Go!
“Don’t worry about long term financial sustainability, don’t worry about having an abundance of food, or a surplus of clothing. I want you to go. Go into the city and announce the Kingdom. Set captives free, bring peace to the addict, liberation to the greedy, and wholeness and hope to the sick. Now Go!”
This was and still is the crazy call of Christ.
It’s like a kamikaze mission: return is doubtful!
But it is his commandment and co-mission for all who believe in the life and death of the resurrected Jesus and what we were created for: Full, abundant, exhilarating, and eternal life.
A command like this is counterculture, sounds certifiably nuts (especially if you have a family), and is pee your pants scary. However, if our aim is to be with our Creator, sensing his power and his presence, then “going” almost always seems….safe. The safest place to be is on the frontline of the battle, Endowed with the Spirit of God willing to release it to hopeless hearts and empty souls around the world. This is His mission of renewal and what He has asked us to partner in as well.(Luke 10:4).
But many miss this. The front lines seem dangerous, feel uncertain, and return is ultimately doubtful. Instead we crave comfort, long for security, and value safety and assurance over most everything else. Yet often we forget about this subversive kingdom that flips everything we know and understand right onto its head.
We find God’s power when we are weak and powerless in the battle.
We find God’s presence when the only way to make it out is if He shows up.
We find his peace when Chaos consumes.
We hear his voice when direction is needed in a cloudy and uncertain journey.
And we sense his passion-inducing touch, only when our bodies are broken and poured out for the sake of others.
When the world says “stay home. The kingdom says “Go”
When the world says “the safest place to be is stored up in your palace”, the kingdom points to historical kings like David who opted to stay home instead of fighting with his troops (finding that the consequences were deadly (2 samuel 11)).
If safety is redefined as being with our Creator (His presence in our lives), then the safest place to be is on the front lines of the battlefield, fighting for our King.
Whether we live to fight another day, or fall to our death….we have Him. The one who redeems, restores, and renews is ours when we join the King in advancing the kingdom forward.
