When I think of a preacher I think of a man dressed in a nice suite standing behind the pulpit on stage in church. Bible in one hand. Microphone in the other. A crowd of people in front of him.
When I think of a missionary I think of someone in a foreign country. Spreading love to the poor and the needy. Building orphan homes. Sharing the gospel.
But my thinking on both of these has changed in the past few years.
Yes, God calls some people to preach the gospel, with a microphone, behind a pulpit, in front of a crowd. But He calls ALL of us to preach the gospel without a microphone, with no crowd, with no pulpit…. But rather in our every day lives to every single person that we meet.
You are a walking, talking, breathing testimony of God working in your life through His Word. YOU are the gospel that people who have never heard of Christ get to see every day.
Don’t let the fact that you don’t wear a suit and don’t get to hold a microphone fool you… God called you to spread His Good News just like He called those preachers up on stage.
One day every person will be held accountable for how well they preached His gospel, not only with their words but even more importantly, with their lives. Because it is with your actions and deeds that the gospel is proclaimed… not necessarily with your words.
So… what can you say for yourself? Are you a pretty good “preacher”?
God also calls some people to be missionaries to foreign countries to spread the gospel to people who have no access to the Bible, to a church, or to anyone who has heard the Good News. But He calls ALL of us to be missionaries right where we are today.
Your mission field may not be Africa but it is most definitely your school, your community, and your church. You don’t have to travel to Africa to find hopeless, discouraged, poor, lost people who are desperately in need of a Savior… you just need to go to your next door neighbor, to the homeless shelter in your city, to the rehab center in your area.
You are called to be God’s hands and His feet to everyone around you. You are called to help the needy. You are called to bring hope to the lost. You are called to serve those around you.
I love how in Acts 1:8 after God sends the disciples and the people gathered together the Holy Spirit He tells them to be His witnesses in Jerusalem, in Judea, in Samaria, and then to the ends of the earth. Where does He ask them to start first? At home. And that’s where you and I need to start first. Right under our own roofs. Unless and until God calls you to spread His Good News in a foreign country you are called to spread it right where you’re at.
So, once again… what can you say for yourself? Are you a pretty good missionary?
You don’t need microphone to preach and you don’t need to go on a plane ride to be a missionary. You are called to be both of those to every single person in your life. Let God use you today to spread His gospel to those people that are depending on you to be God’s witness of His great love for them.
Be blessed today as you reach out to those around you! – Anna… ♥
Preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, no man forbidding him. ~ Acts 28:31 #memoryverse♡
🙂 great memory verse!
This message seems to be how The Lord has been dealing with me lately….go, get involved, live your faith. Thanks for writing what The Lord gives you! I appreciate it. 🙂
Amen Codi! It’s not enough to talk about your faith, you need to put your words into actions for real faith to take place!
Sometimes we think we’re not capable of being a preacher or missionary or even of sharing the gospel at home, but walking the walk is as important as talking the talk. And I have found that God will enable us to do the job He leads us to do. I really appreciate your statement about teaching the gospel in our homes. That’s something, I think, we tend to forget. I love it. Good article.
I agree Wendy! It’s so much easier to talk about doing things for God and then never get around to put into action what we say we’ll do. It’s not enough to dream about living for God, we need to actually DO what He calls us to with His help! And often time we get too busy or too lazy to live for the things that matter… 🙁
Thanks for stopping by. Be blessed!
Amen!! We are all missionaries… Jonah story is the modern missionary, we are missionaries where we are is usually God’s plan.
Amen! I think I’ve misinterpreted the term “missionary” all of these years thinking it’s only related to going to foreign nations, but the people in America need to hear the gospel just as much as the people in Africa. 🙂
Yes, I too did as well.. that passage in Acts explains it hey.. I live in Australia so yes the mission is where we are at.. It may not mean to travel our own country but our own community itself.. 🙂
Amen!! That’s where it begins. First in our homes and then in our communities! 🙂
Thanks, Anna. A great reminder that we’re all to be ambassadors for Christ. I’m glad that you’re in the King’s service.
Martin
Jeremiah 29:7. The Lord led me to this verse this week to remind me again that we are all called to be watchmen where God has placed at since our times are in His hands. He has placed us where we are at each particular point in our lives. In different seasons we may move but wherever we are it is true that we are strangers in this world and in many ways we should seek to be strangers so as to love not this world or anything of its desires and motivations. We are Kingdom people. This is different as a mind-set to being just a church person. We are to have a broader mentality. The Kingdom is wider and deeper than church. The Kingdom of God is not of this world. It is an entirely separate entity. Many churches are teaching a false dominion theology in these days. Although the kingdoms of this world will never become the Kingdoms of God (they will only become it when the new earth is created) the Lord still calls us as we live in Babylon, the systems of this world and its realms, to pray for the peace and prosperity of the place where He has put us. As a nomadic people, outside their homeland and in exile this was a challenging word that Jeremiah was tasked with giving. We are the new Jerusalem and we carry the Presence of God with us. We are the Ark of the Covenant in the place where He has put us. Our home is in heaven and we should live like this; in healthy tension between the two realms of heaven and earth. The Lord also calls us to pray for the leadership and spiritual coverings of the places where we are placed. In this way the Kingdom of God has opportunity to be released and for in-breakings of the Kingdom to occur even though we are in Babylon. Paul even exhorts us to pray for all leadership including secular authorities. Wherever we are placed, the mission goes on. Let the Son of Man be lifted up so that all men will draw near. Let us pray that they will seek God while He may be found. The hour is late. The Bridegroom is coming soon.
where God has placed “us” at…
“Our home is in heaven and we should live like this; in healthy tension between the two realms of heaven and earth.” Love this. I definitely feel that tension every day. Sometimes it seems like my mind has a hard time grasping the fact that this world is not my home and as much as everything around me tells me to live for myself and use my time on earth for things that will benefit me I know that God calls me to do the complete opposite.
You can only live with that “Kingdom” mentality when you fill your mind with Christ’s Word because only then will you always be reminded of what your real purpose is on earth and what values really matter to Christ rather than ourselves.
The more we abide in Christ and allow Him to shine a light into every area of our heart by the work of the Holy Spirit, and one by one allow all those motives based in “self” and the flesh to be crucified, the more we enter the Kingdom. Crucifixion of the flesh is about death. Part of this begins by reckoning on the fact that we are dead to sin and our own selfish motives. However, beyond the reckoning is the opening up of our hearts to the knife of the divine surgeon and allowing the Holy Spirit to have full access to do His work. How much are we willing to lay ourselves on the altar?when it seems too much, there is more. But He is gracious and it is not more than we can take at a time. Times and seasons are in His hands.
Sanctification is not a spectator sport for the true disciple on the narrow way. We have to participate in the process, or we can choose not to. Like Evan Roberts who the Lord used in the great Welsh revival. He prayed that the Lord would break him and bend him. Many say that this revival in 1904 had the deepest and most far reaching worldwide effect than any other. This man was not a leader in the sense of the word used by the world or even in churches. He was a humble vessel. A conduit and channel for the Holy Spirit. Sensitive to His Presence and leading. No amplified music or worship leaders (where is that in the Bible?). No focus on platform personalities and the distractions of the flesh. Christ was central. Meetings where the Presence of God came so powerfully as they sat in silence, waiting on Him, yet conviction descended and hardened miners and working class folks repented in brokenness. They had a revelation of Christ crucified as they wept and turned to Him.100,000 souls were saved. Every genuine ( I stress genuine and not the ones that go off the rails and are badly handled by those in the flesh) major move of God since then has its roots in the Welsh revival.
Jesus said that the Kingdom of God is within us but He also said that we must be sure that the light within us is not in darkness. Therefore, we have His light in us to a degree and as a fact through the work of salvation and being saved. However, the degree to which we allow that light to still be overshadowed by our own capacity for darkness and affected by darkness in our soul (especially those motives or actions devoid of the Spirits light and leading) is within our own control, depending on how willing we are to yield. The complete work of the Cross has made provision for dealing with all the darkness of our souls and sinful nature. Our capacity to create idols in our hearts. Our capacity to follow our own inclinations rather than the life of the Spirit. Through Jesus, it is possible to live as true sons and daughters. Fully yielded. Not just live in the superficiality of the title or as so often today distracted by signs and wonders, but to truly live positionally in that place. This only comes through yieldedness and brokenness. We have not even scratched the surface of the depth of the inheritance of being sons and daughters of the Most High. Today there are cheapened versions promoted left, right and centre. We sell Him short most of the time and I am conscious of this. I know he still loves us but to give Him second best is a choice we make. Smith Wigglesworth used to say to folks “You can live on a lower spiritual plane if you want. As for me, I will not”. Our own choices shape our destiny. The Cross breaks us but at the same time redeems us, sanctifies us and justifies us.
What am I preaching with my life…? As another year draws to an end Martin realises that his life is not showing enough of Jesus. There is more decrease in “me” needed.
Yes… I can say the same for myself. More of Jesus, less of me. Then I’ll be the best I can be.