One of the greatest misunderstandings that has been propagated in Christian circles is: “That’s your calling, but it’s not my calling”!
This excuse is typically used across the board for any “ministry” or gospel command that makes the one offering the excuse feel uncomfortable, whether it be the believer’s responsibility to proclaim the gospel to the lost or whether it is to stand on the sidewalk in front of an abortuary and plead for the lives of children about to be slaughtered. But is this a legitimate reason or excuse for not fulfilling the Great Commission? Unfortunately for the “timid”, it is not an excuse!
Are you a professing Christian? Then you are called to evangelize the lost and to abortion ministry! Really? Just look at the Great Commission as given in the Gospel of Matthew 28:18-20:
“And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’”
Now notice what is explicitly stated in this passage:
1. That all authority belongs to Him (Christ)! Not to the local authorities, not to Congress, not to the President of the U.S., and not to your local “pastor/elders”, but to Him!
2. Now Jesus, the One who possesses this authority, tells you, the believer, to GO!!!! To go and make disciples.
3. But now is where it gets sticky for some, because look at what this omnipotent Messiah states these disciples are to be taught — “…teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.”
Christ leaves no “wiggle room” for those that are tempted to say, “That’s not my calling”, but rather commands that all believers are to observe all of His commands! In other words, no “pass” just because you lead a “small group” or teach a Sunday school class.
OK, so what are His commands? Well, below you will find a small sampling of His commands:
1. Mark 16:15 — “And He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.’”
In other words, every believer has a responsibility to the proclamation of the gospel, at least to some degree.
2. Prov. 24:11-12 — “Rescue those who are being taken away to death; hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter. If you say, ‘Behold, we did not know this,’ does not he who weights the heart perceive it? Does not he who keeps watch over your soul know it, and will he not repay man according to his work?”
And consider Prov. 31:8-9, “Open your mouth for the mute, for the rights of all who are sons of passing away. Open your mouth, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy.”
So are you a “believer”? Do you name the name of Christ? Then don’t wait! People are really dying and going to Hell, to the tune of 150,000 people a day, and babies are really being ripped apart, limb from limb, to the tune of 56 million in our country in the last 41 years! If you are a believer, then don’t wait! You don’t need the local police department’s permission, nor do you need to get permission from your local “pastor/elder”. Just go! You have already been commissioned by the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords! It is He that possesses all authority in heaven and on earth!
So stop listening to naysayers that say that you shouldn’t go, or that you aren’t qualified — your King has commanded it! Be a Peter and John, who “were uneducated, common men…” (Acts. 4:13) but when they were commanded by the local “rulers and elders” and charged not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus,” they simply replied, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:18-20). Simply tell them, “We must obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29). So what are you waiting on? GO! OBEY ALL HE HAS COMMANDED! And don’t be cowardly — “But as for the cowardly…their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death” (Rev. 21:8).
–By Don Simmons