From time to time, when Leslie and I get overwhelmed in workload and caring for family, we will rent a secluded place for focus. This helps us knock out a big project that we are having trouble finishing. (This big project is actually why this Newsletter did not go out on Sunday Night, but more on that later this week!)
At this particular moment, we are in a rented home in the North Carolina mountains, and I am looking at an oil painting of the inside of a car—nothing else, just the front seat.
The interior seats are covered in violet velour and remind me of the interior of a 1970s Olds Cutlass Supreme or Buick. It elicits all kinds of sensory memories of my parents and their friends. The smell of cigarette smoke and Doobie Brothers and Allman Brothers songs ringing out from the stereo. Although, I can’t see them in the painting, I imagine there are burnt holes on the seats.
In this, I am reminded how important place is to memory and activity in our lives. I really love this work of art because it brings to mind a vivid childhood memory of a place that includes how it feels, and smells, and sounds. Literally, I can feel the velour on the back of my legs.
I could even tell you what my parents were talking about, and I even imagine me sitting in the front seat between my mom and dad. The arm rest is raised and I have the weird lap belt over me. And, we are driving through our little town in Oscoda, Michigan. Not too far because—honestly, there was not far to go. I was about 7 years old when we moved from Oscoda.
Place is so important to us in memory and actions and identity. It impacts the way we feel and operate and move. Right now I’m reading Acts in my morning devotions.
Acts tells the story of the early church from formation to mission sending and growth across the Mediterranean region and into Europe and Asia. Place is so important in the book of Acts as we see the Gospel progress from place to place to eventually reach the entire known world at the time.
In that progression from place to place, we find a principle regarding the Great Commission. The Great Commission is the order from Jesus Christ himself to Go and Tell of the Good News of His coming to earth and the redemption offered to God the Father to all those that Believe.
Literally, that is what the Gospel means — Good News.
The Great Commission involves going to others and telling them about Jesus Christ and then making disciples. Therefore, in short, the Gospel involves both an encouragement to believe in Jesus and then to tell others about Him and also to teach believers the doctrines of Scripture in discipleship.
It’s a beautiful thing that really can only be done effectively—life on life.
The Gospel involves the birth, life, death, and Resurrection of our Savior Jesus Christ. I told my children long ago that when you are sharing the Gospel, don’t ever leave Jesus in the tomb because a big part of living the Christian life is leaving the tomb as a new believer.
Jesus gives the order regarding the Great Commission before his ascension into Heaven in Acts, but he also gives us the order to make disciples at the end of the Gospels. The main difference between the two involves this idea of place.
As a believer, these truths should warm your heart and cause a smile to form across your face. But the principle that I want to specifically talk about here and relate it to your homes is the progression of the Gospel.
The movement of the Gospel in Acts actually follows the geographical progression of first coming to Jerusalem (Acts ch. 1-6). For several months and years, the Gospel expanded only in Jerusalem. Then persecution came and the Gospel rippled out into Samaria. (Acts ch. 8) Then Paul who was the great persecutor encounters Jesus on the road to Damascus. Then the church really explodes unhindered (Acts ch. 9). It goes into Judea, specifically Joppa and Caesarea (Acts ch. 10). Then the early church commissions missionaries and the Gospel goes to the end of the earth (Acts ch 13).
The Great Commission is progressive. It spreads from Jerusalem to Samaria to Judea and then to the rest of the Earth. To be clear, what I am teaching is that Gospel ministry should develop with this principle in mind.
- Jerusalem = Household and those you have a relationship with
- Samaria = Local City and Region and strangers
- Judea = State and Nation and those that you would even consider unholy.
- End of the Earth = Whole Earth
When you consider the Gospel, start with your Jerusalem then Samaria and then Judea and then the End of the Earth. Don’t skip!
Don’t go to evangelize your neighbor if you don’t bother to evangelize those in your own home. Don’t jump to the End of the Earth until you are working to evangelize your neighborhoods and city.
But, you are not responsible for the harvest. Meaning, this does not mean that you should feel pressure to see conversions from 100% of those close to you before moving on. The point is are you sharing the Gospel locally before moving on? Start in one zone and then move on to the next. Don’t skip! That is how the Great Commission renews.
If you skip, it will often undermine your Gospel ministry. How many pastors and missionaries have had their entire ministry undermined because they skipped the Gospel ministry in the home—their Jerusalem?
Even for churches…if a church focuses on the Ends of the Earth while doing nothing for their city or homes, at some point the whole thing comes crashing down.
This is what I believe is happening in our country now.
There are many of you that feel like we are losing our country. Yet, the churches and families in the United States are the number one sending country for missionaries overseas. At one point, England held that distinction. The mission agencies in England are associated with some of our heroes of the faith, who are some of the greatest missionaries of the 19th Century. But, what happened?
Well, based on the progression of the Great Commission in Acts, they ignored their Jerusalem, Samaria, and Judea. Over time, England became what is called a post-Christian nation. Now, England is not even in the top 10 of missionary sending countries. That is a pretty sobering thought, isn’t it?
So, let’s relate this back to our current cultural plight here in the U.S. Do you want to save our country? Who you vote for will not make it happen. And, don’t misunderstand,…you should definitely vote. That is your duty. Do not overlook the power of a vote.
But, if you really want to save this country, tell someone about Jesus Christ. And, start within your home!
