Last week was
intense for us here on the island. We received more than 300 students from Johnson Ferry Baptist
Church in Georgia. These young people came to build homes and perform other
construction projects, they held various sports clinics, at least 5 different
VBS sites with 100 plus children at each one, and they worked in more than 5
different orphanages and children centres. This is just a part of what we do. Yet,
at the same time, those are just the peripherals. Don’t get me wrong. They are
important, but they are not the most important.
During the past
week someone on the construction crew said that they felt “accomplished”
because not only were they building a family a home, thereby taking care of
their immediate physical needs, but they were also having a chance to share the
Gospel as they went about the community. So by no means do I wish to denigrate
the importance of all the peripherals but we have to keep the main thing the
main thing.
Of course,
that’s easy for me to say because I am, after all, a missionary and as a
missionary making sure I keep the Gospel as the main thing should be fairly
easy. It is, after all, my profession-career-vocation-calling-etc. Sadly
enough, that’s not the case. It’s not always easy to live Gospel-centered lives,
even as missionaries. But there is more to it then that. Because, sadly enough,
that’s also not the case that it should be easier for missionaries or that it
is only a missionary’s responsibility. It is every Christian’s responsibility too.
My motives behind
this post are multiple. First of all, informational. I wanted to tell you about
what we’ve been doing; letting you know or informing you how busy we’ve been
and what the Lord has accomplished through our service and our partnerships
with other churches (specifically Johnson Ferry). Secondly, it is an attempt at
something “inspirational.” I want to challenge you to keep the main thing the
main thing, and that, for us, as believers, is the Gospel.
Sometimes we
feel shamed into sharing the Gospel or somehow guilted into it. This past week
I loved seeing our students struggle with sharing the Gospel in Spanish and in
English. I loved seeing them succeed. There was one student who made it a point
to come back each evening and excitedly share with me her experience of sharing
the Gospel with Dominicans and Americans alike. It was awesome. During this week, she realized her
giftedness and passion for evangelism. She is now reconsidering her future and
wants to use her giftedness for missions.
Please, keep the
main thing the main thing. Not out of shame, guilt, or even my attempt at
encouraging/inspiring you. Keep it the main thing simply because it is the main thing!
The gospel of Christ is what saves us, sustains us, and brings us
safely home. We do not move on from the gospel. If you preach it in such a way
that you give the impression that Christians should move beyond the gospel,
then you will remove from them the very lifeline of a Spirit-empowered
relationship with Jesus. – Matt Chandler
