See the Fields
I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. 1 Corinthians 3:6 (NKJV)
“Shouldn’t I be just as intentional here?”
She is a missionary who had to come out of the foreign mission field a few years ago because of the health of a family member. She was saying that on the mission field she had been taught to be very intentional about the way she interacted with everyone she met: her neighbors, cashiers, car mechanics, and medical staff.
But now, back on US soil with a growing family, she has not been so intentional. She was obviously convicted that she needed to be more conscious of who the Lord set before her in her everyday life.
We know that we have a responsibility before God to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We know that people will watch the way Christians live and judge Christianity based on what we say and do. We know that the security of eternal peace is only in salvation through faith in Christ.
Do we live like we believe these things?
Just as a seasoned and trained missionary can allow the teaching she has received to get lost in the day to day…so do we. Even Christians who are hearing good preaching every week, reading their Bibles regularly, enjoying the fellowship of other believers, and maybe even listening to other biblical teaching throughout the week, can get lost in the hustle and bustle of living life with a family or work that requires our attention.
Life is messy. But, it is not just messy for us. It’s messy for the unbeliever who needs to know that there is a Way that brings peace and joy (Luke 1:79). This is not a way to eliminate all hardship, but The Way (John 14:6) that brings a “Wonderful Counselor” (Isaiah 9:6) to help direct our steps.
So, the answer to the opening question is, “Absolutely, yes!” We all are to be just as intentional day to day about pointing others to Christ as the Lord and King of all the earth as we are when we get that training and go on a short term or long term missions trip.
Evangelism is not just for the missionaries (or Pastors). In John 4:35 Jesus says, “Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!” (NKJV)
Wherever you are, will you lift up your eyes and see the field God has given you in which to produce a harvest? Sometimes you will plant the seed. Sometimes you will water (1 Corinthians 3:7-8). Always, God will be Lord of the harvest! (Luke 10:2)