Pray: that Jesus be exalted and that we would see more clearly than ever the reason for which we live in this day and time and moment and that we would make the most of it for the glory of Christ and His cross-work

3 Questions We’ll Answer in These Messages This Summer
1) Who am I? (What is my identity in Christ?)
2) Why am I here in this world, in this area, at this time and in this moment?
3) How do I live out this mission? (People, place, message, lifestyle, thinking, etc.)

Opening: Last week we kicked off our Lecture series on missional living and what it means to be sent on mission as Christ was sent on mission and how our mission is derivative of His. The banner verse over all these lectures this summer is John 17:18 which says, “As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.” So we saw from this that we have been sent by Jesus, like Jesus, for Jesus into the world. It is Jesus Himself who has commissioned us to go with His authority and with His presence that our mission will succeed and it will not fail His purposes and that He will be with us in every encounter and situation.

In many ways we have been sent like Jesus and tonight, we’ll see one of those ways in that, like Jesus, we have been sent to a specific people in a specific time for a specific purpose. We also saw that our mission is for Jesus’ sake. All that we do, we do so that the Son of God and His work might be praised and magnified. And finally we saw that we have been sent into the world, and as strange as that sounds, that we have been sent into the world in which we already live, it isn’t so strange after all when you understand that nature of the new birth. We have been born from above, we are a new creation, and we are not of this world so therefore we don’t simply approach this world with a new attitude but we approach this world as those who have been sent from a new world order, we reenter as ambassadors for Christ as we take part in the in-breaking of the kingdom of God.

Tonight, we continue filling out what the word “as” means in John 17:18 and what I want us to see tonight is that as Jesus was sent specifically into the world, so we are sent specifically into the world. Point 1 is fairly simple and it’s this…

I. Jesus Was Sent Specifically
[Galatians 4:4-5] “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.”

A) Jesus was sent at a specific time: “…when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son…” The time spoken of here, while it includes the specific time, is not just the year in which Jesus came, but the time or era of redemptive history in which He came. Jesus came at the God appointed time as the time of the law had run its course and the time of redemption had come. And when Jesus was sent He was sent at the perfect time in human history. The stage was set perfectly for Him. He came in a time when there was a common language we call Koine Greek, which He didn’t speak much of, and this was unique. Alexander the Great with his trade routes and highway systems had made other cultures and places more accessible, which meant that language and culture spread quickly as well. But what is cool about Koine Greek is that it was so widespread and so commonly used and existed at its height for such a short time span that the language became frozen. What I mean by that is that it didn’t change. Words didn’t have a thousand different meanings, they had a few and since that existed in that day, when the New Testament writers wrote, they wrote an easily understood message that would spread quickly through the known world. The time was perfect for the spread of the Gospel, and this was aided by the fact that in Jesus’ day the pax Romana (Roman peace) was in effect and provided stability and safety for those carrying the Gospel message. The time was also perfect for death by crucifixion. By this time crucifixion was perfected, and was used often and provided the perfect death for Jesus to be the Lamb slain. There is no other time in history in which Jesus could have or would have come. He was sent at the perfect time in the perfect moment.

B) Jesus was sent to a specific people: In some sense Jesus was sent for the whole world to be a Savior of people from every nation, tribe and language, but more specifically Jesus was sent to the Jewish people. When Jesus sends out the twelve apostles in Matthew 10:5-6 He says, “Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” He was born in a specific location and stayed in a specific location His entire life and accomplished more than any person ever will and He never traveled more than a few hundred miles from home. Jesus spent his entire life for a specific people. He invested in a few who were His disciples, and gave even more to an inner circle and impacted the world. He fully lived out His calling among a specific people.

C) Jesus was sent into a specific culture: When Jesus was sent into the world, Jesus came into a specific culture that had cultural norms and practices. Jesus dressed like the people, probably played games like the people, and we know worked a common job in that day, which was that of a carpenter. Jesus was born into a poor working class family who by most outward means lived a normal life. He was born in Nazareth, which had a pretty bad reputation as a town. If you remember some of the leaders questioned Jesus’ background and said, “What good can come out of Nazareth?’ So Jesus was born in and lived in a specific culture that He understood and operated in.

D) Jesus spoke a specific language: Jesus didn’t come speaking a different language, like some heavenly lingo. He spoke the language of His people. He predominantly spoke Aramaic, probably understood some Hebrew and some Greek. He used illustrations they could understand pulled from their surroundings. If you think about it, Jesus could have talked about anything He wanted to talk about. He could have told them about planes, computers and facebook, but He didn’t. He spoke a familiar language and He spoke in a familiar way that the people in which He was ministering to would understand Him.

E) Jesus was sent for a specific mission: Our Galatians passage says that Jesus was sent “to redeem those who were under the law so that we might receive adoption as sons.” This is just one of the reasons for which Jesus was sent and it’s not my aim to give you all the reasons for which He was sent, but what I want you to grasp is this: Jesus knew exactly what He was here to do. In the Gospel of John what you will see over and over again is Jesus talking about His “hour.” At the wedding in Cana, Jesus’ mother wanted Him to do something about the wine situation, and Jesus responded that His “hour” had not yet come, that was John 2. In John 12:27-28 when the reality of the cross was weighing upon Him He said, “Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father save me from this hour?’ But for this purpose I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.” So what we see is that the time in which Jesus was sent was for the specific mission of glorifying the Father in the purchase of the Father’s enemies. Jesus knew what He was here for. He wasn’t unsure of the time and He wasn’t unsure of His mission and Jesus lived the most full life possible. In fact, Jesus was the life! So if, Jesus, the Life, was sure of His mission and of His moment, then wouldn’t it follow that for us to truly understand life for what it is we would have to understand that we have been sent for a specific mission and for a specific moment? I think so.

And this leads to point 2…

II. God Determined the Specific Time in Which We Would Live

[Ecclesiastes 3:1-2a] “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die…”

[Acts 17:26-27] “And He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, in the hope that they might feel their way toward Him and find Him.”

I want you to see 4 things from this verse.

1. God has made every nation of mankind: The point here is that we see God as Creator and specifically Creator of nations. God appoints the rise and fall of every nation. No nation rises because of their own governmental system or ingenuity, they rise because God says rise and they fall when He says fall. He’s made every nation and our nation is as it is because the hand of God is upon it.

2. God has determined the time periods in which mankind should live: This is true for everyone. We live in this day and in this time only by the Sovereign appointment of God. You’re here living in this time and apart of this generation because this is where He wanted you, not because of chance, and if we get this, we will see a great significance and purpose in evangelism and in this life.

3. God has determined the boundaries of mankind’s dwelling place: This doesn’t mean that God is some cosmic Map-Maker who just determines boundaries, but it’s more specific than that. The specific boundaries of your life He has determined. Where you live, the size of your yard, where you will go to school, and where you will travel has been determined by God. He is sovereign over all the affairs of your life and the fact that you are here in Salem, Virginia is because this is God’s determined boundary for you.

4. The reason He has done this specific work is that mankind should seek God and find Him: The Creatorial and Sovereign work of God has a purpose in it. He doesn’t plan specifically just because He likes order, and He does, but He does this orchestration for the purpose of revelation. God places all men in certain places in certain times that they might reach out and find Him. He leaves everyone without excuse. He has revealed Himself in a general way to everyone and everyone is responsible. However, there is no doubt, that God specifically places His chosen people in certain places in which the Gospel path will cross their path and they will be saved. This is all of grace. Just think about it…why were you born here? Why did the person who shared the Gospel with you share the Gospel with you? Why did you hear the Gospel as a child and not other people? Why are you apart of this local church? Why are you here in this room tonight? Why are you friends with who you are friends with? Why are you gifted at certain sports and good at certain activities Christian? You answer to all these questions in the Sovereignty of God that you might be saved and that others might be saved in Christ Jesus.

So God has determined the specific time in which we live and number three…

III. Jesus Has Specifically Sent Us Into the World
There is no doubt about it: Jesus Christ has specifically sent us to Salem, Virginia for this time and for the people here. I don’t know how many of you truly believe this but if you do believe this and come to understand this, then you will certainly live differently. You will live pointedly, you will live purposefully and you will live passionately. Most people do nothing because they have nothing to live for and when people do find something to live for, if it isn’t Christ that thing they are living for will eventually crash under the weight of expectation.

Here’s what I want you to see as well: when Jesus sends His people out in specific times for specific people in specific cultures He doesn’t do this without equipping you for the task. We’ve got to understand that Jesus hasn’t shortchanged us in the mission! This mission is His mission! We are His people sent out to share in the joys of reclaiming sinners and we are God’s appointed means to spread the message of reconciliation doing the ministry of reconciliation! So being sent into the world we come with specific gifts for this specific purpose. Every single Christian in here has been equipped for the task and the local church serves to further equip you for this mission. In Ephesians 4:11-12a we read, “And He (Christ) gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry…” You could say that the local church, and specifically the teaching and preaching which takes place here is to fan into the flame the gift and deposit of Christ in you for the purpose of His mission.

A. The Incarnation of Christ informs how we minister to those around us: Well, what do you mean by this? Many people talk about how the incarnation of Christ informs our own ministry. Christ was born into a certain time, in a certain culture, speaking a certain language, under a roof with certain values and a time with unique problems and advantages. This is true for all of us as well. We have been born in a certain time, in a certain culture, speaking a specific language, under roofs with certain values and in a time with unique problems and advantages. The application is then made that we should live as those in this time and not in another time. The temptation is to objectify certain “golden years” of human history or objectify and exalt our own cultural moment. Tim Keller’s solution to this is to be skeptical and appreciative of all cultural moments but to make sure you are living actively engaged in your own cultural moment.

But how do we do this? How do we be skeptical and appreciative of all cultural moments while being actively engaged in our own cultural moment without compromising the truths of the Gospel?

B. Incarnational ministry, which is sometimes called contextualization. But what do we mean by contextualization? You see, contextualization can be a good thing and a bad thing. If it’s bad you will either, as Keller says, over-contextualize or under-contextualize. He writes, “If you over-adapt, you may buy into the idols of the new culture. But if you under-adapt (which I’m prone to do), you may be buying into the idols of the older culture.” His point is that you can become so much like the culture around you that you fail to be distinct and if you don’t become like the culture at all, you may be committing a different kind of idolatry in that you think another culture or another day was better and you become irrelevant and idolatrous in another way. He then says, “You have to think it out!” This is a difficult thing to do, and as Christians who love the gospel you should be racking your brain here for the sake of communicating the gospel.

But what is good contextualization? Good contextualization Keller says is entering deeply into people’s own hopes, beliefs, aspirations, and longings, and you try to connect with them. He goes on to say that, “…contextualization is showing people how the lines of their own lives, the hopes of their own hearts, and the struggles of their own cultures will be resolved in Jesus Christ.” (The Gospel and the Supremacy of Christ, p.117)

For my own benefit what I refer to contextualization as definition and what I mean by that is that I patiently take time to listen and understand where people are in their understanding of Christ and the Gospel and then I take pains to define Gospel words and the Christian narrative in ways that the person will understand.

So that is what I believe, good contextualization is. It is sincere but it doesn’t compromise. It listens and loves but does so as it orbits tightly around the Gospel. It is both humble and bold and I trust is Christ-like. All right, now at this point we need to as some questions, consider some things and hopefully give some answers and we’ll do this by looking at our context…

IV. Questions that We Must Consider and Answer
When we talk about contextualization and incarnational ministry that deals with specific places, peoples, cultures and languages we look at the unique challenges that that particular culture faces. That would be a narrow lens approach. But, we must also see the bigger picture and the larger context. What I want to do in this section is something like a Google Earth approach to understanding our context. First, we’ll look at what’s true for mankind in every age. Second, we’ll see what is unique about this time in history. And third, we’ll see what is unique about our present context in Salem, VA.

1. What is True For All Mankind in Every Age? Blindness.
And this blindness expresses itself in two forms:

A) Blindness to the Glory of Christ: 2 Corinthians 4:4 “The god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ who is the image of God.” Our task is to go and proclaim the gospel that the Spirit of God might do His work through our words and open their eyes to see that Christ is glorious.

In fact our mission is like Paul’s mission given to him by Jesus in Acts 26:15-18 And I said, 'Who are you, Lord?' And the Lord said, 'I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. But rise and stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles - to whom I am sending you to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.' "Therefore, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, but declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance."

So you see what Jesus says is Paul’s mission? This is what Jesus was sending Paul to do for the Gentiles (specific people, specific time) “I am sending you to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in Jesus.” Our mission is the same today in this moment. Mankind is blind and we are sent to proclaim the testimony of Christ Jesus that through our proclamation the Spirit of God might open blinded eyes to see the glory of Christ.

B) Blindness to the Foolishness of Wisdom: Every generation of mankind always believe that they are the generation that has everything figured out. Almost every single person is assured of his or her position in the world and his or her idea of God and the reason is that until man is broken of their own wisdom in such a way that they see it for the foolishness that it is, they will continue to be wise in their own eyes. This can be incredibly frustrating as we share Christ to people, because they will look at you as a complete fool, all the while asserting their own wisdom with confidence. But that’s all right. The Gospel is foolishness to the wise in their own eyes. It’s meant to be that way.

In 1 Corinthians 1:18-25 we read, “For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.” Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than man, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.”

2. What is Unique About Our Time in History?

A) Skepticism and Orthodoxy is On the Rise: This point comes from Tim Keller’s book “The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism” where he makes an interesting point, which came somewhat as a shock to me. He said that the skepticism side is saying that evangelicalism is on the rise and that it is taking over the world and on the other side, the evangelicals are saying that skepticism and relativism is on the rise and it is taking over the world and what Keller notes is that actually both are on the rise. He writes, “We have come to a cultural moment in which both skeptics and believers feel their existence is threatened because both secular skepticism and religious faith are on the rise in significant, powerful ways. We have neither the Western Christendom of the past nor the secular, religionless society that was predicted for the future. We have something else entirely.” (p. xiv-xv, Introduction) This is truly unique. Anyone ever thought about this before? I know I haven’t but it is something we need to understand about how unique our time in history is. So what do we do as Gospel agents in this unique time with this being the case? First of all we must proceed with humility and second, we must proceed with unwavering confidence in the power of the Gospel, and third, we must live out Gospel in an authentic way with humility and unwavering confidence in the power of the Gospel to save. And one of the best examples for what this is like is found when Paul is in Athens and speaking in the Areopagus in Acts 17. In this Paul notes all of their different gods and then speaks of the One true God and the result was this in verses 32-24 “Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked (one response). But others said, “We will hear you again about this.” (second response). But some men joined him and believed (third response).” So what do we see from this encounter? Skepticism and orthodoxy on the rise. And our hope in sharing the gospel is that this trend will continue and that those who want the second hearing will eventually be pushed out to the side of joining and belief in Jesus.

B) The Intolerant Push for Tolerance: We live in a pluralistic society and an increasingly pluralistic world, and in this pluralistic society all religious claims are placed on the same pedestal or weighed in the same balance and all are seen as equally valid. We are told not to consider one religious view above another religious view, and if we do this is considered intolerant. Exclusive claims to truth make people suspicious in this culture and will quickly move you to the periphery. You will be dismissed in people’s minds if you are too exclusive. So the solution they say is tolerance. Everyone should find their similarities, make a big deal of those and peacefully coexist in the sludge of tolerance. Exclusivity is seen as the enemy of peace and so exclusivity must not be tolerated and the result is an intolerant push for tolerance. Anyone see the gaping hole in this argument? The problem is that the side that is pushing for tolerance is actually doing the very thing they are condemning in others by making an exclusive truth claim that tolerance is the best path to life. They then seek to force their view on people through media, conversation, and arguments. Tolerance then becomes a new religion that is seen to be higher than all the others. So while all the religions are found in one side of the balance, tolerance places themselves in the other side of the balance and seeks to convince the world that they are the only ones who truly have it figured out. However, this doesn’t work. Tolerance doesn’t solve the problem of sin, nor does it lead to peace. Only the gospel of peace, the Gospel of God in the world in Jesus Christ reconciling the world to Himself leads to peace.

C) Meaninglessness: You could also call this plague emptiness or nothingness and this is exactly where we find ourselves at this moment in human history, and especially in the West. I don’t know if you’ve ever stopped and scrutinized yourself or really paid attention to people in their conversations or seen the look in their eyes or stopped and thought a moment about how many people in the world sit in front of T.V. and go to hundreds of movies all to escape the reality of their own life and world. The opportunities of entertainment abound in our Western world, but it seems to never satisfy. Something isn’t working. The more we seem to have as humans the less human we seem to be and the more meaningless everything becomes. What’s the result? David Wells writes, “Luxury and plenty, entertainment and recreation, sex and drugs, become the ways of creating surrogate meaning or momentary distraction, or at least some numbness. It is surrogate meaning and distraction to conceal the inner blankness, the depletion of self, so that its aches can be forgotten.” Anyone find this strange? The cure we seem to think for meaninglessness is more meaninglessness! The very things that bring about the problem we think are the cure! I really do believe this is a plague and in some ways, I think this is the wrath of God upon us in this historical moment. But all this meaninglessness and filling up on more meaninglessness comes from the failure to see a reason for existence, which is a failure to see God. When God moves from the center for which you’re breathing, then what is the point of breathing? And that is where most people are; they are breathing, but they don’t know why. Tim Keller in “The Reason for God” quotes an author who noted this phenomenon writing, “If one puts aside the existence of God and the survival after life as too doubtful…one has to make up one’s mind as to the use of life. If death ends all, if I have neither to hope for good not to fear evil, I must ask myself what I am here for, and how in these circumstances I must conduct myself. Now the answer is plain, but so unpalatable that most will not face it. There is no meaning for lie and thus life has no meaning.” Though this meaningless is rampant in our day, and I believe in a unique and magnified way, it is not anything new or a new discovery. In fact, Solomon in the book of Ecclesiastes found the same thing. In Ecclesiastes 1:2 he begins, “Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity! What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun?” Then he goes on to say in verses 8-9, “All things are full of weariness; a man cannot utter it; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun.” What is the cure for this meaninglessness under the sun? In the words of the Shane and Shane song, “Get over the sun. Get over the sun. Where life is hidden.” And this is something we must do everyday as agents of the Gospel. We must get over the sun and see true meaning and then speak into the meaninglessness of those around us with fresh vision and foreign words that strangely make sense.

3. What is Unique About the Culture Where We Live?
(These are in no particular order)

A) Football is god: I know that this might be hitting close to home, but it is true. Football is god around here: not only at Salem High School, (It would be god at Glenvar but they’re not good) but at Virginia Tech and the football god receives much glory. We give money, time, thought, emotion, and we even sacrifice to the football god. If you step back and look at this in the light of the holiness of God, you will see it for what it is: idolatry! Now I’m not saying that going to a football game is bad or that it is wrong to enjoy going, you should go and you should enjoy it. But we’ve got to be careful that this good thing is not turning into a god thing, which is a bad thing (Listen to Mark Driscoll’s message from Advance 09 which can be found at Desiring God). And that’s true for everything, not just football. But I must admit, that coming into Salem, it still catches me off guard as to how much football is worshiped. So what’s unique about our culture is our unique idols that are seemingly safe and acceptable. Therefore, in evangelism we will have to work harder to expose idolatry for what it is and show clearly the sinfulness of all sin that puts anything (god) before God alone, even the things, like football, that seem safe. (The food god is also worshiped around here. We have more restaurants per capita than anywhere in the state. Be careful that your god is not your belly!)

B) Victimization: One of the things I’ve realized too is that on the other side is Glenvar or Roanoke County Schools, for instance, because your football god isn’t great and powerful you turn to victimization. The wildest thing exists between these two schools and it is something that needs to be dealt with in the gospel. The Salem people look down on the Glenvar people and the Glenvar people dismiss and demonize the Salem people. Now, I’m not saying that it is really true in this youth group. For the most part it goes undetected to me, but in our community these kinds of rifts run deep. I’ve talked to people who have been out of high school for years, many years, and still deal with this and talk about these things. Before I even moved to Salem, and didn’t know anything about it, I was warned about what kind of culture it was. I remember thinking how strange and unusual this was and how victimized certain people felt and then thinking how selfish it all really is. What we need to see in evangelism and in dealing with this kind of attitude is that the worst thing is not going to a small county school, but it is that we have crucified the Son of God by our selfishness. One thing we can do to shine as lights in this culture is to not participate in it, to laugh at it, and be someone critical in a gospel-sense.

C) A Community that Knows You: In Salem, VA there is a very slow turnover of people leaving this community and people coming into this community. In many ways it is a closed and keeping community. In some ways this is really good and in some ways this is really difficult. The good thing about this is that you will frequently run into people, and developing relationships and a presence in the community for the cause of Christ is in some ways simple. You don’t have to worry about just seeing people once and then never seeing them again or never running into them again. The difficult part about this is that the way in which we relate to everyone must be different and it will be harder because now we must learn to love and be friends with these people. I think this is difficult. Jody and I were talking about this a few weeks ago and how it is a lot easier to simply knock on someone’s door, do our part in sharing the gospel, and move on never to see them again than it is to be someone’s friend, to invite them into your home and life and to share and live the gospel before them consistently over time. It’s a lot easier to be a Christian in spurts and in snapshots. When you’re going door-to-door or meet someone for the first time you seem really genuine and Christ-centered, but what about when you’ve been hanging out with some people for over 3 hours? What will they see during that time? How will you talk about normal things? What will you laugh at and about? How will you respond to different situations? This is where the genuineness of your witness is tested. This is where you can’t hide and strangely enough this is where your opportunity to testify to the grace of God arises. This is where sanctification is seen and the power of God is beheld in your life. So take full advantage of being in a community like this and use it for Christ’s sake.

D) The Convenience Killer: Being in a small community and with everything being so close to us we lose our patience. We don’t appreciate things and don’t work for things. Everything we want is at our fingertips. We can be in and out of stores and run our errands in half a day and hide the whole time. I still hear people talk about how driving to the mall is all the way across town and how inconvenient it is to go “over there” but this is just funny. Jody and her family used to drive at least 45 minutes to get to a mall and about 30 just to get to Wal-Mart. But with convenience, as we’ve seen, comes a cost to our patience and our appreciation of things. We lose our patience with our church body and we lose our patience in witness. If we don’t see immediate results we move on to something or someone easier. Also instead of frequenting a few places, like restaurants and stores, we can go to 5 or 6 different places a week and never build relationships with the workers or staff. In living and evangelizing strategically we are going to have to find our patience and we’re going to have to narrow the places we frequent to make an impact. When you’re out, slow down and be patient. Take extra time to be in a store. The times I have done this I’ve found myself in 2-3 hour conversations at the most and at least 30 minute encounters. It’s always been fruitful. Just because something is convenient doesn’t mean we have to take advantage of it to meet our individualistic desires let us go for the sake of others and the cause of Christ!

So what must we do? 2 things…

Find Yourself in Shining in This Specific Time
R. Arthur Matthews writes: “ Christian young people are being encouraged to devote time and energy to purposes unrelated to the context of the crisis of their times. In the place of candle purpose, which is labeled unrealistic or impractical, they are introduced to the idea of candle presence, as though that holds all the answers for people in the dark. The Savior’s statement “You are the light of the world” indicates the true context and significance of the world’s crisis. All people are in darkness. They are hopelessly lost without the true light…In shining, God’s people find themselves, though they burn up in doing it. By the same token, they lose themselves when they substitute any other activities for bearing light and giving significant witness.” (Ready for Battle, p. 16)

Walk Out of Here Armed and Assured
Wherever I go, whatever I do, I go as one sent, divinely commissioned by God and sent by Jesus to be about the Gospel. I do not simply go to school, I am sent to school for the Gospel. I do not simply go to work, I am sent to work for the Gospel. I do not simply live in Salem, Virginia I have been sent to Salem, Virginia for the sake of the Gospel. I do not simply go to the pool every summer, I have been sent to the pool every summer for the sake of the Gospel. I do not happen to live in this day, in this age, around these people because that is how things have turned out. My Sovereign Orchestrating God has ordained that I live and move in this time, to these people, for His sake. He has sent me here, right now, in this moment, for this time that the name of Jesus might be proclaimed in and through me.

And so Jesus prayed, “As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.”