I have just started reading the book Radical by David Platt. Let me just say, if you have not picked this book up yet, I suggest you do. It has really put things in perspective for me. I am not very far in the book but I have come across something that I just have to share with you guys...
"But in the Bible is missions ever identified as an optional program in the
church?We have just seen that we were all created by God, saved from our sins,
and blessed by God to make his glory known in all the world. Indeed, Jesus
himself has not merely called us to go to all nations; he has created us and
commanded us to go to all nations. We have taken this command, though, and
reduced it to a calling--something that only a few people receive.I find it interesting that we don't do this with other words from Jesus. We
take Jesus' command in Matthew 28 to make disciples of all nations, and we say,
'that means other people.' But we look at Jesus' command in Matthew 11:28, 'Come
to me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest,' and we say,
'Now, that means me.' We take Jesus' promise in Acts 1:8 that the Spirit will
lead us to the ends of the earth, and we say, 'That means some people.' But we
take Jesus' promise in John 10:10 that we will have abundant life, and we say,
'That means me.'In the process we have unneccessarily (and unbiblically) drawn a line of
distinction, assigning the obligations of Christianity to a few while
keeping the privileges of Christianity for us all. In this way we
choose to send off other people to carry out the global purpose of Christianity
while the rest of us sit back because we're 'just not called to that.'Now, we know that each of us has different gifts, different skills, different
passions, and different callings from God. God has gifted you and me in
different ways. This was undoubtedly the case with the disciples. Peter and Paul
had different callings. James and John had different callings. However, each
follower of Christ in the New Testament, regardless of his or her calling, was
intended to take up the mantle of proclaiming the gospel to the ends of the
earth. That's the reason why he gave each of them his Spirit and why he gave
them all the same plan: make disciples of all nations."
I hope that passage inspires you to read this book, if you haven't already read it.
