As you go,

Very often I sit in church and think of how nice it would be to discuss the message with Dad. He would have loved today’s message. He and I used to have this discussion about missionaries. It was a mystery to him that so much talk in the church revolved around overseas missions when so many here at home were in as mush need here at home. Several years ago Terri and I raised support to take a couple of short-term missions trips overseas and Dad was always very supportive. He understood how valuable the experience was for us and the teenagers who went with us, but he still made a very good case for spending more time and money helping people here at home. Today pastor Richard taught from Matthew 28:18-19. His message challenged everything I understood about these verses. I grew up listening to Kieth Green singing “Jesus commands us to GO” and preachers explaining that Jesus would not return until we reached all of the unreached peoples of the world. I don’t really want to debate either of these points, but today I realized that the Scripture says “as you go,” and this gives me a whole new perspective on things. Missions opportunities are all around. I am called to be in a certain place and work in a certain place and do certain things. I go to work. I teach. I take care of my family. I go to my son’s baseball games and my daughter’s soccer games. As I do these things I should “make disciples.” The focus should be on making disciples and not on going.