Friday, June 10, 2011

Wherever you are...

One of my favorite quotes from Abraham Lincoln is "Whatever you are, be a good one!". I suppose I like this quote because it obligates us to do our best regardless of our vocation or status in life.

As I thought about our trip to Ukraine this week, this quote came to mind. And while it fits quite well with the tasks we have before us, I began to consider the implications of the quote if we were to change the word "whatever" to "wherever".

Mark 16:14-16 provides an account of one of Jesus' post-resurrection appearances to the eleven apostles, with instructions to "Go into the world. Go everywhere and announce the Message of God's good news to one and all."(MSG) Wow! Sounds like quite a daunting task for such a small group of men. However, this passage, referred to as "The Great Commission", has often been used as a guilt-ridden motivator for Christians to enter the mission field and travel to remote locations to share the Good News. And, while I believe this commission is applicable to us today, I do not believe a person must travel to remote locations in order to share God's Message.

"Go into the world." Aren't we already 'in' the world? Simply stepping outside the front door of our home puts us as much 'in' the world as those who travel overseas to work in a remote mission field. Consider these 'mission fields'... your next door neighbor, a group of co-workers at your place of business, a group of close friends you hang with at Starbucks, the person in line with you at the check-out, the students you interact with 180 days out of the year ...and the list goes on and on.

My point? We are ALL missionaries. We're all capable of sharing God's Message 'WHEREVER' we are! (And often without speaking a single word!) Remember... "Whatever/wherever you are, be a good one!"

1 comment:

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