The Task

The task has been given and accepted. It has already proven to be a difficult one. One that I know I cannot do on my own. I have had multiple melt downs and bouts of frustration as I’ve battled with my own insecurities and the technology I must now embrace and learn to use. It is with great excitement (as well as bags under my eyes) that I step out in faith to share the task God made so repetitively clear… to tell His people to stop hindering what He desires to do through their testimonies of who He is and what He has done in their lives - and that is to send them out to impact and change lives around the world. I was left with a picture of what I would initially describe as an airline destination map – a line jumping out from one point to another, to another, to another… and the word ‘trajectory’ echoing through my mind. I searched for pictures of what I was trying to explain to my family and finally found it - in global networking images. Trajectory? Global networking? I’m so very far out of my comfort zone here! But if I’ve learned anything in the past 20 years of ministry, that’s usually where He calls us. We can read over and over where “By faith” God’s people accomplished what He called them to do. Not once do we find “By ease” or “By comfort” God’s people did great things.

As I have begun the task of encouraging God’s people to share the stories of what Jesus Christ has done for them, I have come to realize that perhaps a greater hindrance exists in getting the testimonies of His people out past the walls of our churches and beyond our circle of Christian friends. Our testimonies are certainly meant to encourage fellow believers and grow a sense of community within the body of Christ, that oneness in mission and purpose - but there is so much more. God desires to use them to share the hope we have found in Jesus Christ with those who are lost and desperately need the hope we have to share. The task seemed clear. Encourage God’s people to share and get their stories out into the world. That's where the networking comes in. The funny thing I’ve found out about global networking is that you actually need a network in order to network your message out. The technology is there. We literally hold it in our hands. So what now?

The words from Luke 9:26 have run through my mind more this week than I can remember. “Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them...” This is one of those truths that gives no gray in which to hide, although most have tried to at times, including me. The world has always pressured and persecuted Christians to keep their identity in Christ hidden or to deny it completely. What seems to be trending in America today is the ease we now possess to hide our identity in Christ from what has become a very surface and superficial system - but I’m afraid this ease we have found in our ability to hide, in order to avoid the conflict of interest we know it can cause, is now keeping us in the shadows – and it’s pretty difficult to be witness for Jesus Christ from the shadows.

This new observation has led me to question whether the hindering of what God desires to do has more to do with our willingness to share our personal story or our willingness to share the testimonies of God’s people out through our personal networking platforms and with our social media followers. Regardless of where you may struggle in this equation, the mission has not changed. I have been called to tell God’s people to stop hindering what He desires to do through our stories of faith, in sending them out across the world, powering the trajectory of our witness further than we can think or imagine.

“Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.” Luke 9:26