What does Christ mean when he says…Go?

In the closing moments of the book of Matthew we see Jesus acknowledging the doubting hearts of his disciples and giving them this now famous command, “Go into all the world and make disciples…” To often I find myself guilty of taking advantage of the familiar passages in scripture and not looking deeper, allowing it to penetrate me like that doubled-edged sword that it is intended to be, and never really getting past the surface observations and typical applications to my life. Don’t get me wrong, scripture is infallible and unchanging, but in my humanity I am just as often blind as I am numb to the capacity of the Holy Spirit to take the familiar scripture and apply it to areas in my life that truly need it. But here I am again staring at the familiar and I find myself wrestling with the implications and potential application of it to my life.

Go…the word implies movement, it has a since of both anticipation and urgency associated with it, and it does not leave room for the status quo or stagnation. Simply put it demands an action! Does this manifest itself in different ways for different people? Absolutely! In fact my experience with seeing the fulfillment of the great commission has led me to believe that the very act of fulfilling it is as unique as the individuals to which it was given. Was it given merely to eleven men who happen to be standing on a mountain top in the middle east one sunny day about 2000 years ago? No! It was given to every living breathing person who is attempting to align their nature with the very nature of God through a personal relationship with His Son Jesus Christ! In short its fulfillment takes on the uniqueness found in each one of God’s children.

So then the question becomes who am I and how can God use a wretched sinner such as myself to fulfill this great commission? The reality is I love the mission field, I love to worship God, I love to disciple, and I love the uniqueness of the potential found in youth! Putting these things together in my own life has lead me into worship ministry, it has led me to disciple people both one on one and in small group settings, it has led me to initiate conversations with strangers, it has challenged me to preach His Word, it has allowed me to present the gospel at various youth groups, and ultimately it has led me to commit my life to full time Christian service.

So then who is Erin and how has God used her over the years to fulfill the great commission? Erin loves to travel and she loves God and carries a child-like faith with her wherever she goes. Erin loves to serve people and has a good eye for picking those who have the greatest need right out of the crowd that they are trying to use to mask their true identity. Erin needs security and a place to call home, but loves to venture into the unknown as long as she doesn’t have to go it alone. She is devoted to her family, holds an especially close relationship with her grandma, and has a deep need to be affirmed and built up by the men in her life for whom she has given her deepest respect. Where has this led her? Well, both professionally and on a volunteer basis she has worked with the elderly and disabled helping meet their most basic needs, she has literally helped organize and feed hundreds if not thousands of people over the years, she has traveled with and without me all over the world doing various outreaches with Teen Missions, and everyone who knows her knows that when it comes to either family or church she’s a get-er-done type person if she hasn’t already done it!

Where has this led us, besides straight into the arms of Christ, well straight into full time ministry! I suppose it comes as no shock to many of you but the step out of dependency upon the secular work environment and into full-time faith based ministry still catches me a little off guard. While we are still working in the secular field we can see the light at the end of the tunnel and we know that season in life is drawing to a close. God is going to take the passions, the deepest desires of our hearts, that He has given to us and use them more fully for His kingdom, more dynamically to accomplish His will. Please join us on our knees during this time in our lives will you? Take a moment to simply ask God on our behalf to continue to provide for us on all realms, physically, emotionally, spiritually, and monetarily (to just list a few) as we endeavor to devote all of our time and energy into simple fulfilling that command He gave us from a mountain top so many years ago…Go!

So what are you doing?! Go!

-Ryan