No One Is Exempt

Paul, I think, is the best example that everyone is called to evangelize and missions.

"Go! This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for my name." -- Acts 9:15-16

To those reading this and have absolutely no background of who Paul is, for starters, he wasn't always called Paul. He was first, Saul - someone who knew the Mosaic Law by heart and persecuted Christians because he believed that they were going against God's commands. He was, initially, someone who didn't believe in Jesus as the Christ. With misguided intentions and misinformation, he became one of the most determined Christian persecutors in early Christian history.

The thing about Saul, eventually called Paul, is was that he was chosen by God. Despite the things that he has done, God still chose to use him for the furtherance of His kingdom. And if God can turn a persecutor/murderer into one of the most passionate and God-filled apostles, surely he can use us.

Here's the picture, I personally, have always been under the assumption that evangelism and missions are a special vocation; that only certain people are called to it. For the longest time, I've been really iffy about it. I was cool with serving God, but on my own terms. Shameful, I know. But we all go through this. We say that we commit our lives to God, and yet at the slightest call to do something out of comfort zone, we shrink back and politely decline. 

Is it safe to say that whenever we refuse to pay attention to the way that God calls us to do His work - no matter how uncomfortable it may be - that we haven't really surrendered all to Him?

I'm not trying to sound preachy about this, believe me that is the last thing I want to do. Besides, I am also very much guilty of this. For as far as I can remember, I have steered away from missions because I was afraid that God was going to put me in another place. Until recently, I hardly involved myself with missions at all. But I think now, God is directing me towards a path that I once thought that I would never take. 

We are all called to missions, and if we want to glorify God more, bringing more people to Him to be saved is the best way to go. Thankfully, I realized this during the prayer retreat almost a week ago. I believe God spoke to me very clearly that time - no doubt about it, He was telling me to get off my butt and start working for Him, to bring more people to Him. And though it's daunting for me, I just need to keep reminding myself that it should never be about me. It should, first and foremost, always be about Him.

We are called to know Christ and to make Him known.