On the Move
Read Matthew 28:16-20.
God's people have always been on the move. From the moment of the Fall, when Adam and Eve broke God's one commandment, God's people have been on the move. Granted, Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden, and Noah after them was sort of forced onto a boat, but on the move they were nonetheless.
I suppose it wasn't until Abram that God's people began to be voluntarily on the move. God calls to Abram, invites him on a journey, and for some reason we don't quite grasp, Abram said "yes" to this mysterious, unknown God. He started on the journey, he became a wanderer and his family became a people on the move. God said, "Go," and he went.
Somewhere along the way, however, we've forgotten that we are to be people on the move. As God's people, we're sent out, yet we've become content to sit in. We have adapted to the culture, settled into our pews (or chairs) and allowed someone else to minister to us. We talk about how much we "got out of" the worship service and we move somewhere else if we're not being "fed." We've forgotten that's not at all what it's about. God's people are supposed to be on the move.
In his last command to his disciples, Jesus told us to "go." If we're going to accomplish the mission of "making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world," we have to go. Gone are the days (if they ever existed) where people came looking for us. Gone are the days of "build it and they will come." We're called to go, to seek, to join the Father in finding those who are lost. Jesus expects us to be people on the move.
The early American Methodist movement understood this. The pastors who were sent out didn't settle down. Many of them did not have a home. They traveled from town to town, preaching the good news. Sometimes the closest they got to settling down was to be assigned to a "circuit," a whole lot of churches in a large geographical area. The pastors could not be at the church very often, so God's people had to be on the move, transforming the world they were in, not waiting for someone else to do it. Ironically, when the clergy "located" (settled down), the church's growth slowed and eventually reversed. We (all of us, not just clergy) got comfortable.
God's people are called to be on the move, making disciples wherever we go. Are you on the move with God today?
God's people have always been on the move. From the moment of the Fall, when Adam and Eve broke God's one commandment, God's people have been on the move. Granted, Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden, and Noah after them was sort of forced onto a boat, but on the move they were nonetheless.
I suppose it wasn't until Abram that God's people began to be voluntarily on the move. God calls to Abram, invites him on a journey, and for some reason we don't quite grasp, Abram said "yes" to this mysterious, unknown God. He started on the journey, he became a wanderer and his family became a people on the move. God said, "Go," and he went.
Somewhere along the way, however, we've forgotten that we are to be people on the move. As God's people, we're sent out, yet we've become content to sit in. We have adapted to the culture, settled into our pews (or chairs) and allowed someone else to minister to us. We talk about how much we "got out of" the worship service and we move somewhere else if we're not being "fed." We've forgotten that's not at all what it's about. God's people are supposed to be on the move.
In his last command to his disciples, Jesus told us to "go." If we're going to accomplish the mission of "making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world," we have to go. Gone are the days (if they ever existed) where people came looking for us. Gone are the days of "build it and they will come." We're called to go, to seek, to join the Father in finding those who are lost. Jesus expects us to be people on the move.
The early American Methodist movement understood this. The pastors who were sent out didn't settle down. Many of them did not have a home. They traveled from town to town, preaching the good news. Sometimes the closest they got to settling down was to be assigned to a "circuit," a whole lot of churches in a large geographical area. The pastors could not be at the church very often, so God's people had to be on the move, transforming the world they were in, not waiting for someone else to do it. Ironically, when the clergy "located" (settled down), the church's growth slowed and eventually reversed. We (all of us, not just clergy) got comfortable.
God's people are called to be on the move, making disciples wherever we go. Are you on the move with God today?
This is one area where the internet can be an instrument for good. We can reach people in countries we'll never go to.
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