S is for .....

So far in our study of MISSION we have learned that M is for Mandate and I is for Intentional.

“S” is for Spirit Empowered. When it comes to mission and telling people about Jesus I think that most of us would follow the early disciples lead in the 49 days following Jesus death and resurrection. By all accounts they spent much of that time behind closed and locked doors trying to make sure that those on the outside didn’t know where they were. Have you felt like that? Have you gone to your office and prayed harder that people would not ask you anything to do with God than praying that they would? I have done that – I have been that undercover Christian who was more afraid of outreach than even non-believers were.

So how did the early disciples go from cowering in locked rooms to standing in the middle of a large crowd in Jerusalem proclaiming the truth about Jesus? The simple answer is the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. In Acts 2:1-4 we read that as the disciples were gathered together the Holy Spirit was poured out on them and they were filled with ‘power from the Holy Spirit’ as was described in Acts 1:8. Maybe it is time for us to seek empowerment from the Holy Spirit to give us courage, knowledge, wisdom, and passion to stand on a street corner and proclaim the truth. I would encourage you to ask God to pour His Spirit out on you in a fresh and a new way. I will speak more about this on Sunday morning.

‘S’ is also for simplicity. When the early disciples were empowered by the Holy Spirit they did spend time putting together a slick gospel presentation. There was no band, no powerpoint and no special effects. The stood up where the people were and spoke the truth. I am pretty sure that any one of us could do that – just tell people your story of how Jesus has touched and transformed your life. How many times do we make God more complicated than He really is? How many times do we place obstacles in front of people that even Jesus would not put there? How many times did Jesus just keep it simple and meet the needs of the peoples around Him? When people were sick, He healed them. When they were hungry, He fed them. When they were afraid, He brought peace. As we meet people each day maybe we should keep things simple and meet the needs we see and not over complicate the Good News. Mother Theresa said that Christians are called to be witnesses at all times, but they should only use words when absolutely necessary.

Just something to think about as you go about your day today.