Platt says in Follow Me:
"Imagine your church. Don't picture the building or parking lot, and don't envision the activities and programs. Just the people. Whether there are fifty, one hundred, or five thousand of them, simple imagine the people who comprise your church.
People living in a world of sin and rebellion, suffering and pain. A world where over three billion men, women, and children survive on less than two dollars a day, and a billion of those people live in absolute poverty--in remote villages and city slums where hundreds of millions are starving and dying of preventable diseases. A world where billions of people engrossed in false religions, and around two billion of them have never even heard the gospel. They are all (literally billions of people) on a road that leads to an eternal hell--suffering that will never, ever, ever end.
But you and the people in your church have been transformed by the gospel of Christ. In your minds, you know that Jesus died on the cross and rose from the grave to save people from their sins. In your hearts, you have tasted and seen that He alone can satisfy people's souls. Your wills are now abandoned to His ways, and you long to be His witnesses throughout the world. God has banded you together as brothers and sisters in a local church with a global commission: make disciples of all nations. God has filled every single one of you with the power of His own Spirit to enable each of you individually and all of you collectively to reach the world with the gospel.
So if you had nothing but people--no buildings, no programs, no staff, and no activities--and you were charged with spreading the gospel to the whole world, where would you begin? Would you start by pooling together your money so that you could spend millions of dollars on a building to meet in? Would you get the best speaker, the greatest musicians, and the most talented staff in order to organize presentations and programs that appeal to your families and your children? Would you devote your resources to what is most comfortable, most entertaining, and most pleasing to you?
I don't think your church would do these things--and neither would mine. Not if we really believed God's Word and were honestly looking at God's world.
If we recognized that there are billions of people without the gospel, many of whom have never even heard it, and if we realized that there are hundreds of millions of people starving without food and water, we would probably not say, "Let's spend millions of dollars building a house of worship."
...the Bible never tells us to construct a house of worship. Instead, the Bible says that we as God's people are the house of worship. The New Testament never tells us to uild a place for people to come to us; instead, the New Testament commands us to give our lives going to people.
Similarly, if we really believed the Bible, we probably wouldn't limit ministry to a team of minsters who lead the church. After all, every single person in the church is already equipped by the Spirit of God for the purpose of ministry. Why would we want tto sideline the Spirit of God in the many in order to delegate the work of God to a few?
Instead, we would all go.
Every single one of us. We would scatter as rapidly as possible to make hte gospel known to as many people as possible.
It would be difficult, though, and probably costly. So even as we scattered, we would gather together periodically. The purpose of our gathering would not be to soak in a show or sit in a class. The purpose of our gathering would be to share our lives--to share the hurts and joys we are experiencing as we spend our lives spreading the gospel to the ends of the earth. We would encourage one another, worship with one another, give to one another, and sacrifice for one another, and then we would scatter again to make the gospel of Jesus known to more people. We would do this week after week and year after year, and we would not stop until the Good News of Jesus spread from our houses to our communities to our cities to the nations."When Jesus rose from the grave, He told His disciples to go baptize in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit and teach everything He commanded them. They started as a group of about 120 but grew to over 400 in the first few DAYS. This did not happen through gifted speakers or big buildings. The gospel spread because ordinary people were empowered by an extraordinary presence and they proclaimed it everywhere they went.
I want to penetrate the world with the gospel through being a Spirit empowered disciple of Jesus who denies self and makes disciples of Jesus. The great commission is not a choice for me to consider but a command for me to obey. That's the kind of church I want to be a part of..."a people who really believe that we have the Spirit of God in each of us for the spread of the gospel through all of us; who gladly sacrifice the pleasures, pursuits, and possessions of this world because we are living for treasure in the world to come; who have forsaken every earthly ambition in favor of one eternal aspiration: to see disciples made and churches multiplied from our houses to our communities to our cities and to the nations."
Something that has blown my mind recently is the realization that my previous mission work could possibly have been in vain. Don't get me wrong, I believe we should help the sick, feed the hungry, and cloth the poor but in looking at my journey over the past few years, I have have had to ask myself several questions. In all the going and doing and helping, did I once share Christ with anyone? Sure I helped to feed many mouths for a while but did I share with them the One whom which they should rely on, the One who sent me? Without that and without discipling, it all just becomes just another thing we do. Is it really helping if I am throwing money, time, and food at something yet not taking the time to share God's love and salvation story with them? I am baffled by my lack of obedience.
No more! No more with I cower behind the security of handing out food when I need to be opening my mouth. No more will I try to Americanize a foreign village when I should be showing them how to rely on God to provide. No more will I walk down my street without being open to the Holy Spirit to guide me to share His gospel. No more!
I challenge you to join me! Go ye therefore and make disciples. While we are at work, we will make disciples. While we are on the baseball field, we will make disciples. While we are at the gym, we will make disciples. While we are going to school, we will make disciples. We will open our mouths and share the greatest life altering event ever. Share your story! Share Jesus!
If we aren't making disciples, then what in the world are we here for?
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