The Megastrategy of Jesus

Ok, finally...thoughts on Radical chapters 4 & 5.  So...just going to dive right in.

[Find other chapters here: 1, 2, 3.]

...Jesus commands us to go.  He has created each of us to take the Gospel to the ends of the earth, and I propose that anything less than radical devotion to this purpose is unbiblical Christianity. (64)

I didn't dwell on this the first few times I read that sentence, but as I just typed that, the word created really jumped out at me.  We are not only called commanded to go, that's what we were created to do.  

We live in a church culture that has a dangerous tendency to disconnect the grace of God from the glory of God.  Our hearts resonate with the idea of enjoying God's grace.  We bask in sermons, conferences, and on books that exalt a grace centering on us.  And while the wonder of grace is worthy of our attention, if that grace is disconnected from its purpose, the sad result is a self-centered Christianity that bypasses the heart of God. (70)

This is one of the most frustrating things to me...not that I'm not as guilty as every other person on this earth.  It's so easy, though, to want to call on God when we need Him, have Him patch up our messes, & then go on our merry way.  That makes it seem that He owes us something...that we are somehow deserving of that grace.  Let's set this straight: none of us deserve even a bit of His grace, yet He took on all of our sins to give us more than we can possibly understand.  Why?  GLORY.  Not so that we can feel better about ourselves, boast a clean conscience, & live lives centered on ourselves, but so that we can recognize our sins, boast only in Him, & die to ourselves to live for Him.

Ok...this is long.  But it's truth that needs to be told & is one of my favorite parts of the whole book.

"God loves me" is not the essence of biblical Christianity.  Because if "God loves me" is the message of Christianity, then who is the object of Christianity?  God loves me.  Me.  Christianity's object is me. [...]  The message of biblical Christianity is not "God loves me, period," as if we were the object of our own faith.  The message of biblical Christianity is "God loves me so that I might make Him - His ways, His salvation, His glory, and His greatness - known among all nations."  Now God is the object of our faith, and Christianity centers around Him.  We are not the end of the Gospel; God is.  [...]  Indeed, we are not the center of His universe.  God is at the center of His universe, and everything He does ultimately revolves around Him.  (70-71)

This is not an easy thing to hear.  But I think it is one of the most important Truths that is overlooked, avoided, & ignored by many.

On missions...

Where in the Bible is missions ever identified as an optional program in the church?  [...]  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.  (72-73)

Every saved person this side of heaven owes the Gospel to every lost person this side of hell.  We owe Christ to the world - to the least person and to the greatest person, to the richest person and to the poorest person, to the best person and to the worst person.  We are in debt to the nations.  (74-75)

A majority of individuals supposedly saved from eternal damnation by the Gospel are now sitting back and making excuses for not sharing that Gospel with the rest of the world.  (75)

We seem to think of missions as a 10-day trip to Africa.  Missions is not just a trip; it is a lifestyle - one that we are commanded to.  

We also seem to believe that all missions occurs outside of our country, or even outside of our own communities, but that's not true.  Jesus commands us in Matthew 28 to go to all nations, the United States included.  There are people here who need Jesus, just like there are people in every other nation on earth who are starving for the Gospel.

Who told us that we had to choose to have a heart for the United States or a heart for the world?  Based on the purpose of God we've seen in Scripture, shouldn't every Christian's heart be ultimately consumed with how we can make God's glory known in all the world?  (76)

God has designed a radically global purpose for your life.  (83)

So how do we do missions?

The megastrategy of Jesus: make disciples. (90)

 [via]

I think that one of the most beautiful aspects of Jesus' life is that He spent the majority of His time with twelve men.  12.  He lived life with these men.  He knew them intimately.  He knew what they gave up to follow Him.  He knew the dreams that they'd thrown aside.  He knew the children that they left at home.  He knew their finances, & how they struggled for this decision.  He knew their struggles & their shortcomings, as well as their greatest strengths.  He knew their unspoken sorrows & their deepest joys.  This is discipleship.  And this is how God intends for us to go to the nations.

It [discipleship] involves intentionally taking the Gospel to people where they live, work, and play.  (93-94)

This does not mean dragging people to church.  Yes, a community of believers is a vital part of Christianity, but most people are not going to receive salvation through a sermon, but by seeing your real, genuine walk with Christ in everyday life.  It's messy.  It's uncomfortable.  But it's right.

The "Great Commission" has never meant more to me than it does today.  We fret over trying to find our "calling," or searching for God's "will."  I believe He gives it to us right here.  We are saved so that we can multiply the Kingdom.  This is our purpose.

Thoughts?