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When I first considered writing for this
newsletter, I did not think I would start out by disagreeing with
something our pastor said. He is arguably the best pastor I’ve
known, and I greatly appreciate him. He deserves the affection the
congregation gives him.
But during the opening of missions month,
he asked the missionaries of the congregation to stand. The resident
Wycliffe missionaries in the congregation reluctantly but dutifully
stood. Then he asked the missionaries to stand. The whole
congregation stood. His point: we are all missionaries.
I similarly disagreed with a guest
speaker a couple of weeks later, when he told us we are all
evangelists. I maintain we all are not evangelists, and we all
are not missionaries.
Consider first that a missionary is the
same as an apostle. They are synonyms. “The meaning is that Jesus
himself gave the name apostle or missionary”
to the Twelve. Both refer to someone who is sent out by the church
from his home for some specific purpose.
Are all Christians evangelists? Are all
Christians apostles/missionaries? No. God “gave some as apostles, and
some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and
teachers”.
Those who are not called to those roles can relax. You are not
expected to do something you weren’t meant to do.
So what are all Christians called to do?
I once saw a drunk driver smash into the end of a
smaller vehicle, shattering the back window into a thousand sparkling
pieces. His car crossed the opposing lane, plunged into a ditch,
popped out the other side, and rested on the far bank. I was the first
one to reach him. Blood trickled down his forehead where his head had
hit the windshield.
Had I been called to a courtroom, I would have told
what I saw. I would not try to convince everyone of the crash. That
would have been someone else’s job. I would have been just a
witness, telling what I knew.
Jesus said we would be witnesses of him.
Peter said we are to be ready to make a defense for the hope that lies
within us.
A person called as a witness who has seen nothing will be quickly
dismissed. In order to testify, we must have spent time with God. Have
you been witness to anything God has done recently? Can you tell
others of it when you need to?
© S. A. Miller, May 2003
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