You have already been called to ministry

I love the essay from Dave Black today, Will You Join the Cause of Global Missions? . I especially liked this section...

For several years now I've been studying the missionary movement in North America. I believe we are on the verge of an era when insourcing missions will become the strategy for achieving global evangelization. A strategy that depends on outsourcing the work to paid professionals is not going to get the job done. Outsourcing will be around for a while longer because it is what everyone is used to. But insourcing will require a wholly different mindset. It's not just about producing more missionaries. It's about creating a completely different kind of environment -- a collaborative environment in which everyday people like you and me are constantly thinking about how to generate towel and basin ministries both at home and around the globe.

The old world of subcontracting professional ministers in global missions and in local church ministry is in its final days. The world today simply is not one where Christians can stand aside and leave ministry to the professionals. The field is too vast and the workers are too few for us to be observers.

The towel and basin image is so incredibly powerful. Humble servanthood is the highest calling in the church, not positions of authority or fame or power. How far have we strayed in our drive to gain the acceptance and acclaim of the world instead of being salt and light to the world?

I love Dave Black's passion for missions and his passion is infectious. My hope is that everything we do as the people of God is done for the purpose of advancing the mission we have all been called to. So much that we concern ourselves and trouble our minds with has little or nothing to do with our mission. That doesn't mean that those issues are not entirely without value but they certainly take a backseat to telling the lost about Jesus Christ and showing the hurting around us the love of Jesus in our actions as His ambassadors. I especially like that Dr. Black reminds us that missions starts right around us, in every day interactions. There are so many people who live around us, even in the rural area we inhabit, that need to know Christ and He has called us to go and equipped us with the Holy Spirit to carry out His commission. We have everything we need. What holds us back is fear, apathy and indifference. I struggle with that all the time and I am sure others do as well. We must struggle against it because it is sinful to know Jesus and refuse for whatever reason to tell others about Him.

May God fill His people with humble servant hearts that cannot help but proclaim the Gospel message.