Who Goes?

Snow crunched beneath her boots as she forged a path across the icy walkway. Nervousness leapt in her heart as she fingered the handle of the bag, sensing the weight of it in her hands. She slipped it on the doorknob, rang the bell and stepped back off the front stone. Tugging at her mask she waited, listening for the footfall on the stairwell and the scramble to push past the boots, push back the dog, and grab for a mask.

“Go into all the world…”

Neighborhood chatter filtered up past the campfire as they roasted wieners and marshmallows over a crackling fire. Children ran circles around the house, tumbling through the snow unaware of the snow frosting their eyelashes.  Hot chocolate simmered in the crockpot on the picnic table offering a hand warming station to anyone holding a paper cup.

“Go into all the world…”

“Today has been hard.” The text message lit up across her screen. She started to type a praying hands emoji but before hitting send she paused as it blinked before her. Sliding her finger to the top of the screen she tapped on the “Audio” button and took in a deep breath. “Hey, I’m here.” She listened to the tears on the other end of the line, holding space for the other.

“Go into all the world…”

Sitting in her office the winter sun shines in on her agenda as she scratches out her plans one more time. “How do we plan if they can’t come to the building? What do we offer if we can’t gather? What should my week look like, how should I spend my time? How will the students get to know Jesus? How will the people learn about him if they can’t come and hear?”

“Come to me…”

Jesus tells us to go into the world and share about him.

Jesus invites the world to come to him.

As Christians, how often do we expend our energy planning for the world who knows him to come to the church building so we can tell them more about him? Conveniently, we don’t even have to leave the building. Do you suppose Jesus told us to go because he realized that people are more apt to see their need for him outside of the church building?

These are hard questions to try to face in Christian leadership. Many of us love our church buildings and services and the experiences we have there. After a year of wrestling with restrictions on gatherings and pulling the plug on some great events, I can’t shake off the reality that Jesus tells US to go to the people and tells THEM to come to HIM, not the church building, but to HIM.

Rather than plan another event and boost the advertisement, or attend another meeting and take attendance, she will drop her papers, close her laptop and pick up her phone to pray with someone. She will jump in the car and sit in their driveway and listen to their heart bleed with worry. She will invite the neighbors, people who aren’t even her friends, for a backyard campfire and maybe she’ll get the chance to share with them something that means so much to her, the kingdom of God has come near and He’s inviting them to get to know Him.

“Go into all the world”, so they “can come to me”.

He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the good news to everyone.” Mark 16:15

“Come to me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28

Photo Credit: Image by Michael Drummond from Pixabay