Confidence

From the church's that I'm familiar with I'd have to say that confidence is where we lack. So many people are so comfortable in their little pew seats that they have learned to just sit back and relax. It may be more of an abundance of selfishness rather than a lacking in confidence, but with this situation I believe they run together. Not only are we so selfish that we can only think about our own needs and desires, but we also lack the confidence to even begin to reach out to people. I've seen such a lack of confidence that people won't even pray out loud anymore, and we go for the silent prayer so we don't make people feel uncomfortable. How in the world do we plan to share our faith with strangers and people outside of our congregations if we don't have enough courage to pray out loud or share our testimony in our own bible study groups? So what can we do? Like anything, I believe training in such areas of our lives need to be improved. Practical, simple, just go out and do it. An even better idea would be for the church to start a training course in evangelism where the members learn how to evangelize and then go out into the community and share the gospel, and hopefully the constant practice will turn into a lifestyle where we seize each opportunity to act and speak as witnesses, gifted by the Spirit, to the life changing events of Christ's power and grace in our lives.

Two in One; Bearers of God's Mission, Bearers of the Spirit

The first instance where we see the Holy Spirit in action is when all the disciples begin to speak in tongues, and the significance of this is the inclusiveness of grace for all the peoples of every nation. The  gift of the Spirit to the church is Christ's fulfillment in the Great Commission to be with his people always, until the very end of the age. The Spirit came to the church to clear any boundaries between race, culture, and status and to make salvation available for all who call upon the name of Jesus and who act according to the grace they have received. The Holy Spirit is vital to God's Mission. The reason Jesus told the disciples to wait for the Spirit is not that they couldn't spread the news of Jesus and his resurrection without it, but once it descended on them they would show the world through their actions as well as their words that they have the same power and the same Spirit that Jesus had. With the Spirit the disciples become "bearers of God's mission."

Disciple Disciple Disciple

The Mission of God is the complete inauguration of his kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. How does this "Mission of God" reflect in the Great Commission? "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything I commanded you, and surely I am with you until the end of the age"(Matthew 28:19-20). God uses his people to carry out missions, which is the call to make disciples of all nations out of an overflow of delight in the Lord, this is the overall Mission of God. His kingdom is inaugurated through the church, but how can his kingdom advance if there are not disciples of Christ that make disciples that make disciples? It can't be done! That is why the Great Commission is so important to the Mission of God!

A Dispute of Culture and Ethnicity

Barnabas was faced with a big challenge with the early church in Antioch and throughout the Near East, bringing together Jews and Gentiles. Today we face the same problem that Barnabas faced, we have multiple ethnicities, cultures, and beliefs in the world, and we are called to reach them all regardless of the disputes and differences between them. Barnabas encouraged the believers in Antioch, both Jew and Gentile, Greek and Hebrew to continue in the faith and to welcome all who joined them. So how would this be practical for us today in our separate communities, separate states, separate countries, and separate continents? First, like Barnabas, encourage a connection. I've noticed that Southern Baptist Christians have a problem with joining with groups that have different beliefs, cultures, and backgrounds than ourselves. Are we like Antioch? I believe so, we have caucasians, hispanics, african americans, etc. and in each of those we have people with different backgrounds and culture, and then different denominations in which we categorize ourselves with. It's sad! We don't even have to say it, our actions alone show that, "Oh, I'm a white baptist, so I'm going to hang out with other white baptists and won't give a second thought to partner with those Catholic's or presbyterian's, maybe I'll ask those methodist's and nondenominational's to come help with an event every once in a while though." Barnabas encouraged the Jewish converts to accept the Gentile converts, and even further than that, the Greek Christians to accept the Hebrew Christians. This is an encouragement to me to accept those who are different than me, a white southern baptist, and connect better with other believers that come from a different background and culture than myself, and even if they have slightly different views of Christianity than I do. As long as they know Christ they are still my brothers and sisters, and we are both obligated to take the good news of the Gospel of Christ Jesus to all nations as one body of believers.