Fulfilling the Great Commission in Charleston

If you have attended church at any point during your lifetime, or even if you haven't, you are probably pretty familiar with the passage that we label "The Great Commission". It is found in Matthew 28:18-20 and are the last recorded words by Christ in Matthew's Gospel. Other gospels have similar accounts, with similar wording, but for some reason Matthew is the one most associated with this commission. It says:

And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

As most of you know, God has given both Erin and me a strong desire to serve Christ in the Middle East. We both have had the wonderful pleasure of traveling to Beirut, Lebanon for several weeks, and in that, God has given us a strong passion to see the fulfillment of the Great Commission in that area of the world. As we recently graduated from Marshall and are pursuing marriage (July 16, 2011), we both have been in constant prayer about where the LORD would take us. We both carry some school loans that need to be taken care of and we both thoroughly enjoy ministry, so where is it that the LORD would call us?

One of the wisest pieces of advice handed to me over the past year was, "Pursue all doors and let God be the one that closes them." This was quoted in the context of a conversation discussing how there are so many individuals who "determine God's will for their lives", and they, themselves, begin shutting doors and pursuing just one, only to find out that door was not the one they were supposed to enter. That isn't to say that God did not want them to serve in that area, or that they misunderstood God's calling, but rather it just was not the correct time for them to travel down that road.

A similar experience has happened with us as we pursue God's calling. Both Erin and I have the strong desire to serve God among the unreached people, but He has called us to Charleston, WV. That isn't to say that we are not supposed to go someday to the unreached people or that we have settled for something short of our calling, but for some reason, God has told us to go here first.

I, personally, interviewed with several companies around the nation, while also pursuing seminary as well. My continuous prayer was that God would provide a job that made it clear where we were supposed to be right away. I consistently reminded Him of our desire to serve Him, as well as our passion for the unreached people, and He responded in a way that far exceeded my expectations (Ephesians 3:20).

A company in Charleston, WV made an offer that I knew right away was from the LORD. The salary was high enough to where Erin and I could pay off loans in just a couple of years, which would drastically accelerate our ability to head overseas. Even when we began to weigh the pros and cons of this offer, the list of pros far outweighed the list of cons, more than we ever even imagined. It is not the $100,000 part-time job that I had dreamed of, but in reality, it was the best door for us, and it was a door that I had never ever considered.

Besides the lesson I learned in following God's call, there are two other things to be added to this post:

1. God is sovereign in His plans and perfect in His wisdom.
Erin and I both have the desire to serve abroad, but what an opportunity Charleston presents us! We already know how this decision will provide for us financially, but only God knows what other opportunities we will have and lessons we will learn. If you read any of Paul's letters in the New Testament, you often read the words of how he longs to be with the church, but is prevented at that time. If you do a deeper study of what is preventing Paul, it always turns out to be God, Himself. God does not prohibit Paul from going to the church, but rather He takes him on a course that will be prepare Paul for the challenges he will face and He teaches Paul lessons that He will then be able to teach and encourage the church with. He is simply just enhancing his ministry!

When I think about our calling to Charleston, I cannot help but wonder what the LORD is going to teach us there. I can testify not only with the life of Paul, but also from personal experience, that God often takes us places first so that we can meet certain individuals, or start certain ministries, or learn certain lessons. Our call to Charleston far exceeds just financial implications, but I believe that it also carries several opportunities to become better equipped for God's next call for our lives.

2. The Great Commission is not for the future, it is for the present
So many individuals that I know, who have the desire to serve in ministry, completely misunderstand the Great Commission. They see the command to "go and make disciples" as a command to go to a certain location, and they see it as a future event. But if you were to read the statement as Jesus intended, that word "go" acts as a present participle. Now you may not have studied present participles since early middle school, but what a present participle does to that statement is it makes it not only a future tense, but also a present tense. Another way you could read that statement with the present participle in mind is: "Go, and as you are going, make disciples along the way."

That completely changes the meaning of that passage for me, and it helps me see how going to Charleston is fulfilling the Great Commission. God has given Erin and I a desire to serve among the unreached people, and I believe that we will one day do that. But for us to pass the time and wait for that opportunity to go would be to completely miss the point of the Great Commission. In that command, and in our situation, God is calling us to go to the unreached people, and as we go through Charleston on the way, we are to make disciples.


So now, let's shift from my story to your story. What are some application points for you? Let me leave you with a few tips:

1. Are you still young and pursuing God's call for your life? Let me challenge you to pursue all opportunities, both in secular and sacred. Maybe you have already identified what that calling is, but let God reaffirm you in that by closing all other doors and leaving that one open.

2. Are you still trying to figure out what God is calling you to do with your life? Dig deep in Scripture and do not come out until you have your answer. Psalm 37:4 says "Delight yourself in the LORD and He will give you the desires of your heart." If you delight yourself in Him and dig deep into His Word, I promise that He will reveal to you what it is that you are truly made to do. For me, it was found in Romans 15:20 (I will let you look that one up to get you started in His Word).

3. Are you currently serving in the location that God has called you? And can you relate to what I have expressed in this post? I challenge you to share your story with others. Reply to this blog, or share your story with a friend or co-worker. Mutual encouragement is needed in building up the kingdom, and if I had not received that advice nearly a year ago, I might currently be sitting in front of a closed door.

I love you all! Thank you all for your prayers.