In my experience I think that we, as Christians and otherwise, tend to complicate scripture, and specifically the Gospel, in order to write it off and forfeit responsibility. For some of us (perhaps most of us) we compartmentalize our faith so that we don’t have to carry it around with us everywhere we go. Kind of like how I lock my dog up in her crate when I leave the house so she doesn’t follow me around town making a mess of everything as I go about my day. We like Jesus and all, we just really hate conflict so we decide that its best to like him on our own time when it works best. Sunday mornings work good, but Sunday afternoon football with the buds is another story. And definitely not when I go out Friday night not to mention work Monday-Friday. Maybe we complicate Gospel so that we can more easily put it off on someone else, like the pastors and the missionaries of the world. I mean I’m not an evangelist, I’m a business man… He preaches the Gospel and I tithe to the church to pay him. Thats the circle of life right… we all have different ways to contribute. I love Jesus, I am just not “called” to be a pastor so I will contribute to the Great Commission in a different way. For me… a lot of these previously held ideas have changed as a result of my increasing global worldview. The more I have chances to see the world (God’s creation in all of it’s different shapes, sizes, colors and languages) the more simple God’s word becomes. Let me explain.

James 1:27 says “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.”

I used to spend my time ripping apart the word “religion” and trash talking cooperate Christianity because no one wants to be associated with “religion” anymore. However, after sitting in a orphanage in China surrounded by abandoned children that their parents left for dead, or seeing single moms fill the projects of America’s major cities… my focus began to change. After sitting in the dark in Haiti because nearly the entire country had been out of power for three months due to poverty I started to realize how stained I actually am by the things of this world. You see… this verse becomes so much simpler once we have experienced these things. Its clear, if I claim to be a Christ follower, that I should be more worried about finding a way to feed the malnourished kids of the world living on the streets and giving hope to the widows without any than about not having the newest ipod or the gossip that’s going in the office next to mine. Where has this religion gone? The religion of Christ.

The more exposure I have to the world around me, whether its next door or half way around world, the more clearly I read scripture. “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations…” literally means that you and I should really GO to ALL NATIONS and actually make disciples. There’s no distinction between accountants and pastors or missionaries and professors. We are all given the same imperative… Go. And I don’t think we should get all caught up in this business of goers and senders. Don’t get me wrong, these are two necessary sides in foreign missions. However, just because you may help send me to Africa that doesn’t mean that you are not a goer. Everyone in your workplace and community should see you as a reflection of the Gospel and someone who is absolutely in love with this Jesus. And just because I may be a “goer” that doesn’t mean that I should just be some sponge that soaks up support and and never gives to those in need. I should be constantly seeking to give to those in need whether it is material or otherwise because that is what Christ does and that is what his followers do. The church in Acts gave as their was need, and they gave until the need was met. It doesn’t say “The Senders gave and the Goers just watched because their call was different.” We all go… we all send. Why are we not caring for those in need?

2 Timothy 4:5 “As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.”

…. Simple, isn’t it?