Why do we go?

“Go, where?” you may be asking.

Why do we go across the street?

Why do we go across the ocean?

Why do Paul and I go to places and people that are different than us?

We go because Jesus tells his disciples to go. He says, “Go, make disciples of all nations….” He didn’t say, “Sit around and wait for someone to come ask you about me.” He said to get up and go. Maybe it’s across the street to a neighbor’s house. Maybe it is to the next cubicle. Maybe it is to a different continent. Just “Go.”

We go because people compel us to go. There is an empty feeling inside when I think about hell and all the people that will be there. There is a sense of loss when I think about people I know who are searching and striving and they don’t even know what they are searching and striving for or they are searching and striving for things that will only lead to more searching and striving. The lostness of the world compels us not only to want to go but to help the Church understand the importance and necessity of its going. The Church is God’s chosen vessel to make Himself known to the every tribe, tongue and people. Does He need us? Certainly not. But He has chosen us. We must complete the task He has given us.You cannot expect people to want something they know nothing about. People will not hear the gospel if we, the Church, do not get up and take it to them.

We go because the gospel is worth any sacrifice that “going” may incur. It was worth three years away from family and friends in a culture that was not my own and in which I struggled daily to communicate with people. It is worth the week we were away from the children when we went to Cuba. It is worth Paul being away from us a few weeks out of the year. It is worth him working late nights or hanging out with people who are far from Jesus instead of us some nights. Christ has sacrificed everything for me, and He is worth every stressed out moment that I may have while Paul is away. Us not seeing Paul for a week is worth it if one person discovers the forgiveness and love found in the beauty of the gospel. The gospel…Christ… is worth everything, even our very lives, and I dare say we would both gladly give them if it meant that someone else could come to know the redeeming love of Christ.

You ask why we go. This is why. And now I ask you, why do you go? Or yet, why do you not go?