Romans 15.16 ...to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the
Gentiles. He gave me the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God, so
that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the
Holy Spirit.
It hasn’t changed a bit since Paul wrote these words to
people he’d never seen and had never seen him. Paul knew people in Rome but had
never been there yet; his arrival would be sometime in the future.
Paul knew what he was about, as the Lord Jesus knew what
He was about. It wasn’t a guessing game; it wasn’t hand-wringing or the agony
of: O God! I’m so confused! I don’t know
what to do! No, Paul knew God had given him the priestly duty of
proclaiming the gospel of God so that the Gentiles might become an offering
acceptable to God, set apart by the Holy Spirit. It hasn’t changed a bit. That
very work continues to this day. (Or at least the need for that work continues
to this day.)
I remember sitting in church one Sunday evening as a
youth listening to a man from a foreign country (somewhere in Africa or Asia,
he wasn’t white) tell us in the audience that someday his people and others
from around the world would come to America and do missions work. I thought: Yeah, right! When pigs fly! The skies
are littered with airborne swine these days. I heard something on the radio just
the other day about missionaries coming to America to proclaim the Gospel of
God to people who’ve never heard it…and we are littered with churches across
our land.
I don’t know what I’d say to a foreign missionary if I
bumped into one on the street: Oh yeah,
we got her done; we don’t really need your help! But thanks! I think I’d
run in embarrassment and shame because much of what passes for Christianity in
the West these days; which is an odd mixture of self-help, pop psychology, and
utter and shameless self-promotion.
I’m leaving for Kenya in 17 days. I’ve never been on a
foreign missions trip and have never been to a third-world country. (They just
might get pissed at me for calling them: third-world. The arrogance of the west…sigh.)
But in Kenya, I hope to find myself (I know, self-help, pop psychology, and shameless
self-promotion) and find God. I know He’s there, and I know He wants me to go
there. So, I’m going. But I’m going to learn, to help, and to encourage
believers there that if they ever want to come to America and share their
story, I’d welcome them.
Whatever happens, it is imperative to me, whether at home
or abroad, that proclaiming the gospel of God is to be a top priority to me and
the Christians here in our corner of the world. Our land needs it and so does
the world. And resistance to the Gospel is fear dressed up in anger and
persecution and men doing what they know how to do best when confronted with
truth: kill the messengers. Paul did make it, eventually, to Rome…as a prisoner
in chains for the gospel. It hasn’t changed a bit God still looks for those who
will proclaim His gospel so the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to
Him, sanctified by His Holy Spirit.
Lord God, use me! Amen.
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