"I'm Not Called"

One more quote from Radical, based on the piercing truths of God's Word:

I wonder if we have erected lines of defense against the global purpose God has for our lives.

Where in the Bible is missions ever identified as an optional program in the church? 

Jesus himself has not merely called us to go to all nations; he has commanded us to go to all nations. We have taken this command, though, and reduced it to a calling - 

something that only a few people receive.

I find it interesting that we don't do this with other words from Jesus. We take Jesus' command in Matthew 28 to make disciples of all nations, and we say, "That means other people." But we look at Jesus' command in Matthew 11:28 - "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest" - and we say, "Now, that means me." We take Jesus' promise in Acts 1:8 that the Spirit will lead us to the ends of the earth, and we say, "That means some people." But we take Jesus' promise in John 10:10 that we will have abundant life, and we say, "That means me."

We have unbiblically drawn a line of distinction, assigning the obligations of Christianity to a few 
while keeping the privileges of Christianity for us all.

In Romans 1:14-15, Paul talks about being a debtor to the nations. 

He literally says, "I am in debt to Jews and Gentiles." 

Paul is saying that he owes a debt to every lost person on the face of the planet. 

Because he is owned by Christ, he owes Christ to the world.

We are in debt to the nations. In our contemporary approach to missions, though, we have subtly taken ourselves out from under the weight of a lost and dying world, wrung our hands in pious concern, and said, "I'm sorry, I'm just not called to that."