What do you Want??? Part Three

Mark 10:14, "And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet".

After we have met a certain people that God has prepared, and given them a clear proclamation of the Gospel, we are looking for a complete persuasion on their behalf, to the truth of Jesus Christ. Without a doubt, one of the hardest decisions that a missionary has to face, is determining when it is time to move on and preach to other hearers. We realize that it takes time for a person to hear, understand, and apply their heart to the faith of the Gospel, however, there are so many that are in darkness, that one cannot spend all his time going back to only the same crowd that remains unmoveable and seemingly unshaken by God's Word. The difficult question is, where is the line? When is it time to move on to new ground?

Jesus gives a clear directive to His disciples. They were to look for people that received them and received their words. Obviously a people must be willing to receive us before we can do any work in their lives. It does not much good to preach to someone who would rather that you just drop dead. However, we oftimes find people that are willing to receive us, but fain to receive the message we bring from God's Word. So many are cordial, warm, and kind, until you begin to shine the light of God on the darkness of their heart. How refreshing it is when we find one who not only receives us, but receives the message from our Savior! What a joy when we find those who will choose to agree with the Word of God! There is nothing more exciting than to find a people with a complete persuasion of the truth of the Bible. This persuasion must not stop with being born again. Actually, quite to the contrary, Jesus said that "If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed". What a great disservice has been done in so many modern churches where all the emphasis is only put on praying a sinner's prayer and being saved from hell. Only to find that these 'converts' disappear just as quickly as they were found.

Furthermore, many churches are full of 'disciples' who have a corrupted mentality that it is the job of the paid staff to do the work of outreach and ministry, rather than a personal responsibility of every disciple! If one is completely persuaded of the truth of God's Word, it will be impossible for them to turn aside to other endeavours, or merely relegate the work of ministry to the 'hired staff', while they pursue their own causes. If the burden of ministry all rests on the shoulders of the missionary, then the work can only continue as long as the missionary is their to pump everybody up. As we labor on the mission field, we are looking for the same thing that is needed in churches back home. We need and desire a people that are so completely persuaded of the truth of God's Word, that they will stop at nothing until they see the Great Commission completely fulfilled for the glory of Christ!

Are you so completely persuaded about the truth of God's Word that it permeates the thoughts, words, desires, and pursuits of your life? What if YOU were the only one that God was counting on for the growth of His church that you have joined....how well would His church be doing? Fully surrendered and committed disciples. Isn't that what Jesus is looking for?