Three Options

The harvest is abundant, but the workers are few. Therefore, pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.-Luke 10:2

All of us have three choices to make in regards to our role in evangelism and the Great Commission. These choices are...

GO:

We need men and women to go to every corner of every city in the United States because there are hundreds of millions of people who are going to a Christ less eternity and we should long to see them worship God. We need men and women to go to Africa and tell the tribes that there is a God and He is worthy of every single one of their praise. We need workers in East Asia and South Asia because Buddha is not worthy of worship, Jesus Christ is! Hindu worshippers must be told that there is ONLY one God and He is the way the truth and the life. We need workers in the Middle East working with Muslims because Allah is not worthy of praise, NO, only Jehovah is worthy of their praise. We not only need men and women committing to go and plant their lives overseas but we need short term mission teams to travel overseas for a few weeks or months in order to help encourage believers and share the Gospel. Would you be willing to give up vacation time in order to travel overseas for a few weeks to share the Gospel? Would you be willing to leave behind comforts of America in order to serve overseas for a few years?

SEND:

The second option is to send. Senders are those who for whatever reasons are unable to go to the mission field. These reasons could include age, sickness, kids, job, however, despite these reasons or situations God desires to use these individuals through another avenue. This avenue is sending. Senders are commanded to pray. Senders are commanded to pray for the nations. Do you own a map or a globe? If not, I encourage you to go out and buy one. The IMB sells maps on their website which reveals the Gospel needs around the world. Pray over the nations. Pray that God would open the eyes of those whom the enemy has blinded. Pray that God would send missionaries to the unreached peoples of the world. Pray that God would encourage missionaries serving overseas. Pray and ask God what your role will be in taking the Gospel to the nations. Second, partner with other missionaries which your church sends out. Do you know the missionaries which your church supports? Talk with your elders or pastors for information and then send the missionaries a word of encouragement. Ask them what you could pray for, if they need anything? Ask about their family, ministry, likes and/or dislikes? Love on your missionaries! Third, send. Did you know that if you make more than $34,000 a year you are among the 1% of the world’s richest populations? Has God blessed you financially? Has God blessed your business? Did you know that God has blessed you in order for you to be a blessing to others? Please, hold your finances loosely. Please, use what God has given you in order to send out more missionaries. Prayerfully consider sacrificing one dollar a day for the cause of missions or maybe more. Please, pray for what God would have you to give to the cause of world evangelization.

3) DISOBEY:

The seventy elders send out in Luke 10 could have chosen not to go when Jesus sent them out. They could have chosen to stay at home, enjoy time with their families rather than listen to their king, but instead they went. The disciples could have stood around staring off into the sky or they could have just shared the story of Jesus amongst themselves but they went and God used them to change the world. Who took the time to share the Gospel with you or invite you to church for that very first time? What would have happened had they not shared? Where would you be now if you didn’t know Christ? Let me make one thing crystal clear, God does not need you or I to do His work. God doesn’t need the IMB, NAMB or the SBC in order to spread His glory. God’s hands are not tied by our inaction. God may not need us but He desires to use us. If we choose to be disobedient the nations will not suffer, God will just rise up another convention, another church or another person to reach the nations and we will miss out on the blessing which comes from serving God.

For whatever reason God has chosen to use finite, fallible human beings in order to accomplish his infinitely perfect plan! God desires to use your church to reach the nations! God desires to use your church in cooperation with other SBC churches through the IMB to reach the nations with the Gospel message! We don’t need to be disobedient because of the encouragement found in Luke 10:2. We are told that the harvest belongs to the Lord. God loves the nations more than you or I. God desires to reach the nations more than your church, or that church down the road or the SBC. We must remember that the same God who called us out of darkness and into His wondrous light, the same God who adopted us into His home, the same God who commissions us to reach the nations with the Gospel is the very same God who has empowered us with the Holy Spirit to accomplish His purpose. Have no fear God will not fail! 

There are ONLY three options what will your choice be?