The Responsibility to "Go"

Megan and I made a decision to use our blog for something more than a place where Gamecock football videos are posted (you can probably tell I had more to do with the videos), and more importantly use this as a place to discuss our upcoming trip to Acuna, Mexico, which will not only be our first mission trip together, but also my first mission trip. We plan on giving updates on the trip as we prepare to leave March 15th to go to Acuna, as well as our reflections afterwards from our trip. We are sending out our letters tomorrow morning requesting both prayer and financial support, and we thought this would be a way to send out more than a letter- inviting those who are interested to participate more in our upcoming adventure. If you have any comments please post them, as we would love to know someone is actually reading this!

I felt it was appropriate to begin this new phase of the blog by giving a few thoughts on missions in general, and also briefly respond to a few arguments that people have against missions, which I will do at some point in the next few days. I had never given the appropriate level of thought to missions prior to coming to Southeastern. Fortunately, that has changed. The heartbeat of Southeastern is the Great Commission: Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age (Matt. 28:18-20). Our president, Dr. Akin, has a contagious spirit to truly pursue this call and it has grabbed Megan and I's hearts.

We have reguarly been attending Promised Land Community Church in Creedmoor, NC, which is filled with wonderful people. One family we have been fortunate to become aquainted with are the Pyle's. The first time I met their oldest daughter, Claire (age 8), she not only asked me if I knew where I would spend eternity when I die, but also let me know that she felt called to the mission field (clearly she already is living out her calling)! I responded to her letting her know that I did know Jesus (fortunately) and told her that she didn't have to wait to be a missionary, but could be one right now. Thinking that I had impressed her with my observation, Claire simply responded with an "I know," and went on to tell me the places she could have an impact.

She gets what many of us in the church don't get, and it's the reason I titled this post The Responsibility to Go. I think that Claire understood that whether we ever leave the country or not, all Christians are called to be missionaries. I challenge you to find someone in the New Testament who became a sincere Christian and didn't live the life of a missionary as a result of it. They may not have gone across the world (many of them did, though), but the people who met Jesus and chose to follow Him lived transformed lives with new priorities. For many, the greatest mission field may be the home or the neighborhood, but the responsibility remains for the church to touch the nations in a hurting world, and Christ's call remains to go.