Hidden Treasure

Picking up from the last post and the Jerusalem mission field, I am reminded of the analogy of the hidden treasure. I love the idea of this, and I love the way it was expanded upon in a movie called Testament. It is only in one verse, but it says so very much! I’ve also quoted the next two verses.

Matthew 13:44-46 NIRV - “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure that was hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again. He was very happy. So he went and sold everything he had. And he bought that field. “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a trader who was looking for fine pearls. He found one that was very valuable. So he went away and sold everything he had. And he bought that pearl.

The lesson here is that “the kingdom of heaven” is so incredibly valuable that selling all you own in this life to obtain it is simply what you do! When we are presented with the kingdom of heaven as a choice, the wise thing is to give up all you have on this earth in order to obtain it.

This is epitomized in one of my favorite verses. It shows that your eternal soul is worth more than any short term wealth or advantage you can get on this earth.

Matthew 16:26 NIRV - What good is it if someone gains the whole world but loses their soul? Or what can anyone trade for their soul?

Now why do I bring these up? Because if you are living a witness for Jesus, people are going to see you giving up everything in this world in order to get to Heaven, and they are not going to understand. Remember, it is not up to us to ‘convince’ them - it is not within our power to change someone’s heart for eternity. It is up to us to present them with the truth - the facts - and then it’s up to them to respond.

The bottom line is make sure you are not assuming there is no need to try! Don’t write people off; don’t assume they would say no.

Responding to the Call

Now the next part of the lesson and my notes are about the steps needed to respond to this. As I said last time, my local group wasn’t very open to this. I share these steps now in hope that it helps someone out there…

Quoting from the lesson for a moment -

When a church understands and accepts Jesus’s Acts 1:8 challenge, what steps does it take to fulfill God’s mission at its end of the earth and in its Samaria, its Judea, and its Jerusalem?

* Prepare. Empower a designated leader of missions and develop mission teams, strategies, and plans to take the gospel to your community, state, continent, and world.

A smaller church will have different challenges to overcome. Teams are smaller and there may not be a particular person to head this up. Our challenge is people may not be interested in something they have to commit to on top of other things at church. I feel it’s my job to lead by example and encourage.

Remember above where I mentioned it’s not up to us to change someone’s mind? I can’t change the mind of the casual or dedicated Christian to be an intentional witness for Christ, but I can sure encourage it and I can remind them! Yes, they may call it preachy and they may get turned off by it, but please tell me what is more important in the life of a Believer than carrying out the Great Commission?

So let me encourage you to do the same… Be an intentional witness and lead by example!

Beyond the Checkbook

* Learn. Bring missions awareness and interaction to the entire church body, train members for service, and connect them to missionaries and mission needs.

Baptists like to mention and support missionaries around the world, and this is a good thing! But I have known people in different churches that when asked about what they are doing to spread the word they mention the different missions programs they support with their giving.

Don’t get me wrong - this is a great thing, but throwing money at something is not the only thing you can do! Yes, you may not be physically able to drive someone and talk in person to someone. You may not be able to grab a box and stand up and preach on the street. You may not be able to walk around a crowd and pass out tracts. But you can call people on the phone! You can help coordinate the efforts of the local church.

If money is the ONLY way you can support, then by all means do it. Just don’t have the “I’ll support with a check so I don't have to get my hands dirty” kind of attitude.

We have a gentleman at church that has been to the Philippines several times over the years. This is wonderful and the church supported him when he went. There are others that are not called to do this, though, but are called to go across town! Communicate needs to others so they can go as well. And a ‘team’ can consist of just two or three dedicated people.

Power of Prayer

* Pray. Ask God to give you a kingdom perspective and a worldwide vision as you intercede for Christian workers and unevangelized peoples.

Also pray for direction. To be effective, people must be committed to Jesus and not living in sin. It is warriors on the frontlines in a spiritual battle. We will experience resistance. Satan does not want to see anyone experience deliverance, so he and his unholy minions will fight back!

There’s a popular meme going around social media right now. I can’t seem to find it (spiritual interference?) but it goes something to the effect of, “If church weren’t so important satan wouldn’t try to keep you out of it.” There is a lot of truth in this. Being in a fellowship of believers is very VERY important for your personal spiritual growth. It is also somewhere where you can help OTHERS grow.

Giving with Purpose

* Give. Increase the financial support of the Cooperative Program and other Southern Baptist cooperative missions.

Now I won’t rehash this, but I wanted to show how Lifeway includes this in the message. Plus I didn’t want to skip number four and you wonder what it was.

Going Beyond

* Go. Enable a growing number of members to participate directly in short-term, long-term, and marketplace opportunities to minister and spread the gospel beyond your church walls.

Remember when I said to be a daily witness for Christ? We should also be preparing others for the same. It’s easy to sit back and say people should be doing this, but maybe it’s time you and I did something specific about it.

Remember, there are many ways to do this. We can go house to house with intentionality, but we can also visit public spaces. We can ‘street preach’ - we can pass out tracts. But most of all we can be an everyday witness. But we can’t do that without a constant rededication to Jesus and distancing ourselves from personal sin.

Sharing the Mission

* Tell. Involve an increasing number of members in intentional, culturally relevant evangelism.

This one goes with number five. We should share what we are doing with others to encourage them to do the same! We are all in this together.

Equipping for Outreach

* Send. Provide opportunities for members to hear and respond to God’s call to vocational missions service.

Maybe they need the pastor to mention it during a Sunday night or Wednesday night service, when the bulk of he ‘dedicated’ members are present. Sunday morning sermon has to be the Gospel along with instruction, but at least in our church there are many more people there just for the sermon. You have to wonder why if they call themselves Christian they aren’t involving themselves more in service and to being fed.

Now this might sound harsh to you to hear it put that way, but ask yourself, do I go to church all the time? Or when it’s convenient? Or just on Sunday morning? Do I not have time to follow God and be there when the doors are open? Do I make time on Sunday morning because it’s a habit? Or because I want to worship? If it’s the latter, then are you not to worship the other times that church meets?

But back to the topic of send, perhaps the group needs to be trained, as I mentioned last time. Remember The Way of the Master? It’s not just for group training, but is a wonderful way to learn to be bold and intentional in personal witnessing too.

Expanding the Kingdom

* Multiply. Participate in church planting and help facilitate church-planting movements.

Is this something a small church can do? Sometimes it seems we don’t have enough people to do all that is needed today. How could we help with planting?

The first step is to realize that there is a mission field and people need a place to go. It can be discouraging seeing empty pews in the church we have. Perhaps we need to get back to worshipping in homes as well. We can actually partner with another church in this and experience mutual growth!

Now your knee jerk reaction might be that our church doesn’t agree with the church down the road. I’m not saying that you should compromise your beliefs in order to have fellowship, but if the core tenants of Christianity are the same - that is that Christ died as a penal substitution for us; that He died to pay the price of our sins so that we can have eternal life - then we can meet and pray and grow!

We all feel like we are right. If we thought we were wrong we would change our beliefs. Two groups that have different opinions can not both be right. We should be firm enough in our beliefs to not be easily shaken, but at the same time open to challenges to our beliefs so that we are not afraid to join hands with another church.

Keep in mind, denominations were not part of the early church as described in the Bible. Peter didn’t make a Methodist church and John a Baptist. Paul was not a Catholic. Over time people have keyed in on particular things and built their belief system around them. There are things we can disagree on and still recognize each other as brothers and sisters in Christ.

If a church is planted as a denominational thing only, or as the core backbone, that might not be following what Jesus would want. The early church spread from home to home and Paul would write letters giving truth. Not denominational truth, but God’s truth.

Breaking Barriers in Fellowship

I believe another obstacle to fellowshipping and worshipping with another local church is the pastor and elders. Pastors will invite someone to share from their pulpit during a time of revival, but they won’t let an ‘outsider’ take over teaching for a long period of time. I’m not saying they should, but I am saying this could be an obstacle. We as the BODY of the church need to get past this mentality and get to know people in other denominations and fellowships. Again, be firm in your belief, but be willing to listen to another brother or sister and compare it with scripture.

If we walk around with the thought that we are the only ones that can be totally correct, we will see ‘them’ as enemies and people to avoid. This just causes yet another barrier to working together for Jesus. How do we get past this?

One more thing about the pastor as it applies to church planting. He is busy with his own flock, and that’s the way it should be. I know that people need Jesus before they need church. Some people come to church and find Jesus; others come to church because they have found Jesus.

There are people in the world that might respond better to a different person, a different preaching style, a different shepherd. If you witness to someone and they come to Jesus but go to a different church, that does not make your church a failure! God will lead a believer to where they need to be for their spiritual growth, as well as where God wants to use them. Let that happen as He wills and intends, and not think it bad if they don’t join my or your local church.

Also, think of it this way. Paul was not a pastor, but he influenced them! We are never told of any of the Apostles settling down to lead a single congregation. Has God called you to be a pastor? Then do that! If not, then do whatever He has called you to do, and I’m pretty sure that includes evangelism.

A Prayer for Unity and Growth

I know this got a little long, but it was a lot I felt led to cover. My prayer is that this message edifies you and your church - and that it encourages you to strengthen fellowship with other believers

Grace to you!

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