Obedience to the Great Commission
Six Personality Traits that will help us
For a video version of this sermon, please visit https://youtu.be/_8ayKMzSyu4
Pastor has initiated the series on the Great Commission and we will continue to focus on that theme today.
Many of you might have heard about the Lausanne Movement. This is the largest gathering of evangelists in the world to discuss “The state of the Great Commission”. What are the contextual challenges, what strategies can we adopt? What regions or people groups should we be focusing on etc. This was a movement started by Billy Graham in 1974, at Lausanne, Switzerland (and hence the name Lausanne movement. Since it began, the movement has had three global conferences, the last one being in Cape town, South Africa in 2010. Our own Dr. Ashish Chrispal had the privilege of attending the Cape Town Conference. The fourth congress is scheduled in Seoul, South Korea, in September this year. By God’s grace, I have been selected to attend the fourth congress and God willing should be able to do to. So please pray for me as I prepare to attend this conference and discuss strategies for fulfilling the Great Commission.
As a preparation for this conference, I have been researching on various topics related with this, and please permit me to share some of those with you this morning.
But first, let us start by reminding ourselves about the Great Commission. Let us read out the Great Commission together from Mathew 28:18-20 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." (Matthew 28:18-20, NIV)
The first thing that I realised is that the this is not a Great Suggestion. This is a Great Commission. It is meant for all of us. Many of us do this of course. However, many of us struggle to find the right ways to reach out, the right ways to convey the good news. We are faced with questions.. what is the right thing to do? What is the right thing to say, will they get offended if we say some thing? How open should I be about the gospel to others?
I am not talking about full time missionaries here. I am talking about you and me, who live among the quote unquote “pagans” and are called to influence them so that they may have same hope that we have too. Rick Warren says that all of us are SHAPEd for ministry.
We have all been given
? Spiritual Gifts (1 Corinthians 12, Romans 12)
? Heart or Passion
? Abilities or Natural Skills
? Personality
? Experiences
How do we use our SHAPE to obey the Great Commission?
My studies reveal to me that there are six aspects of the personality that we need to be conscious about to do ministry in our own space.
We need to be a person or family of the six P’s for us to be able to do ministry effectively.
The first P is the Person/Family of Peace.
One of the inheritances that Jesus left with us is peace. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid (John 14:27, NIV). And Jesus asks us to leave that peace with others. In Luke 10:5-6, Lord Jesus Christ asks the 72 messengers to offer peace to the house where they visit and he says “if a man of peace is there, your peace will rest on him. Else it will return to you. “ So it is clear that Jesus wants us to be a man (or woman) of peace. Paul reaffirms this in Romans 12:18: NIV If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. So this is the first question we must ask ourselves when we think about the Great Commission. Am I seen as a Man of peace by others?
The second P is that of People relationships. When we hear the word relationships, we think of long term relationships. But it need not be always. There are several passing relationships that God puts us through. This could be some one we meet in the market, or in the lift, or may be a co traveler, a person whom you interviewed for recruitment. There is all possibilities that you may never meet that person ever again. The question that we need to ask ourselves is whether we are willing to make use of this passing relationship to plant a seed? (1 Cor 3:6, NIV I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow.), or do we pass the opportunity saying that “hey.. I will never be able to take this forward, so why waste my time here?
The second part of People relationship is the permanent relationships. This could be your immediate family, (like in my case), your colleagues, your neighbors, Can I hold and maintain a permanent relationship with some one , without hurrying or forcing the gospel on that person, and without giving up hope, and depend on God to get them ready? I am happy that my wife Leslie is a person like that. She was patient with me, and never forced the gospel on me. She mustered prayers from everyone in her church, and it is the power of their prayers that got me into the Kingdom. In 2 Peter 3:8-9 Peter tells us that the Lord is patient with us and do not want any one to perish. Let us remember that it is true for those we are trying to “save” too. We need to be patient with them, and let the Holy Spirit prepare their hearts for the gospel.
The third P is the Presence. Some times all that the Lord asks us to do is to be present where he wants us to be. We do not always need to act or shout. Some of us get impatient some times. We feel that we are not doing God’s will if we do not say halleluiah or Praise God a few times in a company. We feel that we are letting God down, if we do not link up the happenings or discussions to God and his plans. Some times just by being present we can bring Christ’s presence to the situation, even though many may not acknowledge the presence. Just being there, just listening, just lending a shoulder to cry on, just to share the joy of some one. Jesus went to the tax collector’s house for supper (Luke 5:29). The Bible does not record that he gave some profound messages while he was there. He was just being there, enjoying the company of sinners… (not sin) . Job 2:13 describes a scene where Job’s friends visit him and just sit with him without a word for 7 days and 7 nights , they were just being present with Job, and knew that words are not necessary at this point in time. Can I be a person of presence?
The fourth P is Proclamation. We some times misunderstand the word proclamation. We take it that we must use oratory, or preaching to proclaim. “To Proclaim” only means “to give an outward indication of some thing”. Can we live and give the outward indication of Jesus’ message of “repent and live”. Evangelism is really inviting a person to walk the walk of faith with you.1 Peter 2:12 says “Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.” Matthew 5:16 “In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven”. The story of the slave girl in Naaman’s house (2 Kings 5:2-3) is a great example of how we can proclaim the good news even when we are in a seemingly “insignificant” position. The slave girl’s timely, compassionate, and suggestive “proclamation” led to one of the biggest “conversions” in the old testament.
The fifth P is Preparation. This is a hard one, especially in this world driven by results and quick wins, and so on.. This concept is so much against the corporate culture. Here is the question is are you willing to just plough the field, even if it is not you who is going to sow the seed, forget about watering it , or harvesting it? Can you just be happy to prepare the ground., not knowing if your efforts will ever bear fruits? John the Baptist was very content to just “prepare the way for the Lord” (Matt 3:3, Luke 3:16-17)
The last P is that of Perception. Mark 10:17-22 describes a story when Jesus lets the rich young man walk away, even though Jesus loved him. Jesus knew that the man was not ready. This is what perception is about. To be able to read the response of the person and understand if the person is ready or not. This is not to say that we must be in a hurry to run away from people who are not responding to the gospel, but we must be able to perceive if and when the person will open up to the gospel, and if not, be ready to “shake the dust off your feet” (Matt 10:14) and move on. We by ourselves may not be able to perceive correctly. That is why we should spend enough time with God asking the Holy Spirit to guide us and help us to really identify the Person of Peace in others.
All these are not easy, many of these might not come naturally to us, not very one of us may be good in striking up a conversation with some stranger whom we meet on a plane, let alone sow the seeds of gospel in that person. We may not be good at perceiving the responses correctly. But then we are not alone. God has given us the counselor, the Holy Spirit to help us an guide us. If we are convinced about the call for us to obey the Great Commission wherever we are, we will get ample help from the Holy Spirit to exhibit the right competencies for such ministry. Actually, we do not have much of a choice in that matter. Once we accept Jesus Christ as our saviour, we are bound by his command “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go
and bear fruit—fruit that will last.” John 15:16
I have read this quote some where "Come work for the Lord. The work is hard, the hours are long and the pay is low. But the retirement benefits are out of this world."
Let us pray that the Lord will help us change our personality to give us the six Ps required for doing His work.
Benediction:
May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word. Amen
