in life, our lives become blessings to us as well.
By working with Jesus as He has called us to do, and sharing the message of life with others, we begin to feel the need to have a deeper experience with God, and we will desire to learn more about God and His Words in the Bible. The more we work with Jesus, the more we will desire and see the benefits of living a life of integrity. The goal will become clearer in our minds and our faith will be strengthened as we press ahead into relationship with God and allow Him to work on our lives. Facing opposition will drive us to further studying the Bible, and into heartfelt prayer. All these things are stepping-stones in the process of growing with Jesus, into a more complete knowledge of Christ’s life, and a strong spiritual passion for helping and serving others.
Having a spirit of unselfish service for helping others strengthens our characters with depth, stability, and a Christ-like love that results in peace and happiness in our lives. Our ambitions and goals are changed and improved with new ones. Laziness and selfishness become outdated in our lives. As we continue following the path God designed for us, we will become stronger and more capable of doing the work God has called us to do. Our minds will be clearer, our faith will have a firm foundation and be growing each day, and our prayers will become more passionate and more powerful. God’s Spirit, moving in our lives, brings out good in our lives that was never there before. When we dedicate ourselves to unselfishly help others, we become like Paul, working hard to show the results that we have been saved. “Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear” (Philippians 2:12).
In order to grow spiritually, we must objectively, and whole-heartedly, do what God has called us to do. We must use our abilities to pursue the passion to help others that He has placed on our hearts. Just as building muscle comes from exercise, spiritual growth comes from actively using our abilities in service to others. Some people attempt to live a Christian life by passively accepting God’s blessings while doing nothing in return. They are living their spiritual lives by only eating and not working. Like what happens in the natural world, with our bodies, only eating without exercise and work always results in our bodies declining, weakening, and wasting away. Someone who stops using his/her arms will eventually lose the ability to use them at all. In the same way, someone who does not exercise the talents, passions, abilities, and gifts that God has given to them will not only fail while trying to grow spiritually, but they will also lose the growth they already achieved.
Christ’s church is God’s chosen organization for spreading His message about salvation. The church’s mission is to carry the good news of Jesus and His life to the world, and as Christians, the obligation to share this message rests on us. We are to share Jesus with others in every opportunity we have or can make. What Jesus has given us, and the love that He has already showed for us by freeing us from sin, makes us indebted to Him whether we realize it or not. The light and truth that God has given to us is not just for ourselves, but also for us to share with others.
If Jesus’ followers were to awake and act on this mission, there would be a thousand times more people sharing the great news of Jesus all over the world. With the increased commitment of Christians, there would also be a large group of people who could not travel abroad personally, but who would support those on the frontiers with money, compassion, and prayers, and reaching those who don’t know about Jesus would be a more important task than it is now.
We don’t have to go to other countries or remote areas of the world, or even leave our neighborhoods in order to work for Christ. We can share Jesus with those in our neighborhoods, with our friends, and with those we work with. We can even support and strengthen our spiritual brothers and sisters within the church itself.
Next week, we will conclude our discussion of what Christian living looks like as modern day disciples.
~Cam
P.S. As always, if I missed something, or if you would like to respond on this topic, join the conversation below!