When Jesus made the statement in Matthew 9:37-38 to His disciples, He had been travelling from town to town preaching and healing. He witnessed the daily lives of the people and seen their helplessness. He knew they need to hear His message and shared that so many need God and yet so few are sharing His truth. When Jesus told His disciples to pray that more people are sent out to share the gospel, He was not speaking to His generation but was addressing future generations, like ours.
When we choose to become disciples of God, we must not forget that we also choose to become missionaries for Him to carry out His mission. We choose to become involved in the harvest as seed planters, those who feed the crops, or those who gathered up the crops. We choose to become involved in sharing the gospel to the helpless, those who need Jesus.
I recently heard an Andy Stanley sermon where he spoke about individual involvement in sharing God’s hope. He challenged all generations listening, to ask themselves what kind of disciples had they become. Are they continually seeking to grow their relationship with God, are they living as followers of Christ outside the church doors, and are they reaching out to family and friends and telling them about Jesus? He said if we are not actively engaged in those activities, then we need to Step UP and Step IN. The mission is not over because God has not called us to glory. There are people in desperate need of hope and we have that message within us to share. We need to step up our game, revaluate our individual role as a disciple and get involved because the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.
What can you do? Firstly, take Jesus’ advice and pray. Pray for your church. You know that with a little bit of thought you can identify those in your church who have become bystanders. Many are probably long time followers but somehow have lost their love of the mission. Pray that revival comes into their lives. Pray you are also revived and so are refocused on what God has called you to do. Pray God gives you strength and courage to step up to become the disciple He desires.
Next, adopt a missionary attitude. Recognize your neighbourhood, workplace and the places you shop and go to be entertained as your mission field. This is not only the food bank where you serve at or the seniors’ home where you may sing or volunteer. It is the community where you live and where helpless people are wandering through life with no hope. There is no retirement from kingdom work and so STEP UP and ask God to show you where to STEP IN.