I was reading Matthew 10 in the Message today, and was struck by how much Jesus’ advice applies to the mission we’re on in evangelism and church planting and ministry. Some passages that stand out:
6 Go to the lost, confused people right here in the neighborhood….9 Don’t think you have to put on a fund-raising campaign before you start. 10 You don’t need a lot of equipment. You are the equipment, and all you need to keep that going is three meals a day. Travel light. 11 When you enter a town or village, don’t insist on staying in a luxury inn. Get a modest place with some modest people, and be content there until you leave….40 We are intimately linked in this harvest work. Anyone who accepts what you do, accepts me, the One who sent you. Anyone who accepts what I do accepts my Father, who sent me.
The last one is a bit scary, but at the same time, it’s encouraging to hear Jesus say it.
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I suppose Jesus wasn’t actually addressing us, but the apostles, but I still think a lot of what he says is relevant. Not that we should just equate our effectiveness with God’s, but that we should see that we’re working with Him, and He’s working through us.
Heh, nice graphic. I suppose that’s one of the difficult parts of trying to emulate the apostles… wondering how much we can actually become like them. Is an apostle inherently more blessed, or spiritually powerful, because they are an apostle, or is it the other way around? I suppose it can’t be, because apostlehood certainly wasn’t merit based… it would diminish the glory of their achievements if they were based on their own efforts.
I’m reminded of Luke’s mention of the fact that they were “unschooled, ordinary men,” and the people they reached were amazed by that fact in light of what God did through them.
It’s easy to take one of two problematic approaches:
1. We’re not apostles, so we can’t expect God to use us for great things.
2. We’re fundamentally equal to the apostles, so why isn’t God doing equally great things through us?