Christ's method alone will give true success in reaching the people. The Savior mingled with people as one who desired their good. He showed sympathy for them, ministered to their needs, and won their confidence. Then He invited them, “Follow Me.” We need to come close to the people by personal effort. If we would give less time to sermonizing and more time to personal ministry, greater results would be seen. The poor are to be relieved, the sick cared for, the sorrowing and the bereaved comforted, the ignorant instructed, the inexperienced counseled. We are to weep with those who weep and to rejoice with those who rejoice. Accompanied by the power of persuasion, the power of prayer, the power of the love of God, this work will not, cannot, be without fruit. - Ellen G White, Ministry of Healing 143
When this chapter was written, I was staying out in the country, deep in the valleys of Eastern Cape and right next to the ocean. I will not even lie to you, if you don't wake up to that scenery, you are missing out on life! You need to buy more life for your life my friend. Waking up to absolutely no sound of traffic but crowing cocks, bleating sheep and the sound of the large ocean, that is just life with flavour. If you ever thought waking up to no vehicles hooting and screeching tires could be bad, I'll give you one reason why it is. A year ago I got married to my Prince Charming and that's why I'm living out here in the coast. Both of us had no cars before and after marriage, we still don't have a car. Before you look at us funny, look, we are trying to make our house a home first. We definitely are not going to drive around in style only to host visitors in what looks like a university dorm, with almost no furniture. Anyway, that's not the topic right now. Since we still rely on public transport, being out here was a nightmare when you want to get to the city at a certain time. We were about 10km from the main road and 34km from the city. 10km is a distance that I normally would run for exercise okay, it's definitely not a distance that I walk trying to find transport. That's a very long one. So understand this, most people out here have their own cars because public transport is a hideous nightmare. It also did not make matters better that people produce most of their food, so even the ones with cars did not travel to the city so often. It so happened one of these Sundays that my husband I had to get to the city. We came up to the place where most residents wait for transport and found 2 elderly women in what seemed like Methodist church uniforms. We exchanged greetings and while they were still asking about us, their taxi pulled up. They had their hired transport to and from church. Since they had just found out that were were going to the city, they asked their driver if it were not possible to take us with and drop us by the main road at least, where transport was easily available. Well, he agreed and in we went. The taxi was full of the church ladies who were chatting each other about everything. They pulled out fruits and started distributing them, even to us.
Everybody was enjoying this fresh, organic fruit, but I was thinking about something deeper. Do you know how special it made me feel, that as young as I am, these older women practiced so much kindness to me? That it didn't matter to them that I'm from a completely different culture and speak a different language? I felt right at home with these women and that made me think about this: How easy would it be for me to say yes if one of them asked me to come join them for a cup of tea one of these days? How easy would it be for me to approach them if I desperately needed transport again? Now tell me, would I say no when invited to their church?
Most of us can sing Matthew 28:18-20, but do we ever stop and analyse those texts? It's only recently that I looked at the commission and realised that it is a commandment of God. The same God who said, "Thou shalt not kill" is the same that said, "Go ye therefore into all nations..."
How much weight does it carry now when you look at it? I'll tell you this, A LOT! Our dodging of this duty is disobedience and it is sin. Jesus said "If you love me, keep my commandments," right? So our failure to take the great commission as a commandment and a serious thing to live by, testifies that we do not love Jesus. How can you love Him if you don't obey Him?
The most important reason for the existence of a church is soul winning. Apart from it, what's the point of being a church? What else is there to learn, talk about or do if we aren't concerned about the salvation of others? God entrusted this work to us, we are His plan! While He could do without us, He chose to make us the plan. What an honour, that frail and sinful humans get to work along side an all powerful and pure God!
Mark 16:15 narrows it down to 2 letters for me, "Go". Our daily life must revolve around "going" with the gospel. Want to have some fun with it? Think of it as, Gospel to Others, GO. Look, the going will definitely vary according to personality traits, gifts and a few other factors yet, it is for everyone. I've met a lot of people who jump and say, "Evangelism is not for me hey!" That's like saying, "Worshipping one God without other idols is not for me hey!" The command is for everyone who believes in Jesus Christ. It is mostly the 'how' that we look at and reject evangelism. A friend of mine recently had to preach at one of the sun down worship services and she really did not look forward to it. She kept looking around at who was there and wondering why there are so many people present for the service. That's how anxious and unsettled she was about preaching. She really is not a preacher, but singing is a different story. I kid you not, her soprano gives you the chills. For her, when you say evangelism, she thinks of such terror struck moments of preaching and magnifies them times ten because she will have to do it to a total stranger. What are the odds that she likes anything to do with evangelism? Better yet, do you think she takes the commission as something meant for her? Absolutely not! Hers is not an isolated case, trust me, about half the Christian population has the same thoughts.
What if we have been doing it wrong all along? What if we have not taken the commission in the way that God meant? What if we keep applying the same mechanisms that will never work? What if we have neglected what Jesus modelled out for us as way of life and of winning others to Him?
It was Jesus who said "If you follow me, I will make you fishers of men," and that's a standing promise. Do you realise though, that for the fisherman to catch fish, he has to be in the water?
Picture this: I invite you to my fishing club. We meet every Sunday afternoon and do some fishing. You get there and we gather by the edge of the dam where our fishing camp is set up, with materials and every supply we need for it. We get there and we have a meeting where talk about the advantages of fishing, the fun in fishing, the strategic times for fishing and the best baits for big fish. Then we went back home thereafter. The next Sunday, we gather again by the fishing camp and there is a projector and PA system, a presentation followed by a brain storm session is done. We discuss the latest fishing rods, the money needed to get these, the amount of money needed to buy fishing gear and all that. Just as you are so hyped up, we leave, no fishing. Third Sunday, everyone is out on the bank with their rod, they are so excited about the fish in the dam. 2 hours go by and no one actually went into the water. Everyone seems to agree it would be perfect to fish, but no one actually does it.
What are the odds that you would want to come the fourth time? I'll tell you this, if this were me, I'd run away from the friendship and ghost so hard on you. I mean, why???
If that looks and sounds absurd, then why do we do it? We are given a commission to go but we never do. Fishers of men we are, but never go where the men are and fish for them. You have to be in the water to catch the fish. You have got to leave the 4 walls of church and dive right in to where humanity is. It is here that you will find out, people don't need a sermon from a podium but someone who will share some food and clothing with them when they have nothing. It is here that you will realise people don't need a perfect pitch or the song, they just need a song to sing through the grief of losing a loved one. It is here, my friend, that you will realise your not so favourite dress is someone else's golden treasure. For as long as we stay enclosed in church discussing other things than living out the commission daily, we will not win them to Christ. You will forever look at that prostitute on the street and utter painful statements about her lifestyle until you find out she has no place to live, the parents died and relatives kicked her out of the parents' house for greed. Until you speak to her, you may never know she feels like there is no other way to stay alive without a job, money, food or a home. These yearly plans that we draw up at the beginning of each year trust me, are not bad at all. It is great admin work to have plans, targets and strategies. Do you know what renders them obsolete? The fact that they never materialise. When are we going to take personal ministry to a practical level? I'll tell you this though, we fail corporately because we fail individually. How can you be motivated to spread the gospel with others when you have no plans or desire to do your part individually? In the opening quote, E G White captures something so vividly. She says, "The Saviour mingled with men..." To mingle is to mix, to blend, to bring together. Jesus Christ caught men to follow Him because He blended with humanity. Jesus wasn't in the synagogue every Sabbath then completely unseen during the week. He was there in the market place, by the well, walking in the streets. Now I'm not out here saying you must wake up everyday and walk around in your streets with no idea what you're doing. We have jobs, studies and businesses and not all of us are called to leave them. I believe our jobs are an avenue through which God wants us to mingle with men. Please don't get to work one Monday morning and start perching a sermon in the boardroom, you will get a written warning if not fired. Jesus Christ had order and respect for each place He went to. Be the kind girl who never makes a cup of tea for herself only. Baked some biscuits over the weekend? Bring them over and share with the girl in the next cubicle. Do your duties with care, with terrible exactness and be on time always. Believe me, someone will want to get closer to you because they want to copy your work ethic. They will want to find out why you never complain and swear even when the boss is being mean. It is in there that you will fish for men.