Story-Filled Streetcars

Today I was sitting on a streetcar heading down the streets of Toronto when it struck me; looking around there were several different stories sitting and standing around me, lives with history, experiences, baggage, trials, and celebrations. Just out the window were people's lives as they left their homes, carried their groceries, rode their bikes and played with their children. I thought to myself, how many of these people know Christ? How many of these people have even heard the gospel?

This was something I've heard from a friend before, but today it struck a chord within me and resonated loudly. And having just wrapped up a discipleship/missions conference these past two days, the idea of discipleship (living and leading like Jesus) was running through my mind.

how am I supposed to reach out to all these people?
where do I even begin?
will these people ever get to know Jesus?

It seemed like a daunting task, but i'm reminded that we are only so limited, we can only disciple and invest so many people. Realizing the massive amounts of people that were potentially unreached, just downtown, in my city, I stopped and thought, how about all the people across the globe? There are just so many people who have yet to hear the good news, and as bearers and messengers of the gospel, why are we hindered by finances, fear, and excuses?

It starts with you and me. As followers and disciples of Christ we need to be on mission. All the time.  Mission should be a lifestyle, not just an event. I've learn that being a disciple and being a missionary are not and can not be separate things. If you are a disciple of Christ, you are a missionary. Each and every one of us need to be living out our lives on mission; it isn't just on outreach nights or events where we get our missionary on, but in our everyday schedules and routines, there needs to be a natural outpour of discipleship/mission to those around us, believers and non-believers. I cannot do it alone, and you cannot do it alone. We as a body of Christ need to go in obedience to reach the people that God has placed in our lives to share life with. This process of discipleship shouldn't be only focused on helping the individual come to know and respond to Christ's invitation, but rather just to challenge oneself to take one step closer towards Jesus Christ, be it a change in character, or the eradication of a dwelling sin. Each person is like a chain made of many links, and each link is a person who disciples on mission by helping carry an individual closer to Christ, to the next link, who could be another person.

Matthew 24:14 says, "and this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come."

Scripture tells us that a factor influencing when Christ will return is when the good news is preached to the whole world. My good friend once said "with the power, resources, energy and ability we have to share the good news, we could see Christ return in this generation if we each prioritized mission in our lives." Well isn't that just mind-blowing statement!

No matter where we are placed in this world, be it in different continents or different cities or even different neighbourhoods, God has sovereignly placed us there for a reason, and we are surrounded by stories and lives, at work, on streetcars, on buses, at our local coffee shops and at our supermarkets. As disciples of Christ, let us all be on mission individually and in community, doing our own parts, inviting people into our lives so that Christ may shine through us, that they would meet and see Jesus in us, and that we would be able to share our life in and with Christ with them.

Will you join the mission?

"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

- The Great Commission, Matthew 28:19-20