“He instructed them to take nothing for the road except a staff…So they went out and preached that people should repent.”
Mark 6:8, 12
Jesus wasn’t sending His disciples out in poverty, He sent them out with urgency. Jesus’ instructions for their attire and provision were just like God’s instructions for the people leaving Egypt (Exodus 12:11). Jesus’ mission, like Israel’s, was a matter of life and death. The disciples were on a limited time frame to accomplish their mission, and so are we.
If there is urgency to the mission and promised provision for the next step, then why are so few Christians actively on mission making disciples who make disciples? I suspect that one of the reasons is that we quietly assume that someone else is going to tell them about Jesus. Maybe a pastor, or a more outgoing Christian, will be the one… and we rationalize away the urgency of Jesus’ mission to the lost around us.
If we don’t get involved seeing to it that our friends, family, co-workers and neighbors are encountering the real Jesus, there is no other plan for saving them! Jesus decided to use ordinary, underprepared people just like you and me, His church, to see His mission of salvation go forward in this world. There is no plan B! We are it!
This fall our ColumbusU discipleship ministry on Wednesdays from 6-7:30pm will help equip us for the mission of Jesus. “One Advancing Kingdom” provides a variety of short-term, small group studies aimed at helping us to pick up our staff…or cell phone…and go! Go HERE to learn more!
Think These Things 