If Only We Believed
by Keith Watson
Orthodox Christianity teaches:
Sin separates us from God. The penalty for sin is the eternal wrath and condemnation of God - Hell.
God has made a way to redeem humanity from sin, something no human could do on their own - Gospel.
The Gospel (Good News) is that Jesus came to live the life that we could not, he died the death that we deserve because of sin. Jesus endured sin’s penalty of wrath, death and condemnation on our behalf. Then on the third day, Jesus rose to from death and lived again defeating death, sin, and Satan. When we trust in God’s provision for us, His Son, Jesus, then through faith we are credited with the life of Jesus. In that moment of faith we die and are raised new in Jesus, no longer under sin’s condemnation and enslavement. We are, through faith in His life, death, and resurrection forgiven, freed from sin and death, and made children of God.
Forgiveness, Redemption, and Restoration are ours ONLY through faith in Jesus. All ways do not lead to heaven; only one way does - Jesus. Apart from that faith there is no forgiveness, no redemption, no restoration, only just condemnation.
Where We Live:
The North American Mission Board estimates that as many as 70% of Middle Georgia attends church fewer than 3 times a year. Where we live, 70% of the people who surround us are unchurched. How many of that 70% have faith in Jesus and how many do not is unknown, but likely a fairly large number. The evidence of this is easily seen on any Sunday morning. There is no traffic, most church parking lots are largely empty, and as many as 80% of the churches open on Sunday mornings are plateaued or declining and many are in danger of closing in the next five years.
Each of Us is Called to Reach Them
I love the book of Acts. Acts gives us a big picture view of the early days of the church. The book begins just before Jesus ascends to heaven, leaving his disciples to finish the work that he had started. Jesus tells his disciples just before his ascension that they would be his witnesses in Jerusalem (where they were), Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth. The rest of the book gives us a picture of that taking place through the disciples and the church.
One of my favorite people in the Bible is the Apostle, Paul. Paul loved Jesus and wanted to see everyone know and trust him. He wanted to preach the gospel to people who had never heard it. Further and further Paul traveled sharing the gospel in cities large and small and at every city when Paul arrived he was greeted by the church! The gospel had reached cities before Paul could get there, people believed the good news, and gathered as the church. I love that!
We often get the idea that it was the specially trained, like Paul, who carried the gospel throughout the world but what we see in Acts is that others had already carried the good news in advance of Paul. Who were they? Ordinary people. The people who heard the gospel and believed while they were in Jerusalem for the special celebration of Pentecost left Jerusalem and traveled home. As they went, they told the people they came in contact with all about Jesus!
As they went… these are the words of Jesus to his disciples in the passage we call the Great Commission.
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
“Go therefore” is probably not the best translation of the original language. The Greek word used for go is actually an adverbial participle. Exciting, right?! What that means is that a better translation would be, “Going,” or “As you go…” The Great commission was given to the disciples by Jesus with all of the authority of God. The command in the passage isn’t go; it is “make disciples.” And the way to make disciples is baptizing (telling them about Jesus and baptizing new believers) and teaching them all his commands (what it means to follow Jesus).
Here is where the translation matters!
The work of making disciples is to be done by disciples (followers of Jesus), as they go about life. The first disciples did just that! As they went to work, to worship, to the market. Wherever they went, as they went they told others about Jesus. Then they taught those who believed what it meant to follow him.
Stick with me!
Following him meant that they keep his commands. One of his very last commands was, “As you go, make disciples!” So the first disciples made disciples in Jerusalem. When those disciples left Jerusalem they (ordinary people with little training) took the gospel with them and as they went, they also made disciples! This is how the gospel reached Rome long before Paul ever could. Such an incredible story!
The great commission wasn’t for special people with in depth training. It was for all of us, all of us ordinary people! And the great commission has been passed down through every generation of believers since those first disciples met with the resurrected Jesus.
It is your commission, believer!
You are God’s plan and person for reaching the 70% of Middle Georgia who are not walking with Jesus.
The explosion of the church across the world happened because men, women, boys and girls believed that apart from Jesus there was no hope for forgiveness and restoration. They believed the good news of what Jesus had done for them and for others. And they believed that Jesus had called them to his mission of reaching those who did not know and trust him. Through ordinary people God changed the world.
What if we believed?
What if we really believed that? I don’t mean just acknowledged it; I mean really believed it was who we were, missionaries, as we go about life telling people about Jesus? What if we believed that God had chosen ordinary people like us to this extraordinary work?
It would change everything, wouldn’t it?
It would change our purpose at work, at the ball field with kids, at home, even at church.
It would change every relationship, especially with those around us who don’t know Jesus.
It would change how you viewed the neighborhood you lived in.
It would change how you viewed church gatherings and the people who visited on Sundays.
It would change how you shopped and maybe where you shopped.
Even better, God might use you to change eternity by bringing someone to himself.
And what if he used us to change an entire city?
He could, I think, if only we believed.
