Lose weight. Get out of debt. Learn something new. Exercise more. According to one survey, these are just a few of the most common 2010 New Year’s Resolutions. We set these goals with the intention of improving the way we live. But have you spent much time thinking about how you are actively promoting God’s glory? During this season of beginnings, we at Access Partners encourage you to make resolutions that will advance the spread of the Gospel around the world.
Jesus directs His followers to “Go and make disciples of all nations.” (Matthew 28:19) This command may sound extreme; it requires us to reorganize our goals. Yet if we truly reflect on Christ, recognizing that He is worthy of the world’s worship, our trust, and all our treasures, we should want to reorient our lives.
Regardless of your circumstances, it is good to ask, “How can I fulfill Jesus’ command to make disciples?” Many missionaries who are pursuing the advance of the Gospel depend on partners who regularly provide for them financially. Are there parts of your monthly budget that you could designate for overseas work? Church planters also agree that prayer support is integral to their ministry. Purchase Operation World or use The Joshua Project to begin praying for one country, unreached people group, or missionary each day.
Most people set New Year’s resolutions which require them to sacrifice time, money, energy, and maybe even a favorite dessert. But as you consider the remaining months of 2010, you could reflect on these words of Christ:
“Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.’” (Matthew 9:37-38)
Are you one of these workers? Be the answer to your prayer.
Perhaps you’re not sure about how to proceed. A good way to start is by thinking about the relationships you have already formed with non-Christians such as your coworkers, neighbors, and unsaved relatives. Are there ways you can introduce the Gospel into your conversations with them?
You could also look for opportunities to build deeper relationships with acquaintances you see on a regular basis. Do you have a favorite server at the restaurant where you eat each week? Do you talk with other parents on your children’s sports teams? Do you have a hobby that allows you to meet others in your community? If so, you should consider investing in or initiating these types of relationships for the sake of the Gospel.
You might want to seek first-hand knowledge of local and overseas missions work too. For example, your church may participate in ministries for college students, unwed mothers, the homeless, or prisoners in your area. Your church might also organize short-term missions trips. These trips allow you not only to assist overseas workers directly, but also to gain a first-hand glimpse into everyday life of missionaries. In addition, they equip you to better pray for church planters and the unreached people they serve.
Brett*, a church planter in Central Asia, was willing to risk everything to share the Good News—even his family. Over a decade ago, he moved his wife and four young children to a country where they faced difficulties unimaginable in the west. What would motivate Brett to make such a radical decision? The answer is found in the same Person who is the role model for all Christians. As Paul writes,
“Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant…He humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross!” (Philippians 2:5-8)
Amazingly, Brett doesn’t emphasize the cost of his obedience—such as leaving family, retirement funds, and healthcare behind. Instead, he focuses on the joy of knowing God’s promises: “Like Abraham, [we] can trust God’s protection and faithfulness with the unknowns.”
Those who do not know God cannot comprehend such a peace. They eat and drink without a care for tomorrow (1 Corinthians 15:32.) But we, who know our eternal end, should live in such a way that we look like Christ—scarred, beaten, broken—and yet confident and hopeful in our future. An example like that not only brings God glory, but also it can be used by God to bring others into His Kingdom.
As you begin 2010, take some time to reflect on how you will follow Christ’s sacrificial example and obey His command to make disciples. In the words of martyred missionary Jim Elliot: “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.”
Please pray:
- ask God to show you what radical ways you can obey his command to go and make disciples, whether that’s in your current community or in another country.
- for opportunities to promote the spread of the Gospel by going on a short-term missions trip, giving financially, developing relationships with neighbors, or praying regularly for AP
- that the work of overseas church planters will be strengthened in the upcoming year.
* For security, his name has been changed.
Editor’s note: One of our New Year’s resolutions is to make sure not to be late in sending out our monthly newsletters. 